World Spay Day And Why It’s So Important

If you have a pet (and even if you don’t), then you’ve probably been advised to spay and neuter your pet. Though the importance of the surgery is often stressed, not all pet parents understand the reasoning behind this.

The reality is that spaying and neutering your animals has a wide variety of health, population, and even environmental benefits. Sterilized animals not only lead better lives themselves, but also increase the quality of live overall for all animal populations, including dogs and cats in shelters and on the streets.

These benefits and the research surrounding spay and neuter procedures has never been so widely available or thoroughly supported. So on World Spay Day, observed on February 23^rd this year, we’d like to take the opportunity to talk about the benefits of spay and neuter procedures, break down what actually happens during surgery, and provide resources for interested pet parents.

Keep reading to learn more about spay and neuter operations and why they’re so important to the health and wellbeing of your pet.

Benefits Of Spaying And Neutering

There are a wide variety of benefits to spaying and neutering your pets, many of which directly relate to their health. These include:

• Helps prevent uterine infections and breast tumors in female animals, which are malignant or cancerous in a whopping 90% of cats and 50% of dogs.
• Lowers the chance of testicular cancer and prostate problems in male animals.
• Reduces the risk of other health problems, including perianal tumors, pyometria, and Feline Immunodeficiency Syndrome.
• Resolves many behavioral problems, such as marking/ urinating, mounting, and aggression.
• Prevents heat-related behavior and issues, such roaming tendencies and accidental pregnancies.
• Increases dog life expectancy by an average of 1 – 3 years and cat life expectancy by an average of 3 – 5 years.

Overall, animals who are spayed or neutered live happier, healthier, and longer lives.

Spaying and neutering also has positive impacts for the animal population as a whole. When you ‘fix’ your pet, you prevent them from becoming pregnant and potentially producing unwanted puppies, kittens, etc.

This means there are less animals that have to be rehomed or adopted, reducing the surplus of pets also known as ‘companion animal overpopulation.’ Companion animal overpopulation is a serious issue in many countries, including the United States.

Unfortunately, cats outnumber humans 45:1. Dogs aren’t much better, outnumbering humans 15:1. Put simply, there are more animals than there are people who can take care of them. This causes shelters and other organizations to euthanize animals due to a lack of space, resources, or adoption availability.

But spaying and neutering your animals helps reduce the surplus population, thereby also reducing euthanasia rates and helping more animals find loving homes.

What Happens During Spaying And Neutering Surgeries

We understand if you’re apprehensive about spaying or neutering your pet. After all, putting them through a surgery of any kind is daunting, even if it’s non- or minimally invasive.

It’s usually easier for pet parents to make an appointment for this procedure when they understand exactly what it does.

You’ve already learned about why spaying and neutering is important, so here we cover exactly how vets perform these vital operations.

When your pet undergoes a spay or neuter surgery, here’s exactly what happens:

• Before your pet undergoes surgery, they’ll be given a shot to make them sleep and help with pain. Then, they’ll be put under general anesthesia and intubated. This means that a breathing tube will be inserted into their throat for the duration of the surgery.
• Once under anesthesia, your pet’s oxygen levels and heart rate will be constantly monitored. They’ll also be placed on a heated blanket during and after surgery.
• During a spay surgery (ovariohysterectomy), the ovaries, fallopian tubes, and uterus are removed from a female animal. Incisions are made below the belly button into the abdomen, through which the listed organs are removed.
• During a neuter surgery (orchiectomy), the testes are removed from a male animal. Incisions are made at the base of the penis near the scrotum, through which the testes are removed.
• Incisions for both surgeries are closed with two layers of dissolvable stitches under the skin, while the skin itself is closed with either glue, staples, or more stitches.

Typically, it takes roughly 20 – 90 minutes to spay a dog and 15 – 20 minutes to spay a cat. A dog takes anywhere from 5 – 20 minutes.

The exception to this is male cats who are neutered. Because the surgery only takes an average of two minutes or less to complete, it’s more sensible to use a face mask. Their incisions are made directly on the scrotum and are not sealed, since the incision will close on its own. Additionally, heated blankets are only used after the neuter is complete.

Spaying and neutering are routine procedures that vets perform thousands of times over their career. They’ll be able to guide you through the process and explain it in more detail, if desired.

They’ll also provide you with thorough aftercare instructions and pain medication to help your pet have a speedy recovery.

How To Spay Your Animals

If you’re unsure about how to schedule an appointment to spay your cat, dog, or other animal, here are some helpful suggestions to help get the process started:

• Call 1-800-248-SPAY – This hotline will help you find the nearest low-cost spay and neuter clinic.
• Referral Programs – Just like the hotline above, programs like SpayUSA match up callers with affordable spay/ neuter programs and clinics near them.
• Call Your Vet – If you already have a vet, call them and ask if they perform spay and neuter surgeries. If they don’t, ask if they have referrals or call other local offices.
• Search For Services – You can also go online and search for local spay services and clinics near you.
• Voucher Programs – These programs subsidize or reduce the cost of spay and neuter procedures for qualifying low-income pet owners.

It’s not just veterinarian offices that perform spay and neuter procedures. Many organizations, such as PETA and the SPCA, also sponsor these surgeries because of how important they are to animal welfare.

Sources:

• https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/general-pet-care/spayneuter-your-pet
• https://www.animalleague.org/get-involved/spay-usa/benefits-spaying-or-neutering-pets/
• https://www.avma.org/resources/pet-owners/petcare/spaying-and-neutering
• https://www.mspca.org/pet_resources/ask-a-vet-all-you-need-to-know-about-spayneuter-surgery/