What is spaying or neutering?
Female animals get spayed, males get neutered. Spaying or neutering involves a simple surgical procedure that stops your dog or cat or from breeding.
Why should I get my pet fixed?
Pet overpopulation is the number one problem for animals in the United States and many other countries. Some homeless dogs and cats just roam the streets. Others are killed in city pounds and shelters. About 90,000 homeless, unwanted animals are put to death in Atlanta area shelters each year alone. This is typical of many large American cities. Many of these animals are healthy and adoptable.
The best way to avoid the problem of unwanted pets, and the kindest thing you can do for animals generally, is to make sure that your cat or dog is spayed or neutered.
But surely my one cat or dog can’t make that much of a difference?
One unspayed female cat is actually capable of generating a family of 85 million in ten years! Besides, fixing your pet will make your life much easier.
Will spaying or neutering affect my pet’s behavior?
Spaying or neutering your pet can help some of your pet’s behavior problems. Some of these problems include:
• house soiling
• marking, spraying
• persistent barking or meowing
• roaming, escaping
• fighting with other pets
• biting humans or other pets
• bleeding and other problems associated with female pets being in heat
Won’t female dogs and cats miss having puppies or kittens?
No…mother dogs and cats care for their young for a few months until they’re weaned, but then usually have nothing further to do with them.
I feel uncomfortable getting my male pet neutered. I wouldn’t want that done to me!
His psychology and biology are quite different from yours. His hormones developed in the wild to produce as many offspring as possible so his species could survive. In our modern world, this many offspring only add to the sum total of unwanted pets who live a miserable life of suffering in an alleyway or field somewhere.
Won’t a female dog or cat be a better pet if she has had one litter?
No. Having puppies or kittens will make no difference at all to a pet’s temperament.
My dog or cat is purebred and I want to breed her at least once to recoup the price I paid for her.
Large numbers of purebred animals are destroyed every year in pounds and shelters. Until they all have homes, it is irresponsible to bring one more litter, even a purebred litter, into the world.
Will spaying or neutering affect my pet’s health in any way?
Your pets health will be improved. Studies show that spaying a female before her first heat reduces the risk of mammary (breast) tumors or cancers. In males, neutering reduces the risk of prostate cancer in older animals.
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