MenuSpay & Neuter Services for Cats and Dogs
Flowers Mill Veterinary Hospital offers spay and neuter services. “Fixing” or altering your pet is a very safe and routine animal surgery. Neutering your male pet involves removal of the testicles, whereas in females spaying removes the ovaries and uterus. The optimum time to spay or neuter your pet is between the ages of 16-20 weeks. Spaying or neutering is a part of responsible ownership, avoiding unwanted litters and offering a number of lifelong medical and behavior benefits.
Why Spaying and Neutering is Good for You and Your Pet
“Fixing” your pet provides a number of health benefits, as well as eliminates some annoying behaviors that can sometimes make pet ownership challenging.
Behaviors addressed:
- Spayed females will not go into heat cycles. You won’t have to deal with bloody discharge or, in the case of cats, inappropriate urination and needy, yowling behavior.
- Your neutered male pets won’t roam in search of a mate or get into fights with other suitors.
- Neutered male cats and dogs will have fewer tendencies to mark their territory with strong smelling urine.
- Neutered male dogs are calmer, family focused, and less likely to have aggression issues.
- Altered pets are less likely to make inappropriate sexual approaches to people or objects.
Medical benefits:
- Altered animals have a very low to no risk of mammary gland tumors or cancer; prostate cancer; perianal tumors; pyometria; and uterine, ovarian, and testicular cancers.
- Roaming pets in search of mates are more likely to be injured in fights or struck by cars.
- Unaltered fighting cats spread diseases such as feline leukemia and feline immunodeficiency syndrome.
Easing the Suffering and Pet Overpopulation
Even if homes are found for unplanned litters of kittens and puppies, they may still end up abandoned and homeless. There are hundreds of millions of stray pets living in the United States, and five to seven million enter shelters nationwide over the course of a year. Five out of ten dogs and seven out of ten cats in shelters are destroyed simply because there is no one to adopt them.
Spay or Neuter Surgery
Just as is the case with any pet surgery, we will recommend pre-surgery blood work. Since anesthetic is broken down in the kidney and liver, we’ll want to make sure those systems are functioning as they should, so that risk is minimized. Blood screening also provides information that helps us to determine the best anesthetic.
Post Surgery
When you take your cat or dog home, you’ll receive post-operative instructions. You will want to monitor your pet, keep activity low, and avoid excessive licking of the incision or surgical site. Within one to two days, your pet should be back to his or herself. Younger pets bounce back from spaying and neutering with amazing speed.