Spay or Neuter For The Health Of Your Pet

By Staff, 01/30/17 6:16 PM

HOPE – You hear it constantly – a friend of a friend has a litter of “the most adorable” puppies or kittens and they need good homes. The good homes needing new pets don’t materialize, the puppies or kittens get bigger and unfortunately, too often, their fates are sealed. They mysteriously vanish one day, having been dumped to fend for themselves or destroyed. Within months, the cycle begins again.

Spaying or neutering your pet is not only the responsible thing to do, but it can help them live longer and better, a fact that is not widely known.

Spaying, the removal of the female’s ovaries and uterus, is a routine procedure with few drawbacks  and the pet normally experiences a minimal stay in the veterinary hospital. Neutering is the removal of the testicles of the male and the surgery has even less possible problems and normally the dog can leave the vet’s on the day of the surgery.

Spaying your female pet helps prevent uterine infections and breast cancer, which is fatal in about 50% of dogs and 90% of cats. Of course, spaying your pet before her first heat cycle provides the optimum benefits.

Neutering your male pet at an early age can drastically decrease the chances of developing prostatic disease and hernias and eliminates the chances of him developing testicular cancer.

A spayed female will not go into heat, thus avoiding the mess, the constant supervision, the diapers and the false pregnancies that often follow. Your spayed female cat won’t be yowling and peeing all over, trying to attract a male. Considering that a cat can go into heat four to five days every three weeks during breeding season, spaying your cat could also benefit the owner’s mental health.

A neutered dog will no longer feel the need to roam the countryside to find female companionship. He can avoid being stolen, shot or simply run over by staying at the house. Many problems with aggression can also be eleminated by neutering.

Spaying and neutering will save you money time and time again. There won’t be the expense of pregnancies and litters and there won’t be the expenses of the above listed health complications.

Spaying and neutering your pet will NOT make them fat – poor eating habits and lack of exercise are usually the reasons for these, just like in their human counterparts.

The biggest reason to spay or neuter is that it’s what a responsible pet owner does. The community cannot support all of the unwanted puppies and kittens that appear year round. Shelters, nationwide, are overwhelmed and unfortunately that cannot save each and every product of irresponsible pet ownership. If you love your pet, you’re not going to love them more by letting them have ‘just one litter’. If you love your pet, you’ll do the responsible thing.

Hope For Paws, our local animal aid non-profit, will be sponsoring a low cost spaying and neutering clinic in April for dogs and cats. You can apply with the Hope For Paws volunteers at the Hope Animal Shelter beginning this coming Friday and Saturday, and then each subsequent Friday and Saturday

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