Importance of Spaying/Neutering
Spaying and neutering is a topic that comes up daily in the office. There are a lot of different sources saying different things and that naturally leads to a lot of questions. People want to know why I recommend it, when they should do it, and what to expect afterwards. I plan to answer all 3 of these questions and hopefully make the decision a little easier.
Why I recommend Spaying/Neutering
I am a huge advocate of spaying and neutering our pets for both individual health reasons and the greater societal good. My most important message on this topic is that spayed and neutered pets live longer.
For females, spaying comes with some serious health benefits. It drastically decreases the chances of getting mammary cancer and it eliminates the chances of getting a pyometra, a very common and deadly infection of the uterus. Mammary cancer is one of the most common cancers of all female pets. The risk of this cancer increases with each of the first 3 heat-cycles of their lives. If your pet goes through one heat-cycle before being spayed, there isn’t a huge increase of risk. If they go through 3 heat-cycles, the risk increases exponentially and spaying after this point provides very little protective effect against this kind of cancer.
Intact females have been shown to have an increased risk of certain types of cancer. The reasons for this are unknown, but the rates of these cancers are substantially lower than the risks of mammary cancer or pyometra. If only for these 2 reasons, it is worth spaying your pet.
For males, neutering is equally important, but the timing is much less strict. The major health benefits associated with neutering are decreased risk of non-cancerous prostate disease, eliminating testicle cancer and decreased wandering behaviors. Just like with humans, prostate disease is very common in our pets as they get older. Similarly, testicular cancer is relatively common and can be difficult to catch early if you aren’t regularly checking. There are some behavioral reasons to neuter, but the most reliable change will be decreased wandering. Trauma is one of the most common causes of death in intact males who get away from their owners and neutering drastically decreases this behavior. Other behaviors such as territoriality, aggression, and marking are much more variable depending on your dog. Looking at the data, neutering early can save a lot of pain and expense for our pets.
Lastly, there are real societal reasons to spay and neuter your pet. Unfortunately, the numbers of homeless dogs and cats are huge in the CSRA. Despite all the adopters out there, shelters and rescues are constantly full and the reality of that means a lot of animals are euthanized due to overcrowding. This isn’t something one person can fix, but we can all do our part to ensure the pets in our care aren’t contributing to that. Preventing accidental breeding is a major way we can all help reduce the overall population and help free up resources. Even if you are able to find homes for all of the puppies you produce, those are potential owners no longer looking at shelters and rescues to fill that role. By taking care of your pet, you are helping to take care of all the animals in our area.
When should you Spay/Neuter
There is a lot of contention around the proper time to spay or neuter your pet with most of it surrounding joint development. Large and giant breed dogs have been shown to have increased risk of certain bone diseases if spayed too early, including cranial cruciate ligament tearing and hip dysplasia. The cause of this seems to be linked to growth plate development and a lack of sex hormones. If your dog is going to be above 60 pounds as an adult, there are good reasons to consider delaying the spay/neuter. My rule of thumb is to wait until about 12 months for dogs 60 to 80 pounds and 18 to 24 months for dogs that will be over 80 pounds. Similar studies have been performed in small dogs with very little evidence showing increased risk of disease. For the smaller breeds, I routinely perform spays/neuters after 6 months.
All in all, I recommend spaying/neutering as early as you are comfortable to limit the number of heat cycles they go through and to eliminate the risk of unwanted pregnancies.
Expectations after Surgery
Some people are worried about how their pet is going to recover after surgery. Pets of all ages tend to do very well after surgery. Neutering is less invasive and we tend to see pets feeling back to normal within about 48 hours with proper pain control. Spaying is a more invasive surgery and recovery is a little longer, usually taking 3 to 4 days for them to feel normal again with proper pain control. In both scenarios, keeping your pet calm and rested over the whole 10 to 14 days it takes for the skin to heal is the hardest part. They tend to feel so good after a few days that they don’t understand why they can’t run around with their fresh stitches.
Long-term, it is important to keep an eye on your pet’s weight. Spaying and neutering reduces their calorie needs by 20 to 30 percent. Weight gain is very common in these pets but is easily remedied. Placing your pet on a feeding schedule with a set amount of food at each feeding is an easy way to control their weight. If you are unsure how much to feed or your pet is already above their ideal weighy, give us a call and we can easily get you a calorie count. Spaying and neutering is an important factor in your pet’s overall health and we are here to help!