Why should I have my male dog/cat neutered?

We recommend that all mixed breed pets be neutered. Purebred animals that are not being used for breeding or for show should also be neutered. Neutering a male dog or cat involves surgical removal of the testicles. The primary benefit of neutering your pet is to eliminate their ability to get a female dog or cat pregnant.


There are also medical and behavioral benefits including:

- Roaming – Males will often wander off looking for or chasing after females in heat. While neutering your male pet may not completely eliminate this behavior, it will remove the hormonal urges to roam.

- Fighting/aggression – Testosterone, the male sex hormone, increases a pet’s tendency to fight with other animals and show other forms of aggression. Most of the testosterone is formed in the testes, so having your pet neutered will greatly decrease circulating levels of testosterone. Unfortunately, not all aggressive behavior is due to testosterone, but neutering often helps decrease the incidence.

- Anal adenomas - Older, uncastrated male dogs often develop these tumors near the anus. These tumors are stimulated to form by testosterone.

- Prostatic disease – Older, uncastrated male dogs often develop an enlarged prostate. As the prostate enlarges, it often puts pressure on the colon and rectum, causing straining and difficulty during defecation. An enlarged prostate also predisposes dogs to develop prostatic infections. Prostatitis leads to bloody urine and difficult or painful urination.

Neutering your dog at a young age will prevent prostatic enlargement and anal adenomas. The good news is that even if your dog has already developed an enlarged prostate, neutering will cause the prostate to shrink and can prevent reoccurrence of anal adenomas.

- Feline urine spraying – Uncastrated male cats will almost always start spraying urine as they reach sexual maturity (8-10 mos. old). Neutering a male cat prior to the start of spraying behavior should keep them from developing the habit of spraying.  Neutering will not always make them stop. Unfortunately, there are other causes of feline urine spraying, but this is the easiest one to prevent.


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