Why Spay or Neuter your Pet?

Pets in Need founder Sonja Svensek and tireless animal lover sheds light this month on the critical issue of neutering or spaying one’s pet. She clarifies why this is an important issue, and discusses how this affects our pets and our community.

If you have any questions for Sonja, leave a note at the end of this blog post, and we will do our best to make sure it is answered.

‘All animals need to experience the miracle of birth!” “I can’t be cruel to my pet and get them fixed! ”Neutering is not natural!”

Time and time again, we hear the all too familiar reasons why some people are against neutering/spaying their pet. The key here is to fully understand what neutering means and entails, and why it’s important for any true animal lover to do so. It might seem ‘unnatural’ to neuter your pet, but then again, we interfered with ‘nature’ thousands of years ago when we domesticated dogs and cats to make them our pets. Now we have the responsibility to protect them, and part of caring for them is to neuter/spay them which is the wisest and most humane thing we can do for our pet and our community.

We are living in an era where more and more pets are being bred, and the population has increased, where a lot of these new litters end up on the streets. It breeds more and more animals compared to the lesser amounts of people ready to offer loving homes.

People need to understand the countless benefits for both the pet and owners that neutering/spaying actually brings. Spaying and neutering helps dogs and cats live longer, healthier lives and it can eliminate or reduce the incidence of a number of health problems that can be very difficult or expensive to treat afterwards like different types of cancer or pyometra. Neutering/spaying your pet will reduce the risk of them having the urge to run away to mate. It can also help with other behavioural factors such as not urine marking or being aggressive. It also puts a stop to potential breeders wanting to breed and use the pet as a money making business.

Members of PIN as well as other animal rescue groups and individuals,  spend a lot of time, energy and money trying to decrease the amount of stray cats and dogs by neutering/spaying them, but since a lot of people still want their pets to reproduce, there will continue to be an epidemic of homeless, abandoned and stray animals because there are simply more pets than individuals willing to adopt them. Just recently, Arab News published an article stating that the removal of cats from the Corniche area would be in effect soon. This was due to the number of complaints from families having a picnic in the area which was increasingly infested with cats.  If the population of cats is controlled, it wouldn’t reach such epic proportions.

I strongly advise a pet owner to do a little research first, know why neutering/spaying is really important, speak to others who have neutered /spayed their pet and give your pet the healthy long life it deserves. From the medical benefits, to the social and behavioural benefits as well as for the future of many unwanted animals, neutering/ spaying is the most responsible act towards our pet and community. The surgical procedure is one of the most common surgeries performed by veterinarians, and done under general anaesthesia. The pet doesn’t feel any pain and can be done at 8-9 weeks of age (before it sexually matures).

Speak to your local vet today and book your appointment! Fido will thank you later in life when it doesn’t incur health problems which are brought on by non-neutered/ spayed pets. Neutering for males usually costs a little less than spaying females. Prices range between 300-800 SR, however charitable animal organizations can perform this at a very low cost. Animal rescue group like Gus’s Hope, on Facebook, can be contacted for more information about this.