Dr. Kim Ackerman

Yes! In addition to avoiding unwanted litters, pet overpopulation, and the deaths of thousands of animals in shelters every day, there are many medical and behavioral benefits to spaying and neutering.

A spay is also called an ovariohysterectomy, which refers to surgical removal of the uterus and ovaries in a female. We recommend spaying between 4 and 6 months of age, BEFORE they go into their first heat cycle. Once a female goes into her first heat cycle, her chances of developing mammary cancer increase drastically.  If a female dog or cat remains intact, she is at risk for mammary cancer, ovarian cancer, and uterine cancer. She is also at risk of developing a pyometra, which is a deadly infection of the uterus. Treatment for pyometra is spay surgery, but it is emergency surgery on a sick animal instead of an elective surgery on a healthy animal.  Intact females are also at risk of becoming pregnant.  Besides preventing unwanted litters, you want to avoid pregnancies as the pregnant female can develop dystocia (difficulty with labor and the birthing process). The life of the mother and unborn babies is at risk with every dystocia case, and an emergency C-section surgery is often required.

A neuter is also called an orchiectomy, which refers to surgical removal of the testes in a male. We recommend neutering male dogs at about 6 to 9 months of age. Un-neutered male dogs are at risk of prostatitis, prostatic abscess, prostatic cancer, and testicular cancer as long as they remain intact.  Intact male dogs may also be prone to inappropriate urination or marking, aggression issues, or roaming behavior. Neutering can prevent or address these behavioral issues.

A spay surgery is usually more involved than a neuter surgery as you must enter the abdomen during a spay surgery. In a male, if both testicles have descended, you only perform surgery on the scrotum and do not need to enter the abdomen.  In some male dogs however, the testicles have not descended. Dogs with undescended testicles are termed cryptorchid. Sometimes the testicle remains in the abdomen or sometimes it is partly descended into the inguinal canal but hasn’t made it to the scrotum yet. All male dogs should be neutered but especially cryptorchid male dogs. An undescended testicle is at a higher body temperature than it would be in the scrotum and is therefore more likely to develop into cancer.

As you can see, spaying and neutering helps prevent a myriad of medical conditions in our furry, faithful companions.  The bottom line is, please spay and neuter – it saves lives!