Many great websites are out there promoting spay/neuter. We all know that spaying and neutering is the best way to stop pet overpopulation. What if you just don’t care about anything but your own pet? This is the page to read!
Reasons to spay a female dog or cat:
Spaying a female dog or cat reduces hormone fluctuations, which can help control any other conditions the dog or cat may have such as diabetes, epilepsy, or demodex mange. Fossum, et al. Small Animal Surgery, 2nd Edition, 2002. p616
50% of dog mammary tumors (breast lumps) and 90% of cat mammary tumors are malignant (cancerous). Ogilvie, Moore. Managing the Veterinary Cancer Patient: a practice manual. 1995
If a female dog is spayed before her first heat cycle, her risk of developing breast cancer is only 0.05%. If she is spayed after having only one heat cycle, her risk of breast cancer jumps to 8%. If she is spayed after her second heat cycle, that risk becomes 26%… that’s more than 1 in 4! Spaying a dog after her third heat cycle may reduce the risk of mammary carcinoma (breast cancer) but not appreciably. The take-home message: intact female dogs are 50 times more likely to get breast cancer than a dog spayed prior to her first heat cycle. Ogilvie, Moore. Managing the Veterinary Cancer Patient: a practice manual. 1995
Cats that are spayed prior to 1 year of age have a low 0.6% risk of developing mammary carcinoma, which is a very aggressive, often fatal, cancer in cats. More than 99% of cats diagnosed with mammary carcinoma are intact (not spayed). Fossum, et al. Small Animal Surgery, 2nd Edition, 2002. p632-633
Pyometra is an infection and accumulation of pus inside the uterus. It can cause the liver and kidneys to fail, and can be fatal if the animal is not spayed as treatment. If the uterus is weak and ruptures either before or during surgery, this leads to death in 57% of dogs. It is rare for a spayed dog to develop pyometra. Fossum, et al. Small Animal Surgery, 2nd Edition, 2002. p644
Spaying prevents estrous, or the heat cycle. Dogs that no longer cycle rarely get vaginal prolapse/hyperplasia or vaginal cysts, as these are hormonally based. Fossum, et al. Small Animal Surgery, 2nd Edition, 2002. p645
Early spaying can effectively reduce dog to dog aggression. Hart BL. Effects of neutering and spaying on the behavior of dogs and cats: questions and answers about practical concerns. J Am Vet Med Assoc 198:1204-5, 1981a
It has become common knowledge that spaying a dog effectively stops the occurance of messy, bloody heat cycles, and the animal cannot reproduce.
Common sense tell us that if an animal does not have a uterus, she cannot develop cancer of the uterus, uterine torsion, infection (pyometra), inflammation (metritis), or prolapse! If she does not have ovaries, she cannot develop ovarian cancer!
