Animal Haven Clinic performs surgical spays and neuters on cats and dogs when they are 6 months of age or older. This allows some time for growth, time for their immune systems to develop more and its before they become sexually mature.

In females if you spay either a dog or cat before their first heat cycle you can reduce their chances of developing mammory tumors to almost nothing. After the first and second heat cycle the chances of developing tumors goes up to 25%. Even if a dog is older spaying can be helpful as some females will develop a pyometra ( a pus filled uterus) secondary to progesterone surges. This complication can be life threatening.

Males, likewise, can develop testicular and prostatic caner or abscesses. In generally they tend to wander more and get in fights that may need veterinary attention.

In areas such as ours where there are already so many pets available and so many unwanted pets, Animal Haven Clinic recommends spaying and neutering to help control the number of unwanted pets as well.

Although many people associate sterilizing their pets with weigh gain this isn’t actually a foregone conclusion. The animals only gain excessively because they are still fed as intact pets. Intact pets tend to metabolize faster and therefore, in general, maintain their weight better. However with a few changes any animal can be maintained if monitored.

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