Spaying and neutering your pet isn’t only about helping control animal over-population, it’s also about keeping your pet healthy. A recent University of Georgia study report revealed a significant finding related to the lifespans of dogs that have been spayed or neutered versus dogs that were still intact (not spayed or neutered).
After scrutinizing 40,139 veterinary death records from a 20-year period, it was determined that:
The average age of spayed or neutered dogs was 9.4 years.
The average age of still-intact dogs was 7.9 years.
Conclusion: spaying or neutering could possibly add 1.5 years to a dog’s life.
While this is a limited study involving dogs seen at teaching veterinary hospitals versus regular veterinary practices, it does add to the many reasons pet owners should seriously consider spaying or neutering their dogs.
Proven spay/neuter benefits include:
SPAY:
Preventing “heat” or estrus.
Eliminating your dog’s urge to escape and find a mate during heat (this can be dangerous).
Eliminating your dog’s hormone fluctuations that cause false pregnancy.
Preventing pyometra, a serious uterine infection.
Preventing breast cancer, especially if your dog is spayed before the first “heat” (This reduces the chance of developing breast cancer to less than 0.5%).
Eliminating uterine and ovarian cancer risks.
NEUTER:
Lowering the risk of serious conditions such as benign prostatic hyperplasia, prostatitis.
Reducing the risk of hormone-related (testosterone) diseases such as perianal adenoma.
Eliminating the risk of testicular cancer, the second most common cancer in intact dogs.
Removing sexual urges, which usually decreases roaming behaviors.
Reducing certain types of aggression, territorial dominance, fighting and bite wounds.
