As an ADVO-Cat for homeless kitties, I promote and support three main issues: feral cat trap-neuter-return; adopt, don’t shop; and spay/neuter. 
Tomorrow is National Feral Cat Day so I’ll be meowing about feral cats tomorrow. Adopt, don’t shop is a topic for the future. Today, I want to meow about spay/neuter.
Today is one of the four times a year bloggers come together to Blog the Change for Animals. In my humble kitty opinion, spaying and neutering your pets, and spreading the word of it’s importance, is the best way YOU can be the change for animals. Having all companion dogs and cats spayed or neutered is the only way to begin to end the killing in shelters of unwanted pets.
There are lots of statistics out there about how many offspring a pair of unsterilized cats can produce over a lifetime, from hundreds to thousands, but the bottom line is, even one kitty being killed because a human did not get their cat spayed or neutered is just not right.
There are other reasons to spay or neuter your pet besides the issue of pet overpopulation. Most of them give direct benefits to the humans and their pets. Here are the top 10 reasons from the ASPCA:
- Your female pet will live a longer, healthier life.
Spaying helps prevent uterine infections and breast cancer, which is fatal in about 50 percent of dogs and 90 percent of cats. Spaying your pet before her first heat offers the best protection from these diseases. - Neutering provides major health benefits for your male.
Besides preventing unwanted litters, neutering your male companion prevents testicular cancer, if done before six months of age. - Your spayed female won’t go into heat.
While cycles can vary, female felines usually go into heat four to five days every three weeks during breeding season. In an effort to advertise for mates, they’ll yowl and urinate more frequently—sometimes all over the house! - Your male dog won’t want to roam away from home.
An intact male will do just about anything to find a mate! That includes digging his way under the fence and making like Houdini to escape from the house. And once he’s free to roam, he risks injury in traffic and fights with other males. - Your neutered male will be much better behaved.
Neutered cats and dogs focus their attention on their human families. On the other hand, unneutered dogs and cats may mark their territory by spraying strong-smelling urine all over the house. Many aggression problems can be avoided by early neutering. - Spaying or neutering will NOT make your pet fat.
Don’t use that old excuse! Lack of exercise and overfeeding will cause your pet to pack on the extra pounds—not neutering. Your pet will remain fit and trim as long as you continue to provide exercise and monitor food intake. - It is highly cost-effective.
The cost of your pet’s spay/neuter surgery is a lot less than the cost of having and caring for a litter. It also beats the cost of treatment when your unneutered tom escapes and gets into fights with the neighborhood stray! - Spaying and neutering your pet is good for the community.
Stray animals pose a real problem in many parts of the country. They can prey on wildlife, cause car accidents, damage the local fauna and frighten children. Spaying and neutering packs a powerful punch in reducing the number of animals on the streets. - Your pet doesn’t need to have a litter for your children to learn about the miracle of birth.
Letting your pet produce offspring you have no intention of keeping is not a good lesson for your children—especially when so many unwanted animals end up in shelters. There are tons of books and videos available to teach your children about birth in a more responsible way. - Spaying and neutering helps fight pet overpopulation.
Every year, millions of cats and dogs of all ages and breeds are euthanized or suffer as strays. These high numbers are the result of unplanned litters that could have been prevented by spaying or neutering.
I know most of my readers know all these things, but don’t let it stop with knowing and doing yourself. Educate others who don’t understand the importance of spay/neuter. For some, it is a cultural thing, for others it is money. There are lots of low-cost clinics and some cities and counties provide free spay/neuter. To find a low-cost program near you, search the ASPCA Low-Cost Spay/Neuter Provider Database by simply entering your zip code.
Mom has personal experience with #9 — letting the kids experience the miracle of birth. Too often, the resulting kittens do not get spayed or neutered. For folks who think that way, mom says volunteer with a rescue and foster a pregnant cat that would otherwise have been killed in the shelter. All the offspring will be spayed and neutered and placed in loving homes.
Your Advo-Cat for Spay/Neuter,
Christy Paws
I didn’t know that spaying/neutering prevents cancer in a lot of animals! I’ve always been an advocate for it (even though up until now I haven’t had a pet of my own), and now that I know that I’m even more of one. Why would you put your pet at risk for a disease like that? I’m waiting until my kitty is a little older (she’s just 3 months), but I’ll definitely be taking care of that for her when the time is right.
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Wow, I didn’t know that only 1 in 10 cats that enter animal shelters are sterile. No wonder there are so many stray cats! It breaks my heart knowing so many cats are left to fend for themselves through the winter, getting hit by cars, and never having a place to call home. We spay and neuter all of our pets!
I didn’t realize that such a large amount of cats and dogs are euthanized. I’ve been meaning to get my pets spayed and neutered. I’ll have to make sure I get that done this weekend to hopefully help lower that percentage.
Absolutely! Spay/neuter is so important, both to the individual kitties and to the world of cats at large. Not to mention, it makes life much more peaceful and easier for both kitty and us!
You present a compelling argument in favor of spay/neuter. A must share!
Thank you for blogging the change for animals,
Kim Thomas
Be the Change for Animals
Great info here, if only everyone were responsible, what a wonderful world it would be.
Excellent post! And we agree 🙂
Purrs xx
Athena and Marie
Great post ! This is so true ! Feral cats need and deserve our help. Purrs
It is true, most of the humans we know DO know all this… but it never fails to shock my human how many people actually don’t, or who come up with crazy excuses not to spay or neuter their pets. There can never be too much education.
Thank you so much for this; it still amazes me how many misconceptions there are out there about spay & neuter – as in assuming your pet has to go through their first heat, etc. And don’t get me started on #9 – our neighbor did that when I was a child for their kids.. I just don’t understand how that’s a great lesson for anyone in the long run.
This is such an important message. Spay and neuter saves lives… and makes the lives of so many other cats or dogs longer and less stressful.
Spay/neuter is a topic that’s very close to my heart. We can never stop telling people how important this is. Thanks for sharing all this good info. ~Island Cat Mom
I cannot believe that I have missed another Be The CHnage day! Grrrr. We are firm believers in spaying and neutering.
We always furget ’bout these. And weez fink it be so purrtant. Weez hope da new calendars have them in there so weez can member next time. Gweat posty.
Luv ya’
Dezi and Lexi
What a great post for the hop today! It amazes me that there are people who think its terrible that so many pets are euthanized in shelters, yet don’t “get it” about S/N. Ditto those who moan about feral cats, yet don’t practice TNR.
Thanks for the compliment. Spay/neuter is the issue I am most passionate about!
Peeps can be so ignorant. We need to be *fixed* so there isn’t thousands of little us’s running around without a home.
Shoko
So true, Shoko. And it is so much better for our health.
Excellent post! SO important.
This is my favorite pet peeve, getting these animals spayed and neutered. It would just solve so many problems for the cats. Great post. That is just purrfect;
Thanks for the compliment. It is so true — it would solve so many problems.