One of the major decisions by an owner that may affect a pet’s health and longevity is whether to desex their pet. The influence of desexing on behavioural characteristics, longevity, and specific diseases has been studied.
Some points to consider when making the decision of whether to have your pet desexed or not:
Some behavioral characteristics that are most influenced by desexing include:
- Roaming
- Feline urine spraying
- Canine urine marking
- Intermale aggression and fighting
Desexing pets at an early age will prevent the occurrence of almost all tumors of the reproductive tissues.
Protecting animals from benign and malignant tumors of the reproductive tissues, which account for 15% to 29% of all reported tumor types, is always a welcome option.
Tumors of the canine testis are the second most common reproductive tumor affecting the male dog. Testicular tumors represent 5% to 15% of tumors recorded in male dogs, but are exceedingly rare in male cats.
Dogs with undescended testes are approximately 13 times more likely than normal dogs to develop testicular tumors.
Other conditions that present risk factors in intact males include canine perineal hernias, prostatic disease and sexually transmitted diseases.
The most common reproductive tumors in the female dog are of mammary gland origin many of which are malignant.
Being desexed before the first season virtually eliminates the risk of mammary tumor development in dogs.
When desexing is delayed past the dog’s first season, however, the risk of mammary tumor development increases.
Female dogs which are not desexed are also at risk of infections of the uterus which can become life threatening in some cases.
When female cats come into season they will cycle every 3 weeks until they are mated – this is called “on call” as they are very vocal and male cats will make their presence known on your property while she is in season.
What if your dog or cat is accidentally mated? …… Would you like 2, 4 or 6 kittens or maybe 10-12 puppies? If not, could you find homes for all of them?
Sometimes nature does not quite go to plan and on occasion the female has great difficulty giving birth, in this instance as with humans, intervention is required to often save not only the babies but also the Mother’s life. As with all caesarians they are a major surgical procedure that carries risks and they can also become very costly.
