Why All Cats & Dogs Should Be Spayed & Neutered

What Is Spaying & Neutering?

Spaying is more technically called an ovariohysterectomy (OVH) in which the ovaries and the uterus are surgically removed, or an ovariectomy (OV) in which only the ovaries are removed. OV is not commonly performed in the U.S. Which procedure should your pet have? Whichever one your vet is comfortable performing; there's benefits to both procedures, but ultimately it's just important that it's done correctly.

Neutering is more technically called an orchiectomy (OE) in which the testicles are surgically removed. In some cases, some surgeon's choose to perform a scrotal ablation, which is to surgically remove the scrotum. Scrotal ablation has some pros and cons, but ultimately the best choice is whatever your vet recommends for your pet and is comfortable performing.

We generally use the term intact to describe the reproductive status of pets that have not been spayed or neutered, and the term sterilized to describe having the reproductive organs removed, which can be further categorized by male (neutered) or female (spayed).

Why Is It So Important?

1. Pet overpopulation is a major animal welfare issue, as it is the leading cause of death in cats and is the reason why millions of animals are killed each year and millions more spend their lives in over-crowded, under-funded shelters. Not only is it terrible to animals, but it's bad for us too, as stray animals are a major threat to public health. Luckily, this is totally preventable by simply spaying and neutering your pet. Better yet, adopt your pet from a shelter where they're spayed or neutered before coming home.

2. Major health benefits including eliminating the risks of testicular cancer, aggression, and prostate disease in male dogs and ovarian, uterine, and mammary cancers, and a common, life-threatening uterine infection called pyometra.

3. Prevents pets from running away, where they are often injured during their escape, being hit by cars, or attacked by other animals, as pets that are intact are extremely motivated to get to other intact dogs.

When Should My Pet Be Spayed or Neutered?

This is a controversial topic and an area of somewhat limited legitimate research. The general consensus is that there are both pros and cons of sterilizing at younger vs older ages. My recommendations are the following:

1. Adopt your pet from a shelter so you don't even need to make this decision

2. Dogs who will be less than 30 lbs as an adult should wait to have their adult canines grow in (between 4-6 months old) because they commonly need to have their baby canine teeth surgically removed if the adult teeth don't push the baby teeth out. Both the tooth extraction and sterilization can be performed during the same anesthetic procedure, which reduces financial cost for the owner and risk to the pet.

3. Larger dogs should be sterilized before you have to deal with annoying reproductive behaviors set in, which will typically start around 6-8 months, but can happen sooner as there is always so much individual variation.

4. Kittens and cats are often being sterilized as little as 1 lb, which usually correlates to 4 weeks old, because overpopulation is the leading cause of death in cats. This is the best recommendation for the overall cat population, but putting such a young animal under anesthesia is a little more risky for the individual pet. In the grand scheme of things, it is better to have a risky procedure than to be euthanized, so until the cat population is better controlled, any cat over the age of 4 weeks old should be spayed as soon as possible.

Want to learn more about the very serious problem of pet overpopulation?

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