REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD SPAY OR NEUTER YOUR PET

Why It’s Important

There are too many unwanted, unloved pets in the world. It’s not only heartbreaking, but cruel and unacceptable. Spreading awareness and educating others about the importance of spaying or neutering your pet can help everyone become more responsible and caring pet owners as well as offer significant health benefits to your pet.

Trivia fact: Male animals are “neutered” and female animals are “spayed”.

The Benefits and Importance of Spaying or Neutering

• Promote health
• Increase lifespan
• Reduce risk of cancer
• Prevent unwanted pregnancies and unwanted pets
• Eliminate costs of unwanted pets
• Help prevent or reduce aggression
• Reduce risk of contracting infections
• Reduce the number of shelter animals
• Help prevent or reduce behavioural issues
• Help prevent the development of diseases such as transmissible venereal tumours, testicular cancer and prostate problems
• Reduce likelihood of (or interest in) roaming, thereby decreasing the risk of injury from car accidents and fighting
• Reduce number of animals that need to be euthanised

Spaying specifically:

• Prevents females from going into heat
• Reduces distress and pseudopregnancies which can be caused by recurrent heat
• Eliminates the need for medicines (with possible side effects) that suppress heats
• Prevents infection of the uterus (pyometra)
• Prevents mammary gland cancer

As you can see, it’s a long, relevant list that benefits both puppies and kittens, as well as adult dogs and cats directly, not to mention other animals, and also humans indirectly.

GOOD TO KNOW

Recovery is usually rapid and the relevant procedure only needs to be performed once in a pet’s life. You should speak to your veterinarian about the best time to book your pet in for spaying or neutering as optimal timing can vary between different species and breeds.