A healthy pet is an altered pet!

Spay and Neuter Spotlight: A healthy pet is an altered pet!
By Beth Oleson, Adoptions Counselor

Pet owners, get out your party hats: February 23rd is Spay Day USA! We think every day should be spay day, but we’re taking this opportunity to put the spotlight on exactly why spaying or neutering your pet is such a good idea. Today we’ll be focusing on how altering your pet benefits you (and your loving dog or cat) directly through numerous health and behavior benefits.

First, the basics: if you have a female pet, she gets spayed; if you have a male pet, he gets neutered. The spay and neuter surgeries are fast, simple, and virtually bloodless, and while any surgical procedure can be stressful for an animal, the risks here are so minimal that they’re virtually nonexistent. Most veterinarians recommend having the surgery performed before your pet hits its first heat cycle – generally at or before 6 months of age. Early surgery is gaining popularity among vets, and is generally a requirement for adoption facilities, so if you have any questions about when to fix your pet, don’t hesitate to ask!

In addition to being crucial in the fight against pet overpopulation, spaying and neutering is just good sense, as far as your pet’s health is concerned. A spayed pet has less than a 1% chance of developing mammary tumors, compared to more than 50% in unspayed pets, and she will never be at risk for life-threatening uterine infections, ovarian or uterine cancer, or ovarian cysts, all of which are fairly common and require extensive surgery to combat. A neutered pet has a minimal chance of suffering from an enlarged prostate, compared with more than 60% of unneutered pets, and has a greatly reduced risk of suffering from prostate, testicular, or colon cancer, as well as a reduced chance of suffering a perineal hernia – a rupture of the abdominal wall.

If all of that isn’t enough of an incentive to spay or neuter your pet, consider the behavior benefits as well. 90% of aggression cases in males are resolved simply by getting them neutered! Urine-marking is an expression of territoriality that is fueled by testosterone, so if you’re in a constant battle with pet urine in your home, get that pet fixed! And female pets who are spayed will never go into heat, which means no more howling, yowling, escaping, and roaming…and no more cleaning up after a pet on its period. If that doesn’t sound good, we don’t know what does.
In these economic times, the cost of spaying or neutering a pet can be a burden; if the only thing standing between you and a healthy, well-behaved, altered pet is money, call us today to find out more about our low-cost spay and neuter voucher program. We’re here to help, for you, your pet, and all of the unwanted litters of puppies and kittens that are born each year. You can reach the Woodford Humane Society at our Adoption Center at 859.873.5491 or by email at manager@woodfordhumane.org.

This article written for The Woodford Sun. Published 2/4/2010
Featured adoptable pet: Burlap. To adopt, email manager@woodfordhumane.org