Why Spay?

Today was Ella Bean’s much dreaded pre-surgical appointment for her spay surgery. We met with our holistic veterinarian and got the lowdown. My little Bean tipped the scales at an impressive 2.7 lbs. The doctor said she is mostly full grown, maybe another ounce or two. I am so nervous about the surgery!

Ella’s row of shark teeth doesn’t help matters. She will be having almost 15 deciduous (baby) teeth pulled in conjunction with this ordeal. Or as many of the teeth as they can wrangle out before they need to pull her out of anesthesia.

The subject came up on the way to the appointment, why spay?

There are a multitude of benefits that outweigh the relatively low risk of a one time surgery. First, between 3 and 4 millions pets are euthanized each year. By leaving breeding to the show dog breeders and people who breed dogs for seeing eye dogs and other working purposes we improve the health of the canine species. Breed fanciers seek to perfect their dogs to the breed standard, resulting in sound, healthy animals. Unfortunately, this tremendous amount of euthanisia will not be reduced until more families have their pets spayed and neutered.

Unwanted pregnancies are incredibly difficult to prevent as un-neutered males can smell a female in heat for a few miles. Dogs have successfully mated through fences before. They are crafty! Additionally, females who are not spayed have a highly increased risk of uterine cancer, breast cancer and urinary tract infections. Ultimately, spaying is ethical and humane because it spares unwanted dogs from being born and female dogs from dying earlier. The procedure is painless, done under anesthesia and pain relief is provided for post-surgical care. The younger and healthier your dog is, the quicker she will heal.

I realize for many people this is a controversial topic. I believe that when humans domesticated dogs, we removed them from their ecosystem, thereby the canine population is not being regulated by environment or predators. Think about it - my tiny Ella Bean is the result of hundreds of years of human imposed breeding. A 3 pound dog would never survive in the wild! Ella Bean and her siblings ended up in a shelter and Ella herself was nearly euthanized.

Humans created the problem of pet overpopulation and now it is up to us to re-home needy animals and prevent the tragedy of new homeless ones from filling up our animal shelters. Regarding cruelty to animals, I believe spaying and neutering is the lesser of two evils. It promotes the general well being of my pet and the canine species in general.

Spay & Neuter Myths

There are many myths associated with spay and neuter surgery, such as, ‘my pet will become fat and lazy.’ Well, that is only true if you overfeed and under excercise! If your pet seems ‘lazy’ for a few weeks after surgery, just let time work it out. They are expending a lot of their energy healing. Make sure as soon as those stitches are out and the doc gives the go-ahead, you are back at the park or on the jogging trail. Slowly work back up to the routine you and your dog had been doing before surgery.

Another myth surrounding spay and neuter surgery is that it is better to allow your pet to ‘experience’ one litter to have sex and go through the ‘miracle of birth.’ From a medical perspective, the opposite is true. Females who have gone into heat or had a litter prior to spaying are much more prone to disease and cancer.

Regarding the emotional aspect of experiencing sex or the miracle of birth, you are over identifying with your pet. Dogs are not human, they do not have much more then a biological drive to reproduce that is the result of hormones. Remove the hormones, then you remove the drive. My Louis was neutered before we got him, at 10 weeks of age. As he never produced any adult hormones, he does not hump (which is a dominant behavior, not a sexual one.) He is the happiest, most relaxed dog I have ever met. Besides his breeding, I believe this is in large part due to the lack of hormonal drive.

Gentleman, if you refuse to neuter your male dogs because you fear removing his masculinity, I don’t mean to be rude, but please stop over identifying with your dog. He isn’t a man, he is a dog and if you want a pleasant dog to share your home with, neuter. Neutering reduces the risk of prostate cancer, eliminates testicular cancer, reduces or eliminates behaviors like roaming and humping.

Another myth associated with spay and neuter surgery is that it will remove his protective instincts. Some people do have dogs for protection. Spaying or neutering does not affect a dog’s natural instinct to protect his or her home and family. A dog’s personality is formed more by genetics and training than by sex hormones. Train your dog to protect and they will.

Some people adopt or purchase purebred animals as pets and feel they shouldn’t spay or neuter their purebred. There is a statistic that one out of every four pets in a shelter is a purebred. On the day I got Ella Bean, there was a beautiful, young Beagle at the shelter. This was within a few weeks after Uno the Beagle won the Westminster Dog Show! Leave the breeding to the professionals. Whelping a litter is not an easy task. Finding caring homes for your litter (I recently read about a Bulldog who gave birth to 20 puppies!) is not easy! How would you feel if you brought a life into the world, only to have it end up in a poor home or worse, in a shelter, getting euthanized? This is the reality of the situation we have wrought onto dogs.

As nervous as I am, I know it will be a routine surgery and Ella Bean will be ok. Please spay and neuter your pets! It saves lives.

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