Great Reasons to Spay and Neuter Your Pets

Pet overpopulation is becoming a larger problem every day. It not only results in many cruel and unwanted deaths of these poor defenseless animals, but it also results in higher taxes because someone has to pay to put down these animals. The plain and simple fact is that there are over ten million unwanted cats and dogs that are euthanized each year. Another scary fact is that four out of five littermates will be euthanized within the first year of their life. How cruel is this? Most of the cats and dogs that are born each year do not even have a fighting chance to live a good life. There is only one simple and easy way to stop this growing death rate: spaying and neutering your pets.

There are many benefits to spaying and neutering your dogs and cats. The benefits for spaying a female dog are numerous. First of all you will not have to pay for the care of puppies that are birthed by this female. You will save a lot of hassle in finding a good home for the puppies. You will also not have to deal with the dog coming into heat and bleeding all over you, furniture, and anything else of worth. You will also be preventing false pregnancies, which up to 50% of dogs suffer from. You will eliminate visits from aggressive males that are trying to breed with the female. You eliminate the chance for an infection of the uterus to occur, which is quite common and usually results in death. You also greatly reduce the possibility of mammary cancer, which is the cancer that is responsible for ½ of all cancer related deaths in females.

Neutering male dogs also has many benefits. First of all you will most likely save money, time, and spare feelings because the male will not roam as much; twice as many males are in an accident with an automobile and injured or killed. You will eliminate the possibility of testicular tumors in your beloved male pet. You also reduce prostatic and perianal tumors in the males. Also reduces the possibility of mounting other dogs. And the greatest of all is that males become more devoted to the family because they are not frustrated all the time with finding a mate.

Spaying female cats too has great benefits. You will initially and forever be eliminating the cost and hassle of her having kittens. You will no longer have to pay to feed kittens, and care for them. You will no longer have to find them homes, in which the majority of them will not live to see their first birthday anyways. This also eliminates the howling and roaming that is associated with trying to find a mate during the heat periods. This also eliminates the infection of the uterus. It also reduces the risk for mammary cancer to the ratio that only one of seven cases is a spayed female, the other six being unspayed.

There are four major benefits for neutering male cats. Male cats that have been neutered tend to be much calmer in the aspects of fighting; they also do not howl or roam as much because they are not trying to find a mate. Your furniture and house will also be much better because male cats that have been neutered tend to not spray for territorial rights as much as unneutered males. You will have a reduced cost from the veterinarian because your male cat will not be getting into fights all the time with other males in lieu of a female cat. Your male cat will also be more devoted to the family because he will not be searching for a mate all the time.

No one can use the excuse that hey cannot afford to spay or neuter their pets. The truth is that it costs more in the long run when you allow your pets to keep having babies and trying to find a mate. If you allow your dogs and cats to roam they are going to get injured either by fighting or in an accident with a car. You might also get sued for them attacking someone else's dog or cat, or even worse another human. If you allow your animals to have more and more babies, you have to feed more, have more veterinarian expenses, and more costs than just those. Everyone needs to do the responsible thing. These babies that are born every year did not ask to be born and then killed. Give animals a fighting chance to survive. If you need help finding a low cost place to spay or neuter your animals, please visit the ASPCA web site here and do a search for the closest provider.

Volunteers for Animal Welfare, "The Facts." Volunteers for Animal Welfare. URL: (http://www.vawokc.org/main.asp?id=6).