The Importance of Spaying/Neutering

Cheyenne Tenda
6 days ago
2 min read

We understand the topic of spaying and neutering your pets can be divisive, but we at Sunny River Pet Services & Dog Walking do not discriminate against pets that are unaltered and believe in sharing education. We are here to provide resourceful information regarding spaying and neutering to our community alongside our services.

Did you know that spaying and neutering can increase your pet’s lifespan?

Not only does it help to prevent things such as cancer and deadly infections, but it limits roaming behaviors which can increase the risk of injury via vehicle, predators, and more. Breast cancer is malignant in 50% of dog cases and 90% of cat cases.

Here are a few statistics pointed out by Humane World For Animals;

“A University of Georgia study, based on the medical records of more than 70,000 animal patients, found that the life expectancy of neutered male dogs was 13.8% longer and that of spayed female dogs was 26.3% longer."

Another study, conducted by Banfield Pet Hospitals on a database of 2.2 million dogs and 460,000 cats, reflected similar findings, concluding that neutered male dogs lived 18% longer and spayed female dogs lived 23% longer. Spayed female cats in the study lived 39% longer, and neutered male cats lived 62% longer.

A handful of studies may appear to challenge the health benefits of widespread spaying/neutering of pets by raising concerns that these surgeries may predispose some altered dogs to certain orthopedic conditions and cancers. As a result, they have caused some pet owners to question altering their pets at an early age or altering them at all. However, on closer examination, the results of these studies pertain specifically to male dogs of certain giant breeds (dogs typically weighing 90-100 pounds or more), and their conclusions shouldn't be generalized to other breeds of dogs, or to other species, including cats.”

Unaltered pets can also increase the risk of unpleasant behaviors. Has your unaltered male dog or cat been spraying/peeing in the house? Have they mounted other pets? Unaltered females enter the heat cycle, which increases howling and excessive urination. These behaviors are linked to mating instincts and hormones. Spaying and neutering is not a quick fix for removing these behaviors, but it can greatly reduce and may eliminate them.

Finally, unaltered pets can increase the massive overpopulation of pets that we have in shelters and rescues. While close supervision can help prevent unwanted pregnancies, accidents do happen. Handling a pregnancy is significantly more expensive than the cost of spaying/neutering- especially when we have local resources such as Kincheloe that offer these services at a much lower cost.