Pets that are spayed or neutered, live healthier and longer lives; on average increasing their lifespan by three to five years.
Benefits of Spaying
An unaltered female cat may go through several heat cycles each year. A cat becomes fertile well before she reaches one year old. Cats in heat have loud vocalizations and can act aggressively to try to gain the attention of male cats.
Intact female dogs usually go into heat two times each year. Spaying a dog reduces her desire to roam free. If an unneutered neighbor male dog gets near a spayed female dog, he is less likely to attempt to mate with her.
In addition to preventing litters of puppies and kittens that may not find a home, spaying your pet decreases her risk of developing uterine, ovarian, and mammary gland cancer. The risk decreases the most for those pets who have the surgery before they would have gone into heat for the first time.
Benefits of Neutering
Both dogs and cats can engage in aggressive behavior and roaming when they have not yet undergone the neutering procedure. The aggressiveness can surprise families that are unfamiliar with the different behaviors intact male pets can exhibit. Unneutered pets also spray their urine to claim a territory as their own. This odor is not only extremely unpleasant, it can be difficult to eliminate as well. After neutering surgery, roaming and destructive behavior to find a mate will minimize or stop completely, and the risk of testicular or prostate cancer in male pets drops significantly.
Some pet owners may want their pet to have a litter, or believe it is better for their pet to have (or contribute to making) a litter before they are spayed or neutered.
But the sad truth is, when pets have just one litter (planned or unplanned) it contributes to our pet overpopulation crisis.
Canadian Federation of Humane Society statistics show that roughly 15% of dogs and 45% of cats that are admitted to shelters are euthanized.