A pet guardian has many responsibilities, including ensuring your pet’s health, happiness, and daily care. One significant decision you will likely face is spaying or neutering your pet. However, spaying your female pet, which involves removing their ovaries and uterus, and neutering your male pet, which involves removing their testicles, are standard surgical procedures that provide several benefits for pets, pet owners, and the community. Our Alpine Animal Hospital explains why you should consider spaying or neutering your pet.

Health benefits of spaying or neutering your pet

Spaying or neutering your furry friend can contribute to their overall health and disease prevention by: 

  • Reducing cancer risk — Spaying significantly reduces the risk of uterine infections and breast tumors, which are malignant or cancerous in about 50% of dogs and 90% of cats. Neutering prevents testicular cancer and reduces the risk of prostate problems.
  • Improving longevity and quality of life — Spayed and neutered pets tend to live longer, healthier lives. Spaying a female dog before her first heat reduces her mammary cancer risk. Neutered males are less likely to roam, reducing their risk of injury or death from traffic accidents or fights.

Behavioral benefits of spaying or neutering your pet

Certain hormones in cats and dogs contribute to their behavior. Spaying and neutering can reduce behaviors associated with hormonal stimulation, such as:

  • Aggression and roaming — Neutered males are generally less aggressive and less likely to engage in territorial marking behaviors. They are less inclined than a sexually intact male to roam to search for a mate, which decreases their chances of accidents and fights.
  • Unwanted behaviors — Spaying and neutering can reduce undesirable behaviors such as mounting, urine marking, and excessive barking in dogs and yowling and spraying in cats.

Spay and neuter surgeries prevent pet overpopulation

As most pet owners understand, millions of pets are euthanized in shelters each year. Unwanted litters can be exposed to abuse, abandonment, and disease. However, spay and neuter surgeries can: 

  • Prevent shelter overcrowding — Spaying and neutering pets helps reduce the number of unwanted cats and dogs, decreasing the burden on shelters and rescue groups. 
  • Reduce feral and stray populations— Spaying and neutering helps reduce the number of feral pets and the potential for human-pet conflicts. Also, by controlling the stray and feral pet population, spay and neuter surgeries ensure community and pet health and safety. 

Spaying and neutering promote health and safety.

Fewer stray pets helps improve public health and safety. Stray animals can carry diseases transmissible to people and other animals and can pose a risk to motorists and pedestrians. Pet owners have an ethical responsibility to prevent unnecessary suffering and to manage the pet population humanely. Spaying and neutering are key components of responsible pet ownership.

Myths about spaying or neutering pets

Myth: It’s healthier to let a female have one litter.

Fact: There is no medical evidence that having one litter benefits a female pet. Rather, spaying before the first heat cycle is better for your pet’s health.

Myth: Neutering will change my pet’s personality.

Fact: Neutering does not alter a pet’s fundamental personality. The procedure may reduce undesirable behaviors—a good thing—but your four-legged friend will remain the same loving companion.

Myth: The procedures will make my pet fat.

Fact: Spaying or neutering themselves will not make your pet fat. The resulting hormonal changes may affect your pet’s metabolism and they will put on weight if they eat the same amount. Careful calorie control—which our veterinary team can help determine—is the answer.

Myth: Spay or neuter surgeries are too expensive.

Fact: While spaying or neutering your pet involves a financial commitment, these surgeries are less expensive than caring for unwanted litters or emergency treatment for pets injured while roaming or from fighting. Many pet insurance plans offer coverage for wellness care, including spay and neuter surgeries, making the initial costs of puppy or kitten care less costly. These procedures also reduce the risk of reproductive health issues and illnesses such as cancer that are expensive to treat.

Spaying or neutering your pet is a responsible decision that has numerous health, behavioral, and societal benefits. By choosing to spay or neuter, you contribute to your pet’s health and longevity, reduce the number of unwanted animals, and help create a healthier community.

Contact our Alpine Animal Hospital team to determine the best time to spay or neuter your furry pal and to discuss any concerns about the procedures.