NEUTER

Why Neuter?

Neutering will prevent the many thousands of unwanted offspring being brought into a world that has no place for them. The lucky ones will find their way to an animal shelter and perhaps be rehomed, the others will be drowned soon after birth, dumped on the roadside or submitted to all manner of cruelty to dispose of them.

Responsible welfare organisations do not let an animal leave their care until it has first been neutered. This is at a considerable cost to an already overstretched budget. Many of these organisations have little or no funding from the government but are totally self funding and have to raise every cent themselves. They have a group of dedicated volunteers who organise regular jumble and cake sales; stand on street corners selling badges; and more often than not dip into their own pockets to help the animals. The difference they make is only a drop in the ocean but they are undaunted. Without full public support they cannot hope to make a real difference as the numbers of unwanted animals keep increasing with every year.

So the message to all responsible pet owners is that they must have their animals neutered. Spaying a female animal involves removing the womb and ovaries. Castrating a male involves removing the testicles. Both operations are carried out under general anaesthetic and carry very little risk to the animals. Veterinary Surgeons perform these operations as matter of routine and the animals recover very quickly.

The cost varies from practice to practice and also from area to area. Locally in Co. Sligo, for a bitch it costs from 103 -158 euro, a dog 63 -86 euro; cats, male 40 euro and females 57 euro. Unfortunately it is not cheap, but then neither is caring for litters of unwanted animals. Of course it is not only cats and dogs that can be neutered, rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas, rats etc., horses, ponies, donkeys, pet goats and various other species can now be safely castrated and most of the smaller species can be spayed.

There are many behavioural advantages to having your pets neutered too.
Male dogs can be territorial and aggressive towards other males, or be constantly wandering off in search of bitches in season, or display inappropriate mounting of furniture or worse still visitors legs!
Bitches come into season twice a year for 2-3 weeks at a time. This can be very messy and unpleasant, and it attracts the attention of all the un-neutered dogs in the neighbourhood, which take up residence outside your front door. Adding to which many bitches at some stage in their lives go through one or more phantom pregnancies. This is very distressing to watch and may need intervention from your Vet. Un-neutered bitches are more prone to mammary tumours and a nasty infection of the womb called Pyometra, as they get older.
Male cats will mark their territory by spraying urine which is smelly and very difficult to remove from your furnishing, the cat itself will usually have a pungent smell too.
A female cat will, if not prevented, have 3 litters a year with an average of 6 kittens. To put things in perspective, one female cat can be responsible for adding 65+ unwanted kittens to the population in the course of only one year. When she is in season male cats from all around will call to court her and cat-call all through the night outside your windows, disturbing not only you but also your neighbours.
To let your pet have one litter before being neutered' is nothing more than an old wives tale. There is no medical reason for this belief at all.

Neutered animals may not require as much food but as long as you are sensible and monitor the situation properly, there is no reason why your pet should become overweight.
So on the whole, neutering can only be a good thing, both for the reduction of unwanted animals and for good pet relations.

Please book your appointment with the Vet TODAY, help society get the numbers of unwanted animals under control.