February is spay and neuter awareness month!
Did you know that in the us there are 70 million stray cats and dogs in the USA?
Why should you spay and neuter your dogs?
For many reasons, including health and unwanted litters. It can help with weight and aggression issues, as well as infections, and breast and testicular cancer. The only reason for weight gain afterward is due to decreased metabolism or maturation.
Prevents Unwanted Litters
The biggest issue out there is that also prevents unwanted litters. Did you know that some dogs can have up to 15 pups? A lot of people say they want to breed their dog once before spaying because they are purebred, or because they are one of a kind, or you like their personality. However, this is what is commonly known as a backyard breeder, someone who has no experience in breeding and or wants the money that comes out of this.
Backyard Breeding Is Problematic
You can also lose a lot of money by becoming a breeder. Sometimes during labor, a pup can get stuck in the birthing canal, and the mom will need an emergency C section which is very expensive. Or puppy gets sick or breaks a leg, or even better, swallows an unknown object? Surgeries for this can cost from $1,000-10,000. This can cause so many issues with the litter if you have no idea what you are doing before you have the litter. All the more reason to spay and neuter your pets.
Raising Pups is Work
My boss told me of a Borzoi, aka Russian Wolfhound litter, that had 15 pups. A female dog has 8 to 10 teats, so the momma dog needs help with supplements and human help to feed her brood to be healthy and for everyone to survive. My boss’s friends ran their business from their home, and were breeders. They did this for show and confirmation. They had a pup in their hand all the time.
Every time a delivery man came, her friends handed the pup to the delivery person with a puppy, bottle, and a rag so that they could sign for the packages. The owners of the pups were up every two hours in the night to feed the pups, and they did this for 6 weeks, until the pups started eating hard food. This is a true breeder, one of dedication. Have you seen the Westminster show on TV? These are dedicated breeders improving the breed standard VS. the backyard breeders with any dog. Her friends found good homes for all of them but also kept a couple for their showing.
There are More Animals than Humans
Cats can have up to 25 liters per year-per year!! Can you imagine that? All the health issues you would prevent just from that? The female cat can go into heat anytime from 8 months to a year. We have too many animals in our shelters right at this moment anyways for anyone to be having litters.
Euthanizing is a huge thing in shelters right now in the US. They are overpopulated, and so they have to euthanize a lot of animals to make room for more or to reduce their costs for having that many. But luckily, we have more shelters that are not allowing authorization and just fostering to make more room. Now, most shelters require spay and neutering before the animals are allowed to go up for adoption! This is in 26 states!! Which is a good thing because we don’t need our shelters overrun more than they are right now!!
It’s Perfectly Safe
A lot of owners feel that spaying and neutering their animals will harm their animals. That is only the case if your vet says, though, and it is very rare. In almost 99% of cases, it is extremely healthy to neuter your animal. The cost and range, and if you go to the right places, it can cost you from $35-$600. It is MUCH cheaper to spay and neuter than to have a litter. Many states and counties have established low-cost spay-neuter programs that make surgery easily affordable and accessible.
This is the time of year that breeding season is at its best, so having your animal neutered can help reduce the number of strays on the streets as well.
Did you know that dogs and cats can get neutered as early as two months? Historic records indicate that surgical procedures to sterilize male animals dates as far back as 284 B.C.
The study of spay and neuter found that a neutered male dog lives 13.8% longer, and spayed females live 26.3% longer! For cats, it’s 39% longer for females that are spayed and 62% for neutered males! Did you know that a momma cat can have up to 3 litters in 1 year? Don’t get me wrong, who doesn’t love kittens? Right? But we also don’t want them to take over the world.
Intact dogs and cats tend to urinate for marking tendencies. After being neutered, this will decrease spraying. However, some cats can still do this.
There are more animals because of this than there are humans. This means not every pet can be adopted unless everyone had a farm and can get 15 to 20 pets. Getting your pets neutered can also spread awareness to other people. This can help prevent all of the issues above that we have talked about. The more people are aware, the better the outcome it is for the pets and us.
So please, please, please. Get your animal neutered or spayed for their health and your peace of mind.