Spaying/Neutering
Too many pets, not enough homes.
Each year, around 15 million pets are turned into animal shelters across the country. Only 25 to 30 percent of these animals are reclaimed by their owners or adopted into new homes. The rest, some 11 million dogs, cats, puppies and kittens, must be put to death because no one wants them.
This terrible waste can easily be reduced by reducing the number of puppies and kittens being born. And the best way to do that is to neuter your pets. Neutering is a simple surgical procedure which prevents pets from reproducing by removing their reproductive organs.
As a pet owner, you can add to the over population problem or help end it. Don't fool yourself into thinking that if you find a home for each of your pet's offspring you avoid adding to the number of homeless pets. Actually, you've only eliminated potential homes for other waiting puppies and kittens. Only so many responsible, caring homes exist, and finding a home for one of your pet's offspring inevitably dooms some other cat or dog.
Besides giving other pets a chance at a loving home, neutering your pets gives them and you a lot of benefits you may not be aware of:
Your pet will be a more content family member:
Because they're domestic animals, dogs naturally take to, and need,
people, but this natural affection gets overpowered by the drive to reproduce.
This urge to mate leads to roaming, fighting, aggression, excessive barking,
howling and, other unwelcome behaviors. Neutered pets are freed of this urge and
the resulting bothersome behaviors, making a calmer and more content pet who
prefers to stay at home and concentrate on you. If you have more than one pet,
you'lI find your neutered pets get along much better with each other.
Your pet will be healthier
Because the urge to search out mates is eliminated, neutered pets are less
likely to roam from home and be injured in fights or killed in traffic. In fact,
neutered pets have twice the average life expectancy of unneutered pets, partly
due to a much lower chance of suffering from breast, uterine, prostate and,
testicular cancers.
Dogs and cats can be neutered as early as eight weeks or anytime beyond that age. Females can be neutered when they're in season or early pregnancy, but the risks are somewhat greater. (Be sure to inform your veterinarian of her condition.) The best and easiest thing for you and your pet is to get her neutered and before she comes in season the first time. Waiting until after her first heat period does nothing for either of you. Make an appointment with your veterinarian. If the expense is a problem, ask your local humane society about the low-cost spay/neuter clinics in your area.
You won't have to put up with staining or spraying
During their "heat" periods, female dogs and cats experience a flow of
blood. Unless you're willing to diaper your pet (and can anticipate the timing)
or deal with the stains on your rugs and furniture, spay your pet and eliminate
this problem entirely.
Unneutered male cats can also stain your floors and furniture, but it happens year round and it smells terrible. As active reproducers, unneutered male cats must tell everyone that this is their area and they're willing to defend it, so they mark territory by "spraying~' objects inside and outside the house with strong smelling urine. If neutered early, male cats rarely develop this habit. Older "sprayers" usually stop within a few months of being neutered.
You won't have to fight off suitors
When your female dog or cat goes into heat, the males for blocks around will
know it. Walking her will be like going into battle. Every loose male dog in the
neighborhood will follow, and nothing will drive them away. Your dog will
normally come into heat twice a year, and she'll attract males for almost three
weeks.
Cats are incredibly efficient reproducers. During breeding season (approximately February through October), females come into heat as often as every two weeks, and won't stop unless they're allowed to reproduce. They'll also can go into heat while nursing their current litter. Cats needing to mate will wail, rub, and dart out the door at the slightest opportunity. They become almost magical in their ability to escape.
If you don't want your pet to breed, you're in for a very trying time. You'll get no cooperation from your pets because all their instincts are compelling them to find a mate. Nor is a fenced yard sure protection. Dogs will achieve the "impossible" when motivated to mate, and the number of puppies conceived in safely fenced yards number in the hundreds of thousands.
You won't have to find homes for the offspring
When you read the columns of classified ads selling puppies and kittens, you'd
think breeding your pet could make you rich. Don't count on it. A lot of those
animals are never sold and end up being given away or taken to a shelter.
If your pet isn't a purebred, you'll have trouble giving the young away. Even if your pet is purebred, she must be mated with an other purebred and the pups or kittens properly registered (for a fee) for any hope of profit. And it's very likely your pedigreed female will make a shambles of your best-laid plans by mating with the first mutt or alley cat she meets.
You won't have to spend extra money
Purebred or not, it costs money to bring a healthy litter into the world.
The mother will need periodic check-ups by a veterinarian and a special diet
during her pregnancy. Medical costs will mount if she has problems during the
pregnancy or delivery, or if the puppies or kittens have health problems.
The young won't be ready to leave home for eight weeks, which means two months of housing, cleaning, and feeding them. In addition, they'll need to be checked and vaccinated by a veterinarian before putting them up for sale.
All this takes time and money, not to mention the cost of advertising and the days spent waiting by the phone and showing the animals to prospective buyers. If you don't screen the buyers carefully, you may also end up carrying the additional burden of conscience for letting a puppy or kitten go to a home where he may be ignored, mistreated, abandoned, or abused.
Worst of all is the heartbreaking decision about what to do with the leftover puppies and kittens you just can't find homes for.
You won't add to the fatal population explosion.
No one likes to think about healthy, beautiful, affectionate cats, dogs, puppies
and kittens losing their lives because no one wants them. Shelters, which offer
food, warmth, and medical attention, care very much about these animals, but the
volume of pets entering shelters greatly outnumbers the families looking to
adopt. Euthanasia protects the unwanted ones from the pain of a life without
companionship. A better solution is to limit the number of animals being born
until they equal the number of people who want and can care for them. So please
contact your veterinarian or animal shelter and get your pet neutered.
Neutering is routine operation performed by the veterinarian to remove the cat's sex organs. This procedure makes your cat unable to reproduce and stops the production of hormones that are responsible for the cat's sexual behavior. Unless you plan to breed your cat, deciding whether to neuter or not is one of the most important decisions a new cat owner will have to face. The procedure for males cat's is called castration and for females, spaying.
A queen can produce
up to four litters a year which means about twelve kittens must be found homes,
are abandoned or put to sleep. There is no way of knowing how many females a
male cat can sire. Given enough mates, the amount could run into the hundreds.
Neutering is the surest way of preventing these unwanted pregnancies.
Another problem owners may run into is the behavior of the cat who is not
neutered. The females when in season, a more common term is "in heat",
they become restless and very vocal especially Siamese cats. If they get
frustrated enough because they are not let outside, they may spray urine not to
mention the fact that every tom (male cat) in the neighborhood will come
calling. A couple of alternatives for females are artificial induction of
ovulation or the use of birth control pills may reduce these signs. Male cats
tend to spray urine which has a very unpleasant smell. They wander and may
become involved in more fights with other cats, perhaps over a queen in heat or
because they tend to wander more away from home, become involved in an accident
of some sort.
Neutering makes your cat more calm and affectionate. They take more interest in their owners, may become more people oriented unless the cat was not very social with people to begin with. According to statistics, male cats who are neutered tend to live longer than male cats who are not neutered.
It is best to check with your veterinarian but usually some vets will recommend that the procedure be done when the cat is about six months old before the cat reaches sexual maturity. This may vary. Some cats will not reach that point until a few month later. In some cases, neutering must be done because of a medical condition caused by hormonal disorders or diseases of the reproductive system.