Neutering your male dog or cat can not only eliminate many frustrating negative behaviors, but can help save lives! Surgery can be performed as early as 8 weeks of age, and is best performed when the animal is young, since cats and dogs both reach sexual maturity between 3 and 6 months old.

Why neuter your cat or dog? Consider the following…

• –Unneutered males are extremely territorial and will urinate inside your home, leaving their extremely pungent scent everywhere they can. Ask yourself what you’d rather do: spend a little to neuter your pet and stop the spray, or spend a lot replacing soiled carpet, ruined furniture, and buying expensive cleaning products for your pet’s entire life?

• –Unneutered males will wander away frequently in search of females in heat, meaning there is a greater chance of them being injured or killed outside the safety of your home.

• –Unneutered males are more likely to be aggressive towards other animals and people – this includes lashing out unprovoked your family, friends, and neighbors.

Why are unneutered males so aggressive and territorial? Blame it all on the hormones! Neutering halts production of testosterone, the hormone that make many male companion animals easily agitated and makes their urine so super stinky. Aside from causing these behavioral nuisances, the increased levels of testosterone make unneutered males more susceptible to severe health problems, including cancer and reoccurring hernias.

It is a myth that male cats and dogs will feel less “manly” after neutering. Can animals feel “manly” anyway? The answer is no. Cats and dogs have no concept of human-created gender roles or masculinity, and neutering them will not alter them biologically or make them all of a sudden a female. Your male cat or dog will still pee standing up… they will just be less likely to pee all over your stuff!

What about pet overpopulation? Unspayed females can have as many as 6 litters every year, meaning neutered male cats and dogs can sire as many as 36 kittens and puppies every year. And that’s if they only mate with one female per heat cycle. Add a few more girlfriends to the mix and you’ve quickly got double, triple, or quadruple the number.

What if half their little kitten and puppy kids are boys? If left unneutered, these offspring will go on to produce an astounding 324 kittens and puppies every year. If all of them are left unneutered, in less than a year your cat or dog will have a whopping 2,916 little grandpuppies or grandkittens. No wonder there are 9 animals to every human in the United States.

Neutering your cat or dog helps everyone: it will save you money and heartache in the long run, it will make your cat or dog a healthier and more relaxed companion, and it will prevent the birth of thousands of unwanted homeless animals.

Special Pals offers low-cost spay and neuter surgeries by appointment in our clinic. Surgeries are priced based on weight of the cat or dog, and all animals must be current on their shots to undergo the procedure. Click here to learn more about spaying and neutering with Special Pals.