Why Spay or Neuter Your Dog

When you do not intend to breed your dog, it always good to spay or neuter it. There are many reasons for this some of which are explained below

1. Cost

Though you will be charged a fee for spaying or neutering your dog, the cost is small compared to future costs of taking care of puppies, treating diseases that your dog might suffer from as well as keeping males from your compound when she is on heat.

2. Reduce risk of disease

These two procedures have been found to greatly reduce the risk of certain diseases such as mammary gland tumours and pyometra in female, urinary tract infections and testicular cancer in males.

3. Prevent straying or wandering

Both females and males may become difficult to handle during the mating season. Females will continually attract male attention and may at times wander from the compound to look for more suitors. Males will often run away in search of a female on heat since they can easily detect pheromones secreted by the female.

4. Avoid injuries

Males will often fight each other in order to be able to mate a female on heat. When females are spotting, they are not really on heat during this time they may not welcome male advance and this may lead to fights that result in a lot of growling and snapping at her male visitors. During this time, you might have to deal with a lot of dog bites.

5. Reduce overpopulation

Bitches are very fertile and may at times end up with litters as big as 14 puppies. Such litters will only add to the dog population. Due to the costs involved, most people end up neglecting such dogs and they end up as strays on the streets or in the local animal shelters. This can be prevented by having your dog spayed.

6. Promote better behaviour

Neutered males are generally better behaved. There is less territory marking and they will also not be as aggressive. Spayed females are gentler and will also have less mood swings.

Spaying or neutering is a procedure that is done by a veterinarian. It involves surgical removal of the ovary, fallopian tubes and uterus in bitches while in males, the testicles are removed. All this is done while the dog is under general anaesthesia.

The timing of the surgery may take from 30 minutes to an hour depending on the vet surgeon who performs the procedure. Later, the dog is given some antibiotics to help it recover. For more details on how to choose a vet, you might want to perform abit of research on this.

If the area is not infected and there are no complications, the wound heals nicely with almost no scar. When the wound margins have opposed well, the sutures (stitches) are removed.

Spaying is preferably done after the dog has her first heat. This is done so in order for her feminine characteristics to develop. You can also have the procedure done earlier if you like. Please seek help from your local vet for more details.

It is important to ensure that the diet of your spayed or neutered dog is modified to ensure that they do not gain too much weight. Also, these dogs will require regular exercise to keep them fit.

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