Top Reasons to Spay/Neuter Your Pet

posted on Wednesday, January 31, 2024 in Pet PSA

  1. Spaying/neutering increases your pet's chances of living a longer, healthier life. Major health benefits for female pets include preventing life-threatening uterine infections, eliminating the risk of uterine and ovarian cancer, and dramatically reducing the risk of breast cancer. For male pets, neutering eliminates the risk of testicular cancer and reduces their chances of developing prostate disease.
     
  2. Spaying female pets eliminates the heat cycle, as well as associated mood swings and undesirable behaviors such as bleeding and crying.
     
  3. Neutering male cats reduces problems with spraying and helps reduce odor in your home.
     
  4. Sterilization at an early age offers quicker recovery and less stress on the pet. It's generally considered safe for healthy kittens and puppies as young as 8 weeks old to be spayed or neutered.
     
  5. Neutered animals are less likely to roam, reducing the risk of injury and disease.
     
  6. Neutered males may be better behaved, calmer and more affectionate. Neutering can also help with some aggression problems. 
     
  7. Spayed/neutered animals tend to get along better with other animals.
     
  8. Spaying/neutering helps fight pet overpopulation. Every year, 900,000+ cats and dogs of all ages and breeds are euthanized at animal shelters across the country. These high numbers are often the result of unplanned litters that could have been prevented by spaying or neutering. 
     
  9. There are no benefits of letting your pet have ''just one litter." Research shows that much of the pet population problem stems from this idea. "Just one litter'' from thousands of families can create many more thousands of unwanted pets.