HEALTH BENEFITS OF
SPAYING AND NEUTERING

Some pet owners are not aware of the advantages of spaying or neutering their pet. A spayed or neutered pet does not become fat or lazy. Their metabolism may slow down abit but all you have to do to keep that trim look is cut back a little on the food. In additionto the obvious advantage of preventing unwanted pregnancies, there are health andbehavioral benefits:

1) Spaying or neutering is foolproof birth control that lasts a lifetime.

2) Spaying or neutering provides relief from such hormone driven urges as:

  • Aggression toward other dogs, particularly for males.
  • Territorialism, that is, the tendency to be overprotective of the dog's home ground.
  • Wanderlust, that is, the desire to escape from the yard and seek sexual adventure inthe outside world.
  • Dominance.
  • Marking territory with urine/feces.
  • Unwanted sexual behavior such as riding, sniffing, licking, arousal.
  • Frustration which occurs when the behaviors dictated by hormonal urges cause thedog to behave in a way that is undesirable to the owners.

3) Protection (either partial or complete) from such hormone-induced conditions as:

MALES

  • Testicular cancer
  • Benighn prostatic hyperplasia
  • Acute and chronic prostatis, prostatic abscess
  • Perianal gland adenomas
  • Orchitis (infection of the testicles)
  • Venereal tumors
  • Perineal hernia (abdominal organs bulging out of rectum)
  • Inguinal hernia with potential organ strangulation

FEMALES

  • Breast cancer
  • Cystic endometrial hyperplasia and pyometra
  • False pregnancies
  • Mastitis (can occur during false pregnancy)
  • Transmissible venereal sarcoma
  • Ovarian and uterine tumors
  • Cystic ovaries and hyperestrogenism
  • Chronic endometritis
  • Vaginal hyperplasia and prolapse
  • Uterine torsion or uterine prolapse

(Some material by Bonnie Wilcox DVM)

Presented as a public service by Warrenton Kennel Club