Spay & Neuter
Spay & Neuter Services from Apple Tree Animal Clinic
If you have a pet, consider spaying or neutering it. Vets recognize that getting your pet “fixed” offers numerous health benefits for both you and the animal. For many pets, this is one of the first services offered by a veterinarian along with vaccines. Let our staff at Apple Tree Animal Clinic serving Ranson and Lewisburg provide your pet with this surgery and other services.
What Are Spay and Neuter Procedures?
Many people refer to spaying or neutering as “fixing” the animal. Both services render pets unable to reproduce.
Female cats and dogs undergo spaying. This surgery takes out the pet’s ovaries and uterus. Without the ovaries, the pet does not produce female reproductive hormones that cause it to go into heat.
A veterinarian will neuter male dogs or cats. This surgery takes out the testicles, which trigger the production of male hormones.
When to Spay or Neuter Your Pet
When it comes to spaying, ideally, you should schedule it before your female dog’s first heat. For cats and dogs, generally, a veterinarian can spay them as young as twelve weeks. However, talk to the vet about the best time for your pet to have this surgery. You do not need to let your cat or dog have a litter before spaying it. In fact, spaying your cat or dog before its first heat decreases the chances of potentially life-threatening conditions like mammary tumors and uterine infections.
While puppies may undergo neutering between four and six months, some vets may perform the procedure sooner or later, depending on your pet’s health and adult size. For cats, neutering often happens at eight weeks.
Benefits of Spay or Neuter
When you choose to spay or neuter your pet, you help to reduce the population of unwanted animals in your community. Each year, approximately 6.5 million animals go into shelters, but only half find forever homes. Cats or dogs frequently have multiple babies in their litters, and pet parents may not want all those additional animals. If homes cannot be found for these puppies or kittens, the little ones end up in shelters or as abandoned animals. Spaying or neutering your pet prevents this serious problem in many communities.
Closer to home, your pet can avoid serious health complications and changes in moods. After neutering, male cats or dogs have a lower likelihood of aggression and wandering away from home, caused by male hormones. Male cats may be less likely to spray after getting neutered.
Because many forms of cancer happen in the reproductive organs of pets, spaying or neutering can prevent these illnesses. For example, mammary cancer in females and testicular cancer in males happen almost exclusively to pets that have not been spayed or neutered.
Bring Your Pet to Apple Tree Animal Clinic for Spay or Neuter Services
The benefits of spaying or neutering your pet should encourage you to get this surgery for your pet. Happier, healthier pets, and fewer unwanted puppies and kittens in the world make this a surgery good for your animal and for the community. If you are in the Lewisburg or Ranson area, contact us at Apple Tree Animal Clinic for an appointment by phoning (304) 725-8840. Our veterinary staff is looking forward to helping your pet to live a healthy, happy life.