World Spay Day: It’s The Day To Talk Spay

  Posted on February 28, 2017  by Joy of Living  No comments

Today is World Spay Day. Here are some facts on the benefits of spay/neuter and what happens when pets are not spayed or neutered.

Why Spay and Neuter Is Important

• A dog or cat as young as 4 months of age can get pregnant.
• Litter mates can produce a litter!
• Cats typically enter their first heat between 4 to 6 months. A cat will usually have 2 to 4 heat cycles a year, each about 15-25 days in length. If breeding does not occur, these heat cycles will reoccur every 15 to 20 days. These cycles can repeat every 3 to 4 weeks.
• Based on the figures above, One unspayed female and one unneutered male can be responsible for 420,000 kittens during their lifetimes! #worldspayday Click To Tweet
• Dogs typically enter their first heat between 4 to 6 months. These cycles last, on average, about 3 weeks and will usually occur every 4 to 7 months.
• Dogs/cats spayed before their first heat have less than 0.5% chance of developing breast cancer
• At least 50% of the overpopulation problem is non-neutered males. Females can’t do it alone.

Benefits of Spaying/Neutering

Reduced Chance of Testicular Cancer

In males, neutering decreases the chances of developing prostatic disease, hernias, and eliminates risk of testicular cancer. It also reduces problems with other undesirable male behaviors such as territorial and sexual aggression.

Reduced Chance of Uterine Infection

Spaying decreases breast cancer in females. Chances of developing a serious and potentially fatal infection of the uterus (pyometra) are greatly reduced.

Spay surgery also eliminates the heat cycle, associated undesirable behaviors, and the attraction of all available males to your yard.

Available Resources

In the Kansas City area, Spay and Neuter KC provides low cost spay/neuter services for pets whose families cannot afford to pay for them.

Spay and Neuter KC provides several programs to educate and assist pet guardians in underserved communities on better care for their pets.

A TNR (tray-neuter-return) project is assisting with management of feral cat colonies.  Low cost wellness exams, spay neuter, and trap rental are available.

To learn more about SNKC services, go to SNKC.net

As Drew Carey says at the end of EVERY Price Is Right episode, have your pet spayed or neutered!