Spays and castrations

The topic of spays and castrations is a sensitive one and some people object to it for different reasons, especially when street cats are concerned but also when pets are concerned.

A queen’s pregnancy is about 2 months long and after which she will give birth to 8 kittens in average. These kittens will reach puberty in their first year of life, therefore their propagation is quite rapid and in a relatively short period of time, that same queen will have a family tree containing thousands of offspring living on the streets. Unfortunately, most of this queen's offspring will not be vaccinated and will not have proper veterinary care and will, therefore, contract diseases, get hit by cars, starve, suffer from the cold, freeze and might even, God forbid, fall victims to animal abuse. It is very clear, then, that spaying and castration of street cats is the only humane way to prevent this grave scenario. Although it is quite clear, it is still important to emphasize that the street cats' propagation is so vast and rapid that despite the spaying/castration that the municipalities perform, there is no risk that the street cats will disappear.

When it comes to house pets the case is a little different. Most owners that object to spaying and castration do that out of personification of their pets. In most cases, men claim that they do not want to castrate their dog because "he deserves to have some fun" and women claim that they will not spay their bitch because "she deserves to feel what it is like to be a mom."

Dear men, unlike us humans, dogs are not aware of the opposite sex in that sense, except for when they are in heat and produce pheromones that attract and arouse the males. A castrated dog that will never mate will never feel as if he was missing out.

Dear women, just like male dogs, bitches do not dream of motherhood and even if they did, is it fair to let them experience that and then, after a few months, take their puppies away?

It is very important to remember that besides the fact that spaying and castration prevent having unwanted puppies, they also have health benefits. Castrated dogs are easier to handle and are less aggressive. They tend to fight less with other dogs and are, therefore, at a lower risk of injury. Castration decreases the testosterone blood levels and, therefore, decreases the risk of prostate hyperplasia. In addition, mature dogs often develop testicular cancer. This case, too, is obviously prevented by castration.

Spayed bitches are at a lower risk of developing mammary cancer. Researches have shown that the chances of developing mammary cancer increase with increasing number of heats that the bitch has. In addition, mature bitches might develop pyometra (an infection of the uterus.) This case, too, is obviously prevented by spaying the bitch. Spaying, obviously, also prevents unwanted pregnancy and complications such as metritis, mastitis, eclampsia, etc.

Researches have shown that, on average, spayed females and castrated males live longer than intact animals.

We, here at Vets4Pets, recommend spaying/castrating not sooner than 6 months of age is both dogs and cats. In order to lower the risk of urine incontinence in bitches, we recommend spaying after the first heat. If the bitch/queen is in heat it is strongly advised to wait until it is over because the uterus and its blood vessels are engorged and the risk of the operation is higher.

During castration, the testes are removed and during a spay the uterus and the ovaries are removed. However, recovery from the operation is relatively quick and most patients go back to normal activity by one day after surgery. It is important to remember that despite their willingness to go back to their normal activity these animals should be rested several days after their operation.