You may have heard before that it’s good to spay or neuter your pet, and you may be wondering if you really should. To start off, let’s define what it means to spay or neuter. Both words essentially refer to surgical sterilization of animals. In other words, spaying or neutering is to remove the reproductive organs of an animal. Spaying is a term used for female animals, whereas neutering is for male animals or can be used in a more gender-neutral generic sense. Ultimately the process renders the animal sterile and they can no longer reproduce.

Benefits of Spaying and Neutering

Studies show that spaying or neutering your pet is highly encouraged because it removes the animal’s reproductive organs, which will in turn prevent unwanted pregnancies. While the actual procedure to spay or neuter can vary in price depending on which facility you choose, it is still way more cost-effective than raising a litter of puppies or kittens. Spaying and neutering helps with preventing overpopulation. Unwanted pet pregnancies can lead to a host of issues; overpopulation contributes to the increasing number of homeless animals roaming about. By spaying or neutering your pet, this will help in reducing the number of potentially homeless animals.

Furthermore, overpopulation can lead to public health concerns as well. Homeless animals can spread a number of diseases that can in turn affect other animals as well as people; these animals are not receiving the proper care and can carry a host of diseases that were brought on from being out in the wild. Even if they do not spread any diseases, there is still the risk of wandering homeless animals biting people or other animals. By spaying or neutering your pet, this will aid in curbing the number of homeless animals and prevent unwinding pregnancies from contributing to the already staggering number of animals in need of homes and care.

Best Time to get it done

It is best to spray or neuter when your pet is still young. Dogs can be sprayed or neutered at as young as 6-9 months old. On the other hand, cats are safe to be sprayed or neutered after a minimum of 8 weeks old, and recommended to be done before they hit 5 months old. However, for the best insight on when your particular pet should be sprayed or neutered, make sure to consult your vet. 

While neutering is commonly done, there are still some potential risks. There are always the anesthetic or surgical risks that come with most major medical procedures. However, by following the proper recovery protocols, the chance of running into complications is very low. Neutering is a less invasive procedure, and recovery would take usually about several days. Contrastingly, spaying requires removing a female animal’s uterus and ovaries, and this procedure can take a couple weeks of recovery. During this period, it is best to limit physical activities as this can overexert their bodies and cause stress on the incisions made. Much like when people undergo surgeries, recovery involves a lot of rest for the body to adjust and heal. Once that time has passed, your pet will resume its normal levels.