Happy World Spay Day!
Dogs and cats become SO much happier once they’ve been spayed or neutered! Spaying/neutering supports your pet’s overall well-being and increases their lifespan. There are so many medical and behavioral benefits dogs and cats enjoy once they’ve been fixed.
Spaying/neutering your furball early on protects them from life-threatening illnesses. It primarily decreases the likelihood of health problems within the reproductive system, such as genital cancer, uterine infections, and uterine cancer.
Benefits of Spaying Female Dogs and Cats
Spaying means surgically sterilizing female pets. Spayed female dogs and cats are less susceptible to breast tumors, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer. Breast cancer is fatal in about 90% of cats and 50% of dogs, so lowering this risk can help ensure your furriend lives a long, happy life.
Spaying also decreases a female pet’s stress levels as going through the heat, pregnancy, and birth processes can take a huge toll on a dog or cat’s body, especially if she is going through them over and over again throughout her lifetime.
How Neutering Helps Male Dogs and Cats
Neutering is the sterilization of male pets. Neutering your male pet lessens his risk of prostate conditions like an enlarged prostate gland or testicular cancer.
Also, once neutered, male pets stop spraying to mark their territory and cease to seek females to reproduce with. Once they are free from these behaviors, their stress levels are greatly reduced as it makes them less likely to get into fights (thus being less likely to get injured!) and roam too far from home where they can get into trouble.
There are benefits for you, too
Spaying/neutering:
- Diminishes the desire of certain dogs and cats to act aggressively as it takes them out of “survival mode.”
- Saves money in the long run, helping the human dodge the cost of treating injuries or caring for litters of kittens and the mama cat’s pregnancy needs.
- Allows dogs and cats to be calm enough in their temperaments to bond with family and be easy to train.
- Prevents dogs and cats from wandering far from home as they have less of a need/desire to do so since they are no longer in “survival mode.”
While there are many health benefits to spaying and neutering your pets, it’s also important to remember to wait until the appropriate age for your pet. As a general rule of thumb, it’s recommended to spay or neuter toy and small to medium sized dog breeds around six to nine months. For large and giant dog breeds, it’s usually better to wait until they are between 12-18 months to ensure their bones have finished growing. This reduces the risk of knee injuries later in life. For cats, it’s suggested to spay or neuter after 8 weeks of age, but before 5 months to help eliminate the start of urine spraying around the home.
