Spaying & Neutering

FOR DOGS

Spay your female dog!

Sure, puppies are adorable! But there are too many puppies for available good homes, and not spaying your female dog may put her health at risk. (“Spaying” actually means a ovariohysterectomy – the surgical removal of the uterus and ovaries). Some of the benefits of spaying a female dog are:

• Eliminates unwanted “heat cycles” (estrus) and the associated attraction of intact male dogs.
• Greatly reduces the risk of mammary cancer (if done prior to the first estrus).
• Prevents the risk of uterine infections (pyometra).
• Avoids unwanted pregnancies.

Neuter your male dog!

OK, it takes two to tango. Just as your female dog will benefit from spaying, your male dog will also benefit from neutering (“neuter” is technically applicable to either sex, but most commonly refers to the surgical removal of the testicles). Besides further preventing unwanted puppies, neutered dogs make better family pets. Aggression will be reduced and so will the tendency to roam and fight.

Mellowwwwwwwwww is the way to go! Neutering can also reduce the incidence of prostate and testicular cancer.

Help your dog be a pet…not a stray!

FOR CATS

Spay your female cat!

Kittens are definitely darling. But there are far more kittens than there are good homes for them. Unspayed female cats older than about 5 months can give birth to several litters every spring and summer. Each litter can be as large as seven and be fathered by more than one male cat. It’s not uncommon for unspayed female cats to nurse two litters of different ages at the same time.

Aside from all of the kittens they can produce, female cats in heat (also “season” or estrus) are amazing at vocalizing and bizarre activity. They will yowl, screech, writhe on the floor whining, and prohibit anyone in the house from sleeping. This activity will cycle until the cats are spayed or bred. People that have never witnessed this activity sometimes think their female cat has a broken back. That is how they act, but they are not in any pain.

A spayed cat is happy and content and your friend for life.

Neuter your male cat!

Male cats are great! They are lovable and muscular and handsome. But they also spray a foul urine on everything inside and outside their “territory” and fight with every other male cat they can find. They are ruthless to female cats in season, with the actual mating being fairly brutal for both partners. Male cats will mate and fight nonstop throughout the spring and summer until they are battered and tattered and all unspayed female cats are pregnant.

Neutering preserves a male cat’s sweet, lovable personality but eliminates all of their undesirable traits.