Pedigree dog outdoors on a sunny summer day.
The facts on spaying and neutering are pretty straightforward: it can prolong the health and life of your pet, help control the homeless pet population, and result in significantly improved behavior.
The medical benefits for spaying and neutering your dog alone are profound: spaying your animal results in significantly lower rates of uterine infection and breast tumors. Studies have shown that this is true for roughly 90 percent of cats and 50 percent of dogs. In addition, neutering prevents some prostate issues and eliminates the risk of testicular cancer.
If those facts don’t sway you, stop and consider the behavioral benefits that come from spaying and neutering. Unspayed female cats have a habit of spraying (drenching objects with strong-smelling urine) during breeding season—not something you want in your house! Spraying, and the associated yowling, is eliminated because spayed cats don’t go into “heat.”
Unneutered male dogs may be more likely to display aggression, as well as a fondness for spraying in order to mark their territory.
Some pet parents believe that spaying or neutering will adversely affect their pet’s intelligence or cause obesity. Neither of these common myths is true, and they shouldn’t deter you from making the decision that’s best for you and your animal.
So, when is the right time to spay or neuter? Kittens as young as two months old can be safely spayed or neutered. Be advised that spaying a cat before the age of five months will greatly reduce the onset of spraying as well as eliminate an unwanted pregnancy.
Dogs may also be neutered as young as two months old, but it is more common to have the procedure performed between six to nine months of age.
Remember, spaying or neutering is a choice that can profoundly impact the health and well-being of your fur baby!
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Both of our boys are neutered. It's better for your dog's overall health when you spay and neuter them.
Spaying and neutering is important on so many levels. It's better for your dog's health, and it absolutely decreases the overall pet population.
My dog is neutered. I've always neutered and spayed all my dogs. There are so many health issues that are completely eliminated when you fix your dogs.
I was a little undecided to spay my male dog so I am glad that I did. I did not see a lot of behavioral changes however maybe because he was over one year old?
We had our boxers spayed and neutered when they were puppies. It definitely is great for their health! We have a low cost clinic in our area that everyone is welcome to use and we paid very little to have the procedures done.
This is a great post. People need to be reminded that this is job one if they have a pet!
These are great things to consider when adopting a pet. I didn't know that female cats tend to spray when they're not spayed!
We make sure that all of our pets are spayed and neutered. One of our cats went into heat once and we don't want to repeat that!
This really helps. Spaying your pet before her first heat offers the best protection from these diseases. Neutering provides major health benefits for your male.
We never did neuter our dog. We should have even though he's been with us over 15 years now. But yes, I agree it is better for their health.