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Why Spay & Neuter: Health Benefits
The benefits to your pet's health and life expectancy are the best argument for spaying and neutering. Here are the facts:
- Problems and potential risks involved with pregnancy and birth are eliminated.
- Sterilized pets tend to live at least two to three years longer than unsterilized pets.
- The likelihood of developing mammary tumors or uterine infections increases the longer a female goes unspayed. A female cat or dog spayed before sexual maturity (6-9 months of age) has one seventh the risk of developing mammary cancer, compared to an intact female. Breast cancer is fatal in about 50 percent of female dogs and 90 percent of female cats.
- Neutering a male cat or dog by six months of age prevents testicular cancer, prostate disease, and hernias.
- Spaying a female cat or dog helps prevent pyometra (a pus-filled uterus) and breast cancer and having this done before the first heat offers the best protection from these diseases. Treatment of pyometra requires hospitalization, intravenous fluids, antibiotics and spaying.
- Sterilization reduces the incidence of injury and disease.
- Uterine infection is common in older animals and this risk is eliminated by spaying.
Aside from your being able to enjoy your pet more, your pets will be spared much suffering and the cost advantages to you can be enormous. There's just no excuse not to!
Please spay or neuter your pets.
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