Spaying & Neutering Your Pet

The decision to spay or neuter your pet can be a difficult one, but it can be the best decision for your pet. In every community, in every state, there are homeless animals. In the U.S., there are an estimated 6-8 million homeless animals entering animal shelters every year. Barely half of these animals are adopted. Tragically, the rest are euthanized.  The number of homeless animals varies by state—in some states there are as many as 300,000 homeless animals euthanized in animal shelters every year. These are not the offspring of homeless "street" animals—these are the puppies and kittens of cherished family pets and even purebreds. Many people are surprised to learn that nationwide, more than 2.7 million healthy, adoptable cats and dogs are euthanized in shelters annually. Spay/neuter is the only permanent, 100 percent effective method of birth control for dogs and cats.

Spaying

The canine and feline spay is an ovariohysterectomy surgery that is performed under general anesthesia. It is an abdominal surgery that will require days 10-14 days of restricted activity, at which time the sutures will be removed at no additional charge. It is typically recommended to spay a female before the first heat cycle (6-8 months of age).

Benefits of spaying:

Help prevent pet overpopulation
Reduce the risk of mammary tumors, uterine infection, false pregnancies, unwanted cancers
Reduction of pets escaping your yard or home to find a mate

Neutering

The canine and feline castration is done under general anesthesia. The testes are removed and the spermatic chords are tied off in this procedure. There are typically no sutures that need to be removed after this procedure for felines. For canines it will be decided by the surgeon and may need to be removed in 10-14 days. It requires 7-10 days of restricted activity. It is typically recommended for males to be neutered between 6-12 months of age depending on current physical examinations and behaviors.

Benefits of Neutering

Reduction of wandering from the home to find a mate or to defend territory
Prevent urine marking, if the behavior has not already started
Prevention of testicular tumors
Reduction of enlarged prostate
Help prevent pet overpopulation

See our surgery page to get the details of the excellent care your pet will be provided with when they are spayed or neutered at St. Francis Pet Clinic.