Spaying and neutering is not only good for the environment, it’s also good for your pet! Spaying (females) involves surgical removal of the uterus and ovaries and neutering (male) is the surgical removal of the testes under general anesthesia.

These are both routine and very common procedures but we do not take any surgery lightly and do our best to ensure your pet is healthy and safe enough to undergo anesthesia by performing a physical examination and lab work before any anesthetic procedure.

Why spay or neuter?

One of the biggest reasons is for health! Studies have shown that spayed and neutered dogs and cats live longer lives than their unaltered counterparts. Female cats are induced ovulators and can be in heat all year round if a ready male is present. Female dogs typically go into heat twice a year for 3-4 for weeks.

By removing the reproductive organs, we can prevent several health issues for the future. For females, spaying before breast tissue development (before her first heat) can nearly eliminate the risk of mammary cancer. It also can help prevent vaginal hyperplasia, uterine prolapse, cysts, pyometra (a potentially fatal infection within the uterus) and uterine/ovarian cancers.

For males, neutering helps to prevent testicular and prostate cancer.

Spaying and neutering also inhibits the production of hormones that can cause unwanted behaviors such as spraying/marking, urges to roam, and hormone driven aggression towards other cats/dogs. These behaviors contribute to animals either becoming lost and at risk of being injured outside of the home and also to being rehomed.

Another good reason to spay or neuter your pet is to prevent overpopulation. Every year, millions of dogs and cats are euthanized because they end up in shelters every year with not enough homes to go to and not enough space to house them temporarily.