Why You Should Spay/ Neuter Your Pet

By: Faith P.

Why you should spay/neuter your pet is an excellent question. Many people know that spaying or neutering your pet is a common thing to do. However, some people will opt-out of having it done for their pets. Though you can find people that tell you not to spay or neuter your pet, there are many benefits to doing it. Before listing off reasons, we need to clarify the difference between spaying and neutering for people who don’t know. It’s pretty simple, and there’s not much of a difference. The only difference is that spaying is for female pets, and neutering is used for males.

Less Aggressive Behaviour

Neutering your male pet could lower unwanted behaviours allow them to be more well behaved. A neutered dog will be less likely to bite, attack, or get into fights with other dogs. Neutered cats and rabbits will also get into fewer fights resulting in fewer injuries. Something unneutered pets do is spray urine throughout your house to mark it as their territory and become territorial over it. Neutering does limit this, though it can still happen in a neutered pet; they will just likely be less territorial.

Although neutering your pet can reduce unwanted behaviours caused by a greater level of testosterone, it’s not a guarantee that their behaviour will change after they’re ‘fixed.’ The surgery will reduce the amount of testosterone in their system but, it won’t eliminate it. Neutering will also not diminish behaviours your pet has learned or their habits.

End Heat Cycles

Heat cycles are when your pet is ready to reproduce. However, if reproduction is not wanted, it will just be difficult for both you and your pet. Heat cycles depend on your pet. Dogs will normally go into heat twice a year, and cats go into heat for 4-5 days every three weeks, from January to November. When your pet goes into heat, it can cause them to act more aggressive, spray or urinate around the house, try to mate, and attract an unwanted male’s attention. Cats specifically will yowl a lot to attract a male’s attention.

Once you spay your pet, however, their heat cycle ends, and it will no longer put that stress on you or your pet. Spaying and neutering your pets will put a stop to unwanted pregnancies that can cause a lot of trouble for both you -the owner- and your pet.

Prevents Reproductive Health Problems

Studies have shown that spayed or neutered pets tend to live a longer life compared to pets that haven’t. One of these studies was conducted by Banfield Pet Hospitals. They used their database of 2.2 million dogs and 460,000 cats. They concluded that neutered dogs lived 18% longer, spayed dogs lived 23% longer, spayed cats live 39% longer, and neutered cats live 62% longer.

Spaying can eradicate the risk of ovarian and uterine cancer in dogs, cats, and rabbits. Spaying can also reduce the risk of mammary cancer in your pets. Malignant or cancerous breast tumours have been shown to be reduced in about 50% of dogs and 90% of cats. To offer the best protection from these diseases, you should have your pet spayed before their first heat. Neutering your pet will eradicate the risk of testicular cancer while also lowering prostate problems in male dogs.

Conclusion

Though you may think that it is not worth it to spay/ neuter your pet, there are many benefits that can come from doing it. Now you still have to understand that it is still a surgical operation, so there are risks, but if you consider the big picture, the benefits will very often outweigh the risks.

Links:

https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/general-pet-care/spayneuter-your-pet 

https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/why-you-should-spayneuter-your-pet 

https://spca.bc.ca/faqs/%E2%80%8Bhow-will-spaying-or-neutering-help-my-pet/