Spay and Neuter!

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About Spay and Neuter!

For people who are responsible AND loving in their ownership of their fuzzy friends. Rescues, maintained feral colonies, the happiest of mutts, you name it.....please post your photos of your happy, healthy, spayed and neutered critters! Cats, bunnies, dogs, goats, horses, you name it.

Feel free to comment!


Why Spay and Neuter? Well....personally, from someone who works in an animal shelter and spends much time and money raising orphaned and lost kittens, it just makes sense! This "kitten season" my fellow foster and friend Lonnie and I have alphabatized our foster groups, and are now on the letter "S".....for you don't have to go through the alphabet song in your head and count on fingers and toes like I did.....that's 19. That's a lot of hilarious photos, a lot of sleepless nights bottle feeding, a lot of tears, happy and sad, a lot of cranky kittens getting various medications, a lot of darling, wonderful little fuzzybutts finding happy, forever homes. All kittens are spayed or neutered, microchippped, vaccinated, and tested for feline leukemia and feline aids prior to adoption. Whew. And, the San Diego Shelter system is supported by a number of different animal rescue organizations, over 200, actually, in a wide variety, from reptiles to rabbites and ferrets, to breed specific dog to rescues that take in any mixed breed cat or dog, the shelters here thrive because of this partnership. And, it must be working--San Diego has one of the highest animal save rates in the nation. ( www.sddac.com/docs/SDAWC.pdf ) So in a nutshell, I absolutely support not as many abandoned kittens and puppies coming in to the shelter, and I really really hope this helps prevent unwanted adolescent and adult animals coming in in the future.

Now, the practical side.......
Health Benefits

The benefits to your pet's health and life expectancy are the best argument for spaying and neutering. Here are the facts:
Problems and potential risks involved with pregnancy and birth are eliminated.
Sterilized pets tend to live at least two to three years longer than unsterilized pets.
The likelihood of developing mammary tumors or uterine infections increases the longer a female goes unspayed. A female cat or dog spayed before sexual maturity (6-9 months of age) has one seventh the risk of developing mammary cancer, compared to an intact female. Breast cancer is fatal in about 50 percent of female dogs and 90 percent of female cats.
Neutering a male cat or dog by six months of age prevents testicular cancer, prostate disease, and hernias.
Spaying a female cat or dog helps prevent pyometra (a pus-filled uterus) and breast cancer and having this done before the first heat offers the best protection from these diseases. Treatment of pyometra requires hospitalization, intravenous fluids, antibiotics and spaying.
Sterilization reduces the incidence of injury and disease.
Uterine infection is common in older animals and this risk is eliminated by spaying.

Aside from your being able to enjoy your pet more, your pets will be spared much suffering and the cost advantages to you can be enormous. There's just no excuse not to!

Improved Behavior

Spaying or neutering will not alter your pet's personality for the worse - quite the opposite! The benefits with regard to behavior are many:

Neutering reduces the need to breed, and that has a calming effect on many animals. Your pet can relax and enjoy being part of the family.
Sterilization eliminates sexual frustration and related behaviors such as "leg humping".
A female dog in heat will attract attention from every male dog in the vicinity, making walks an unpleasant affair. With a spayed female you don't have to worry about male dogs coming into your yard in search of your female dog.
Female cats in heat will attract attention from unneutered male cats in the neighborhood. They will linger near your house, howling to attract the female's attention and spraying your walls with urine. Once your female cat is spayed these problems stop.
Stops marking/spraying by male dogs, cats, and rabbits (marking/spraying means leaving strong-smelling urine on furniture, carpets, walls, etc.).
Neutered dogs and cats tend to stop roaming (running away).
Altered rabbits are less likely to be protective of their cage or living space.
A sterilized pet is friendlier with other pets and is less likely to bite unprovoked. Dogs are more likely to get along well with other dogs at the dog park/beach. A spayed or neutered rabbit can safely and peacefully live with another rabbit.

FACT: Unneutered dogs cause nearly 100% of serious bites and nearly 60% of those bite incidents involve children!

