Health

Having a pet 'fixed' can dramatically improve your pet's overall health in many ways. First and foremost, the procedure helps your pet by lowering its risk of contracting a number of potentially dangerous diseases. For example, the risk of cancers - ovarian or uterine in females and testicular in males - is dramatically reduced once the animal has been fixed. This alone increases the life expectancy of pets.

The health benefits of spaying and neutering extend beyond the medical realm as well, since the overall effects of the procedure positively influence the pet's behavior. Specifically, an animal that has been fixed is much less likely to roam the neighborhood in search of a mate, and is thus less likely to be involved in fights with other animals, exposed to the dangers of traffic, and come in contact with diseases such as rabies.

Home

One of the most significant benefits of having your pet spayed or neutered is the change in behavior that accompanies the procedure. Many people believe that having their pet fixed will result in the animal becoming 'lazy' or disinterested. Quite the contrary, as inevitably pets who are spayed or neutered become much more happy and content members of the family. Excessive barking, hyperactivity, aggression, roaming and other generally unwanted behaviors are drastically reduced once the pet has been fixed.

Other problems associated with an animal in heat are also alleviated through spaying and neutering. Urine spraying, one of the most common and difficult problems in unfixed cats, is virtually eliminated along with the heat cycle. Female dogs no longer require the difficult 'diapering' that comes with their heat cycle.

Money

One of the most common reasons given by pet owners as to why they chose not to have their pet spayed or neutered is concerned with the cost of the procedure itself. The truth of the matter is that, although the actual cost depends on the veterinarian and the particular animal, the total benefits to both owner and animal make it a small price to pay.

More than that, the cost of having a pet fixed pales in comparison to the costs associated with allowing that pet to have a litter. Just as with their human counterparts, animals and their offspring require numerous veterinary visits to ensure their health. Two months of pregnancy plus two months of weaning can add up to significant costs.

Add to this the cost of feeding and caring for the litter, as well as any troubles associated with finding good homes for each of them, and the cost of spaying and neutering suddenly seems quite small.

Population

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, having a pet spayed or neutered is beneficial to more than just an individual pet - it is beneficial to the entire pet population. Overpopulation is already a very serious problem, and thousands of shelters around the country are burdened with having to care for unwanted animals. Millions enter these shelters every year, many of which have never known a home of any kind.

Worse still, approximately half of those that enter the shelter never leave. Spaying and neutering pets helps to control populations that, when left unchecked, become far too large to handle.