Spay/Neuter Your Pet

The operation may cost a pretty penny, but sterilizing your pet makes an incredible impact on the life of your furry friend as well as the quality of life for all the animals in your community. Seems like an overstatement? Well, it's not. Here's why:

Sterilized pets are, on the whole, healthier. Females who are not spayed are more likely to develop breast, uterine, or ovarian cancer. (The possibility of contracting uterine or ovarian cancer is eliminated when a pet is spayed.) Unaltered males are more likely to develop prostate cancer or testicular cancer. (The latter cannot occur in neutered pets.)

Sterilized pets are happier and more affectionate companions. Pets who are spayed or neutered are much less likely to exhibit aggressive behaviors, like biting, and tend to be more calm and content. Spaying eliminates a female’s heat cycles and these cycles sometimes cause nervous behavior such as crying, pacing, and soiling inside the house (and outside the litterbox), not to mention attracting every male in the neighborhood. Neutered males are less likely to spray or defecate in order to mark territory. Both sexes are less likely to roam the neighborhood in order to find a mate, and less likely to get into fights with competing suitors.

Sterilizing your pet helps reduce the problem of pet overpopulation. The Humane Society of the United States estimates that in seven years a cat and her offspring, if they all remain unfixed, can produce 420,000 animals. In six years, a dog and her offspring can produce 67,000 animals. Every year over three million cats and dogs are destroyed in the United States. Over 2,500 are destroyed every year in Kalamazoo County alone. But studies have shown that if 70% of cats and dogs were spayed or neutered, our pounds would no longer need to euthanize for space and could be transformed into lost and found facilities. It is hard to believe that we refuse to practice such a simple solution, that we would destroy millions of lives.

Putting it off because you don’t want to pay that exorbitant price? Considering the long-term benefits to you, your pet, and the community, the surgery is a one-time investment that is well worth the cost. Can’t possibly afford it on your salary? The Kalamazoo Humane Society assists low-income individuals or families by offering spay and neuter operations at a discounted price ($20 for male cats, $30 for female cats, and $40 for dogs). For more information, call 269-345-1181.