At the wellness visit, we discuss with pet owners the right time to spay or neuter any dog or cat that is not part of a breeding program. Some pet owners are confused or dismayed at the thought of this surgery, but your friends at Plum Street Pet Clinic are happy to answer any questions you have about this procedure.Spay and neuter surgery is done in our office by the veterinarian while your pet is safely under anesthesia. We perform pre-surgical lab tests, such as blood work and diagnostic testing, to ensure the safety of every patient. Your pet is monitored carefully throughout the procedure, until fully alert and recovered from anesthesia. Your Plum Street Pet Clinic professionals are with your pet throughout and, should your pet require an overnight stay, a veterinarian is on-site through the night.
Visit our Veterinary Surgery page for more about our surgical protocols.
Health Benefits to Spaying & Neutering
Beyond birth control, the benefits to pets far outweigh the inconvenience of this routine procedure.
The benefits of spaying females include:
- No heat cycles to attract males
- Less desire to roam
- Reduced risk of mammary gland tumors
- Reduced or eliminated risk of ovarian and/or uterine cancer
- Increased health and longevity
The benefits of neutering males include:
- Decreased aggressive behavior
- Reduced or eliminated spraying and marking
- Less desire to roam
- Less likely to be injured in fights or auto accidents
- Eliminated risk of testicular cancer
- Decreased risk of prostate disease
- Increased health and longevity
This routine surgical procedure is a small price to pay for the long and healthy life of your pet.
Benefits to Your Community
Obviously, spaying and neutering pets reduces the number of unwanted cats and dogs. Numbering in the millions, unwanted pets are euthanized daily in our animal hospitals and shelters. Often, people abandon unwanted pets and they become a public nuisance. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) states:
“Unwanted animals are becoming a very real concern in many places. Stray animals can easily become a public nuisance, soiling parks and streets, ruining shrubbery, frightening children and elderly people, creating noise and other disturbances, causing automobile accidents, and sometimes even killing livestock or other pets.”
Taxpayers and animal care agencies pay over a billion dollars each year to capture, impound, and euthanize these abandoned or feral animals. A potential source of rabies and other diseases, the stray animal population has become a public health hazard. Your effort to spay and neuter your pet is an important step to alleviating this serious problem.
