While many pet owners are aware that they are expected to spay or neuter their pets, it can be hard to identify why this is necessary if you have never learned more about the process. This is one of those automatic things that pet owners tend to do without thinking about it too much. If you have ever wondered if there are more reasons besides limiting the number of litters of puppies and kittens, there are!

There are numerous other benefits to your pet’s health that can be conferred by having them fixed. You should keep reading to learn some more about the other benefits of spaying or neutering your pets in Bowling Green, KY. 

Top Benefits of Spay and Neuter

Spay and neuter services convey a myriad of benefits that many pet owners are not aware of. The focus that most people place on this service is their desire to prevent more pets from being born that need homes. While this is a noble and important factor within the choice to spay or neuter your pet, there are other benefits that your pet will get from being fixed.

The main benefits are listed below:

Reduced Risk of Cancer

There is a significant reduction in the incidence of specific cancers in pets that have been fixed. This is often mammary cancer, but there are other reproductive cancers that your pet might not have to face due to being spayed or neutered. Female pets derive the most benefit from these services, but male pets can also be less likely to get various kinds of cancers because they have been fixed.

As an added bonus, the sooner that you spay or neuter your pet, the more likely that they will enjoy these benefits. The longer that a pet experiences heat cycles and normal reproductive hormones in its body, the higher the risk factor for these cancers.

Eliminates the Risk for Pyometra and Prostate Issues

Pyometra is life-threatening in female dogs, and it is more common than more pet owners realize. Removing your dog’s or cat’s uterus will eliminate the risk of this kind of cancer completely. Even pets that have never had a litter are at risk for this condition. Pyometra is often fatal, so this is not a small benefit of fixing your pet.

In male dogs, benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) is a condition that is quite common in older males. This can lead to all kinds of issues with incontinence or an inability to urinate or defecate. Many older dogs have to be fixed late in life to deal with this health condition, and nerve damage can be associated with this health concern that can be avoided if the dog is fixed at a young age.

Improved Behavior

Animals that are intact are often much more motivated to breed than they are to listen. This is particularly obvious in male animals, but anyone who has owned a female cat who is in heat might disagree. The behavioral patterns that are associated with reproductive behavior in pets can be very disruptive to your household.

If you want to avoid marking, spraying, yowling cats, and escaping dogs, you will need to make sure that your pets are all fixed. Removing the urge to find ways to meet up with animals of the other sex can help make your pet much easier to train and to share space with.

Longer Lifespan

Studies have shown that animals that are spayed or neutered live longer on average than animals that are not. This is partially because of issues related to wandering off or getting lost while looking for animals to breed with, but it is also related to increased health risks associated with being an intact adult animal. Your pet will share more years with you and your family if you make sure that you get them spayed or neutered.

This benefit alone is usually enough to convince anyone who was on the fence about fixing their pet to make an appointment to do so. You will be improving the quality of life that your pet experiences when you fix them, but you will also be increasing the duration of their life as well.

Easier to Add Pets to Your Home

One of the difficulties that many pet owners do not foresee with regard to their unfixed pets, is that these animals might not get along with new animals that move into your home. It is a common story when people arrive at the vet with injured pets to hear that one of them is an unfixed animal who attacked the new pet that just moved in.

It can be very hard to add any other animals to your home if you have an intact adult animal already living in your house. The urge to mark territory and to engage in other unwanted behaviors will increase, and your pet might also start to be aggressive towards this new invader that they think is threatening their home. This is one of the leading reasons for dog and cat fights, and you can avoid this issue by fixing all of your pets,

Contact Southcentral Veterinary Services to Schedule a Spay and Neuter Appointment

One of the best ways to make sure that your pets stay healthy for the long run is to make sure that you spay and neuter them. This surgery will give you peace of mind that they cannot come home with a surprise litter of babies, and you will also experience fewer issues with your pets trying to escape to explore the neighborhood looking for mates.

From behavioral improvements to health benefits, there are so many reasons that spaying and neutering are excellent practices to engage in as a pet owner. There are so many animals that already struggle to find homes that this is still the primary benefit of committing to having your pets fixed. However, the added health benefits are an excellent reason to make sure that you spay and neuter all of your animals. For more information, or if you would like to schedule an appointment, contact Southcentral Veterinary Services in Bowling Green, KY by calling (270) 282-2564.