The pet overpopulation problem in the United States and in Pinellas County is simply overwhelming.
While most people realize that preventing their pet from breeding reduces the number of homeless animals, many do not recognize the huge health benefits their own pet receives from being spayed or neutered at an early age.
Most people know that breast cancer is a big concern for people, yet are unaware how severe the problem is for unspayed female dogs and cats. One out of three, or 33 percent, of unspayed female dogs and cats will get breast tumors, and half of these will be malignant. Spaying a pet before its first heat cycle, which can be as early as 6 months of age, can reduce this from 1 in 3 to 1 in 20,000. This is a 99.9 percent reduction in a common, potentially fatal cancer.
The benefits of spaying do not end with the reduction of breast cancer. One out of 10 pets get ovarian cancer; spaying reduces this percentage to zero. One out of three pets unspayed after age 7 will get a severe uterine infection, called pyometra, that typically requires emergency surgery and can be fatal. Spaying reduces the risk of pyometra by 100 percent. Statistically, un-spayed female dogs and cats have an 85 percent chance of needing an emergency procedure related to them being intact. Spaying a dog or cat before 6 months of age will add, on average, 12 to 18 months to their life expectancy.
Male dogs get significant medical benefits as well. The second most common type of tumor in intact male dogs is a perianal adenoma. These masses grow around the rectum, and can be several inches in diameter. They also can be malignant, and spread to other parts of the body. They often break open and bleed profusely. Testosterone is a major contributing factor, and neutering dogs prevents a vast majority of them. Testicle cancers and tumors are the third most common cancer in intact male dogs. It is 100 percent preventable via neutering. About 50 percent of dogs start to have benign prostate hypertrophy (BPH) by age 6. This disease leads to difficulty in urination, and eventually leads to a complete blockage and a medical emergency.
Male cats can be intolerable when unneutered. Unneutered cat urine is horrendously smelly. It soaks into clothes, hair and furniture and is very difficult to remove with any cleaner. Unneutered cats spray this urine on walls, furniture and anything that stands still long enough in an effort to mark their territory. They roam for miles, getting hit by cars, finding mean dogs, or generally getting into trouble.
We have such a concern for cancer with people. People buy supplements or foods because they are reported to reduce cancer risks by a fraction. A simple procedure, which may reduce your pets risk of certain cancers by 99 percent and add years of happy, healthy life should not be ignored.
Michael J. Rumore, DVM, is the owner of Lake Seminole Animal Hospital in Largo, an SPCA Tampa Bay board member and he also appears each month on Studio 10’s “Ask a Vet” segment.
