February is recognized as “Spay and Neuter Awareness Month” throughout the U.S.  The purpose of celebrating the day is to encourage pet owners to get their pets sterilized before the arrival of spring and summer months.

Spring and summer are associated with the rampant overproduction of puppies and kittens. The experience can get really unmanageable for most animal shelters, hence, spaying and neutering helps to prevent the problem.

Although neutering and spaying are associated with fixing male and female pets respectively, neutering can be used in the case of both male and female pets. Castration, sterilizing, and fixing is few of the contemporary terms used by most people.

Benefits of Spaying and Neutering your Pets

a. Female pets live a longer and healthier life

Spaying has major health benefits to female pets. It helps prevent uterine infections and breast cancer, which is rampant in about 50 percent of dogs and 90 percent of cats. Spaying female pets before their first heat prevent from these diseases.

b. Neutering provides major health benefits to male pets

Besides preventing unwanted litters, neutering male dogs prevent testicular cancer and some prostate problems.

c. The spayed female won't go into heat

While cycles can vary, female cats usually go into heat four to five days every three weeks during breeding season. To attract males, they often yowl and urinate -sometimes all over the house! Spaying prevents female feline from going into heat.

d. The male dog won't want to roam away from home

An intact male often roams outside home to find a possible mate. Neutering your pet helps to keep them grounded and prevent unnecessary roaming outside the home.

e. Neutered males are well behaved

Neutered pets focus their attention on their human families. Unneutered dogs and cats generally mark their territory by spraying strong-smelling urine all over the house, and they tend to be aggressive. Neutering pets help to prevent aggression.

f. Spaying or neutering doesn’t make pets obese

Fixing your pets doesn’t invite obesity, lack of exercise and overfeeding does! Keeping your pet fit is more to do with daily diet, calorie intake, and exercise.

g. It is highly cost-effective.

Spaying and neutering pets cost lesser than you have imagined. It also prevents any unnecessary accidents, health issues which can cost more in the near future.

h. Good for Community!

Stray animals pose a real problem in a human settlement. They tend to prey on wildlife, invite car accidents, damage the local infrastructure, scratch or bite children etc. Spaying and neutering help to prevent aggression and overproduction of pups and kittens.

i. Education purpose

Millions of pets land in animal shelters every year, most of them are euthanized because only fewer pets ever get adopted. Fixing your pets helps to educate society including young children about the benefits of spay and neuter.

Control pet population

Every year, millions of cats and dogs of all ages and breeds are euthanized or suffer as strays. To prevent animals from landing up in animal shelters or outright being assaulted on street, you can consider spaying and neutering them to control the unnecessary childbirth.