Spay/Neuter Medical Benefits

Neutering greatly reduces the risk of injuries and illness to male dogs and cats. Unaltered males tend to roam, increasing their chances of being killed or injured by vehicles. They also tend to fight more, guaranteeing wounds and infections. Male cats are even more often the recipients of bite wounds from fighting than dogs.

Neutering decreases or eliminates many diseases intact male dogs are susceptible to later in life. Among those are diseases of the prostate, testicles and other tissues influenced by male hormones. Testicular and perianal gland cancers are the second and third most frequently diagnosed tumors in older intact male dogs. Treatment for these diseases usually involves neutering. Older dogs face greater risks during surgery, so neutering early in life is safer and more responsible.

Spaying female cats and dogs eliminates diseases of the ovaries and uterus, and if altered before their first or second heat, drastically decreases any chance of mammary gland cancer. Mammary cancer is very common in older female dogs and cats, and it is the most common cancer to spread to the lungs. In fact, studies have demonstrated that if you spay your female dog before her first heat period, you reduce her chances of developing mammary cancer by 99.5 percent.

Having your pet spayed or neutered is the only way to reduce the sad numbers of homeless dogs and cats destroyed each year. It will also increase your pet's chances of living a longer and healthier life. That responsibility is yours alone.