Should I Neuter My Dog?
I get asked “Should I Neuter My Dog” Well my personal belief is that all pet dogs should be neutered. There is simply no need for anymore puppies on this earth. We do not have a dog shortage but a huge surplus. In fact there are millions of dogs put to death every year. There simply aren’t enough homes for all of them. I have heard people breed their dog and argue that they already have good homes for them all. In reality if it was a litter of 5 puppies that means 5 other dogs will have to be euthanized in their place instead. I will not go into the math of how a few unspayed dogs can multiply into a million but you get the picture. I would hope that this alone should be enough reason to neuter you dog.
If you are still reading maybe you are not yet convinced. Here are some health benefits for neutering your dog. Neuter is the term used for both male and female animal sterilization. Spay is used to refer to a female animal being neutered. There are many health benefits to early spaying of your dog. I think the most important is the huge reduction of mammary tumors. The risk can be reduced to less than 1% if she is spayed before her first heat. Spaying also reduces the risk of tumors of the ovaries and uterus. Also the longer a dog goes without being spayed the risk increases for serious infections of the uterus. These infections can sometimes go unnoticed and become life threatening. Pregnancy in itself is not always without complications. Sometimes a dog will require an emergency cesarean section if unable to delivery her pups naturally.
Castration is the term used to refer to the neutering of a male animal. Male dogs also benefit from neutering in many ways. Most importantly it reduces the risk of tumors in the penis, prostate, and anal area. It also helps prevent infection and enlargement of the prostate. Sixty percent of dogs over age 5 will have problems due to an enlargement of the prostate. Your dogs risk of perinea hernias will be reduced as well after neutering.
Aside from medical benefits there are many other reasons to neuter your dog. First is the cost of any of the above medical costs. Not to mention injury caused by dogs fighting or getting hit by a car while pursuing a female in heat. When I worked at the animal hospital a lot of men would argue that it was cruel to neuter their male dog. Most of them never considered how cruel and frustrating it was for their dogs when a female was in heat. A male dog can smell a dog in heat for miles away, now that is cruel.
A neutered dog makes a much better pet in general. They are less likely to wander the streets and more content to stay home. This decreases the chances of injury from cars, dog fights or even from getting lost.
Techniques and anesthetics have advanced a lot over the years. Now it is not uncommon for a puppy to be neutered as young as 6-14 weeks of age. Over the years there have been many discussion about this subject. At this time it seems that the general opinion is that this is a very safe practice and is widely used by most animal hospitals and humane shelters around the world.
Well I hope this has helped shed some light on the importance of neutering your dog and if any one asked Should I Neuter My Dog ? please refer this article. If you still have any questions I am sure your vet or local shelter will be glad to answer them for you.
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