Should I have my pet desexed?
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. An information
sheet on breeding your pet and its potential complications is available from
the Clinic.
The team at the Eastwood Street Veterinary Clinic hope you find this
information helpful in your decision making process.
If you have any further information regarding desexing of your pet please feel
free to call in and have a chat or phone one of our many qualified staff on the
above numbers.