Your dog or cat is a friend, a companion, and most of all, a member of your family. Unfortunately, not all pets are as loved and cherished as yours. Four to six million dogs and cats are euthanized each year in animal shelters throughout North America. These figures seem staggering, although it is easy to understand when you consider this scenario: If a male and female cat produce 8 kittens per year, and each of those kittens then produce an average of 8 kittens per year, there are almost 300,000 cats in the “family tree” in just 6 years. By year seven, the descendents of the original male and female number almost 2.4 million!
For each kitten or puppy like yours that find a happy home, four others are unloved, unwanted, homeless, or even abused or neglected. Don’t be a part of the problem...be a part of the solution! The benefits of spaying or neutering your pets are numerous. Not only does it help reduced the number of unwanted pets, it also provides long term health benefits to your beloved pet.
Neutering your dog
Neutering your cat
Spaying your dog or cat
Pre-anesthetic blood work
Neutering - Dogs
Neutering is a common practice today to prevent unacceptable sexual behavior, reduce aggressiveness and prevent accidental or indiscriminate breeding. Neutering also has many medical benefits, eliminating the possibility of testicular cancer and greatly reducing the chance of prostate disease, two common complications of older male dogs.
What is neutering?
Castration or neutering of male dogs is the surgical removal of the testicles (orchidectomy). The procedure involves general anesthesia. An incision is mad ejust in front of the scrotal sac and both testicles, leaving the sac intact. Vasectomies are not performed since it would result in both sterilization and removal of the male hormones that provide the behavioral and medical benefits.
How does neutering affect behavior?
The only behaviors that will be affected by castration are those which are under the influence of male hormones. A dog’s temperament, training, personality and ability to do “work” are a result of genetics and upbringing, not its male hormones. Castration does not “calm” an excitable dog. Unless a neutered male dog is over-fed or under exercised, there is no reason for him to become overweight or lazy as sometimes associated with neutering.
Which of my dog’s behavior problems can be expected to improve following castration?
As mentioned, only those behaviors that are “driven” by male hormones can be reduced or eliminated by castration. Although the hormones are gone from the system almost immediately following castration, male behaviors may diminish quickly over a few days or gradually over a few months depending upon the individual dog.
What are the benefits of neutering?
1) Undesirable sexual behavior is reduced. Attraction to female dogs, roaming, mounting and masturbation can be reduced or even eliminated by castration.
Statistics show at least moderate improvement in roaming and mounting behaviors in 70% of all dogs studied. Another study indicated that castration led to reduced aggression toward other dogs in the household in 1/3 of the cases, and also a reduction of aggressive behavior in some dogs toward family members, as well as unfamiliar dogs and people.
2) Urine marking can be reduced. Most adult male dogs life their legs while urinating. Instead of emptying their bladders completely, most male dogs retain some urine to deposit on other vertical objects that they pass. Some males have such a strong desire to mark that they also mark indoors. Castration has been shown to reduce marking in 80% of dogs.
3) Possible aggression improvement. Every aggressive dog should be neutered. At the very least, this will prevent reproduction and passing on of any genetic traits for aggression. Castration may also reduce or eliminate some forms of aggression (i.e. those that are influenced by male hormones).
4) Medical benefits. Today neutering is a common general practice in preventative healthcare in the veterinary field. Castration eliminates the possibility of testicular cancer and greatly reduces the chance of prostate disease, two extremely common and serious problems of older male dogs. Most older dogs will develop prostate disease or testicular tumors if they survive to an old enough age. Castration can also reduce the risk of perianal tumors and perineal hernias.
5) Population control. Millions of dogs are destroyed annually at animal shelters across the United States and Canada. Neutering and males is as important as spaying females when it comes to population control and can be seen as one of the greatest benefits to society today.
Are there any risks?
Nowadays, with the broad selection of modern anesthetic agents and improved monitoring, anesthesia has never been safer. As with any procedure requiring anesthesia, pre-anesthetic blood work is highly recommended prior to your pet’s neutering procedure. Along with a thorough physical exam prior to surgery, pre-anesthetic blood testing evaluates the internal organ functions of your pet and can help determine if your pet has any significant anesthetic risks. A staff member would be happy to further discuss pre-anesthetic blood work with you at your next appointment.
What type of aftercare is expected?
Most young and healthy animals recover without incident. After discharge from the hospital, it is important to ensure that your dog does not lick excessively at its incision line until it is fully healed. Constant monitoring or a protective collar, known as an Elizabethan collar, will be required if excessive licking is observed following neutering. There will be no sutures to remove and no need for a recheck appointment unless problems develop.