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Pre-Surgical Information
Spaying or neutering your pet is a big step! There is a lot to consider
when we are planning your pet’s surgery. Here is some information to help
you make wise decisions.
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Special LibraryOur Special Library
is a collection of informative articles on a variety of health topics.
Click here . . .
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Discharge InstructionsClick here for
information on how to care for your pet at home.
Click here . . .
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Why Spay or
 Neuter
Your Pet
There are many things to consider when trying to decide
if you want to spay or neuter your pet. The issues
break down into three categories:
humane, medical,
and behavioral. Lets look at each of these three
categories. I will try to present the facts in a
fair and balanced way, so that you can make up your own
mind.
Humane Reasons to Spay or Neuter your pet. Every
year a simply horrible number of dogs and cats are put
to sleep. Estimates range from 8 to 12 million.
This is enough to give any sane person nightmares.
The number one reason to spay or neuter you pet is to
prevent this senseless slaughter.
So how is neutering my dog, who's my bud and who I hunt
with all the time, going to prevent unwanted puppies?
It just takes once. Say he gets out one night, and
doesn't come back till the next day. He probably
hasn't been at the library reading. There is a
good chance that he may have contributed to the unwanted
puppy problem. It can happen. In my opinion,
it is the socially-responsible thing to do to have your
dog or cat neutered unless you have definite plans for
breeding him.
So how, you ask, is spaying my dog, who lives at home
with me, going to prevent unwanted puppies?
You'd never let her have puppies unless they were
wanted. But let's say your dog gets pregnant
anyway. It happens in the best families. But
you are responsible and you find good homes for all the
puppies. Or so you think. What if one (or
more) of those homes isn't so good after all, and your grandpuppies end up having litter after litter of
unwanted puppies? What if one (or more) of those
homes don't neuter the males grandpuppies, and they
wander the neighborhood sireing litter after litter on
unwanted puppies? In my opinion, unless you have
definite plans for breeding your female dog or cat, it
is the socially-responsible thing to do to have her
spayed.
Medical Reasons to Spay or Neuter your Pet. It is
well-established that there are definite medical
benefits to spaying and neutering.
Let's start with neutering. The big issue here is
preventing prostate disease. Neutering does
not protect against the development of prostatic cancer.
However, it is well documented in the scientific
literature that neutering does help prevent other
prostatic diseases commonly seen in intact male dogs
including benign prostatic hyperplasia, cystic
hyperplasia, squamous metaplasia, paraprostatic cysts,
prostatitis, and prostatic abscessation. It
is estimated that 80% of un-neutered dogs over the age
of eight will develop some form of prostate disease.
While these prostate diseases are benign and
non-life-threatening, thay can be quite problematic for
the affected pooch. Prostate disease is very rare
in cats.
The next benefit is decreased risk of perianal
adenocarcinomas. These are tumors whose growth is
stimulated by testosterone. These occur near the anus,
hence the name peri-anal. While exact risk
estimations are not readily available, perianal
adenocarcinomas are much more common in un-neutered dogs
than in neutered dogs. Perianal adenocarcionomas are
very rare in all cats, however.
Now on to Spaying. Here the health benefits are
even more clear-cut. Lets start with mammary
(breast) cancer. The scientific literature states
that the risk of developing mammary cancer in dogs
spayed prior to the first heat is only 5 in 1000, but
the risk rises dramatically to 80 in 1000 in dogs spayed
after first estrus and before the second heat. In
dogs spayed after the second heat or not at all, the
risk jumps to 260 in 1000. That means
that one in four un-spayed dogs will develop mammary
cancer in their life. Now, unlike people, where
most breast cancers are very malignant, only 50% of the
mammary cancers in dogs are malignant, so only one in
eight un-spayed dogs will develop malignant breast
cancer, if that is any consolation.
In cats, mammary tumors occur with about one-half the
frequency of mannary tumors in dogs, but unlike dogs,
85% of mammary cancer in cats is malignant. That
means 1 in 10 unspayed cats will develop malignant
mammary tumors. Like dogs, spaying cats before they come
in heat the first time dramatically lowers the incidence
of breast cancer.
Pyometra is the next health concern. Pyometra
means uterine infection. While this condition is
rare in humans, it is common in dogs, and it is often
life-threatening. Because dogs don't have a
monthly menstrual cycle like people do, the infection
grows and grows undetected until it becomes an emergency
condition. While there is a treatment for pyometra,
it is at best expensive, and dogs can and do die from
pyometra even with treatment. A Scandanavian study
estimated that at least 25% of un-spayed dogs in
Scandanavia will develop pyometra by 10 years of age,
while an American study put the number closer to 66% by
nine years of age for American dogs.
While the data are not as complete for cats as for dogs,
pyometra is another common medical condtion in un-spayed
cats, and similar protective benefits are accrued by
spaying cats.
Behavioral Reasons to spay or neuter your pet.
Females in heat, both dogs and cats, exhibit a number of
undesirable characteristics that make spaying a good
idea. Females of both species will actively search
out males and may attempt to escape from the house or
yard. This puts them at high risk for getting hit
by a car, and for fighting with other animals.
Often there is a sudden influx of males around the home
and yard, as the unspayed females in heat will attract
males from near and far.
Female dogs in heat bleed for two to three weeks, posing
a hygeine problem for indoor pets. In addition,
unspayed female cats may spray urine when they are heat.
While females only exhibit undesirable characteristics
when they are in heat, males often exhibit undesirable
characteristics all the time. Testosterone makes
un-neutered males much more lilely to roam the
neighborhood, get hit by cars, get in fights with other
dogs, damage property, hump human's legs, and be
aggressive towards humans.
Neutered male cats also have a much lower incidence of
urine spraying.
There are some down-sides to spaying and neutering.
For one, there is increased incidence of urinary
incontinence (leaking) in spayed female dogs. Most
studies indicate that this is mainly a problem in dogs
spayed before three months of age, although there is a
slight increase in risk for any spayed female dog.
For this reason, we recommend spaying at five months of
age. Urinary incontinence is not seen in spayed
female cats.
Neutered male cats are at increased risk of urinary
obstruction compared to non-neutered male cats.
Hypothyroidism (low thyroid levels) occurs more commonly
in spayed and neutered dogs than in intact dogs.
Male dogs neutered before maturity may not develop some
of the breed-characteristic traits. For example,
neutered large-breed males will not develop the broad
head and heavy muscling that we might expect them to
develop.
As you can see, there are lots of good reasons to spay
or neuter your pet. In my opinion, the downside
risk is minimal compared to the upside benefits.
Done properly, with safe anesthesia and excellent pain
medication, your pet will come through surgery with
minimal risk or discomfort. Below are some links
to other pages on our website you will want to read as
you consider having surgery done on your pet.
The Consumer Guide to Elective Surgery
Surgical FAQ's
Below are three links to articles published by reputable
sources that may give you more information regarding
spaying and neutering your pet.
ASPCA
Humane Society Best
Friends Magazine |
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