Please spay or neuter your pets. Everyone around you - including the pet - will be happier.

Cost Savings

There are substantial financial benefits to spaying and neutering your pet(s):

Sterilization eliminates or reduces the urge to run away and the cost and worry of injuries and impounds. If you have ever had to go to an emergency hospital because your dog was in a dog fight, you are most likely aware of how costly that can be. And if you ever went through the misery of a lost dog, you know that in addition to the trauma to you and your family, advertising and impound fees (the fees you pay to take your dog home from Animal Control) can be considerable.

A male, sensing a female in heat nearby, can break down doors and jump fences in his desire to mate which can be very costly to fix. If that female dog had been in your car while in heat, male dogs may scratch at it and damage the paint in an attempt to get in since long after your dog was taken from the car, the scent remains.

Sterilization eliminates the worry, hassle and cost of litters. To properly raise a litter of puppies or kittens, they must be cared for until at least 8 weeks of age which involves the cost of food, inoculations (shots), gates and other containment items, toys, etc. - not to mention the time that is required or the vet fees you may end up paying if there are complications before, during, or after birth.

Spaying and neutering reduces the costs resulting from pet overpopulation such as those incurred by animal control agencies and law enforcement. It frees up public funds for other essential services like police, schools and health services. Without it, you pay with your tax dollars and the animals pay with their lives!

Sterilization cuts the cost of dog licensing by more than half in most areas and in some areas, the first year is free; the reduced dog license fees alone will offset the cost of the spay/neuter procedure.

The alternative is just not worth it! Animal overpopulation has a price none of us can afford.

Pet Overpopulation

Almost everyone loves puppies and kittens, but unfortunately some people lose interest once the little guys grow up. As a result, many animals are abandoned or brought to shelters, most of which are already over-crowded. Other animals are taken to shelters because their owners move, can no longer handle a pet's problem behavior, become ill or develop allergies, have a baby, or become financially unable to continue caring for their pets. Millions of cats and dogs of all ages and breeds are euthanized annually. Being purebred, young, or cute does not guarantee a ticket out of the shelter. Stray animals rarely survive for long on their own. Most strays suffer and die from starvation, diseases, parasites, freezing or being hit by cars. Anyone who has seen an animal euthanized in a shelter for lack of a home knows the agonizing truth behind the pet-overpopulation problem.

The fact is that sterilization increases an animal's chance for a permanent home. Many hormone-driven problem behaviors are improved or entirely eliminated. Most of the reasons that pets are given up stem from behavior problems such as house soiling, roaming (running away from home) or aggression towards other animals. Working with the animal is not an option for many people when it is so much easier easier to just get rid of it. And everyone wants to have a popular breed. So much so, that irresponsible breeding has become a huge and profitable industry. The unfortunate result has been over-breeding which has created "purebreds" that are anything but pure. They come from "puppy mills" and are sold for a good deal of money and profit in pet stores, newspapers, or over the internet. Regardless of the "papers" that the puppy comes with, there is absolutely no guarantee that it does not have genetic defects or will develop a serious illness in the near future. Due to the "factory" conditions under which they were kept, the likelihood is substantial. And if it is sick or not sold at the pet store, its destiny is - at best - questionable.

Every puppy or kitten that is bought from a breeder or "taken in" from an accidental litter means that one less homeless cat or dog has a chance at a home. That is the cold hard truth. Please adopt from a shelter or a breed rescue group. And please don't add to the problem by allowing your dog or cat to reproduce.


Did you know that one cat or dog who has puppies and kittens, and whose puppies or kittens in turn have puppies or kittens of their own, can be responsible for the birth of 50 to 200 kittens or puppies in one year?! The numbers are even greater with rabbits, who can produce up to 12 litters each year (that's one litter every 30 days!).

FACT: One male running loose for just a few hours can impregnate many females, adding to the serious problem of unwanted puppies and kittens.

PLEASE encourage spaying and neutering in your family and community. Thank you.

(Information from SNAP--Spay Neuter Action Project, San Diego
www.snap-sandiego.org/index.htm )