REASONS TO STERILISE YOUR CATS AND DOGS

There are quite a number of reasons why we advise that your cats and dogs are sterilised.

"Over 10,000 dogs and cats are put to sleep in South Africa each week because there are not enough homes."

Apart from animals euthanased, many other unwanted animals die from exposure, starvation and trauma.


Control of nuisance
• Female cats will call regularly if they do not get pregnant. Having entire female cats in an area will attract entire males with the attendant problems of spraying, fighting and caterwauling.
• Un-neutered male cats are likely to stray over a large area, will mark their territory with a very pungent spray - sometimes inside the house - and are much more likely to fight - with attendant noise nuisance.
• Sexually active male dogs roam and jump fences to get to females on heat, and are aggressive, fighting each other. They also mark their territories and so cause a smell.
• Female dogs attract unwanted males when in season, and leave unpleasant discharges wherever they go in the environment for several weeks.

Health issues: females
• Female dogs and cats which are not neutered are more likely to suffer from pyometra (infection of the womb) later in life.
• Queens with infectious diseases such as respiratory tract disease may pass these on to their kittens.
• Bitches may also pass disease on to their puppies: toxocariasis is a zoonotic disease which is passed from mother to puppy and may also affect people, especially children.
• Unsterilised females face an increased risk of breast cancer.
• Pregnancy and birth may also cause problems: and repeated pregnancies cause unnecessary strain on the mother's body.

Health issues: males
• Fighting male cats are much more likely to spread diseases such as FIV (feline AIDS) and FeLV (feline leukamia) to other cats.
• They are also likely to suffer from fight injuries such as abscesses.
• Unsterilised male dogs are more vulnerable to prostate disease and perianal hernias.
• Because unsterilised males wander over a large area they are also at greater risk of suffering road traffic accidents.

Other benefits
• Homeless and hungry stray pets could be aggressive or carry disease, threatening your own pets or children.
• Un-neutered male cats will wander from home and may not return.
• Unsterilised males are more likely to be aggressive to their owners.
• Wildlife issues: cats with kittens will hunt more effectively and if they are not being fed will need to catch more wildlife to feed their kittens.

Some interesting facts
It is important to sterilise before the first season for population control.
• Cats can produce litters twice a year, sometimes three times, and can be pregnant from as young as 4 months of age.
• Sterilising one female dog can prevent a litter of up to 12, or occasionally more, puppies being born. These could, in their turn, produce litters within less than a year.

According to the Humane Society of the United States:
• a single female dog can, in just six years, be responsible for 67,000 descendants
• a single female cat can, in just seven years, be responsible for 420,000 descendants

When should a puppy or kitten be neutered?
This question has different answers depending on the origin of the animal and the prospects of ensuring that it is neutered.  In principle - neuter as early as practical and before the dog or cat is sexually mature.

Why sterilise early?
There is a serious pet overpopulation problem in South Africa. I don't believe any of us working in welfare want to euthanase healthy animals - and it could be prevented - there is no one more against euthanasia than the person carrying it out!

Before I became involved with welfare work, I conformed to the traditional view of sterilising dogs and cats from about 6 months of age. However, when I started working in impoverished areas it soon became apparent that puppies and kittens were given away at a very early age to anybody and everybody. So, while we could usually keep track of the mother and sterilise her at an appropriate time, the offspring were 'lost without trace' to continue the breeding cycle and compound the overpopulation problems.

I investigated early sterilisation as I knew that it has been done overseas for many years. Sterilisation can be done as early as six weeks of age, and there has been much research done to ensure that this is not detrimental to the animal. Indeed, it can have a number of benefits. For example, bitches sterilised before their first season have a much lower incidence of mammary cancer, and male dogs and cats neutered early are less likely to become 'territory markers'.

I decided to start sterilising youngsters and, on the whole, the surgery is easier in these patients. The anaesthetic may be a little trickier and it is essential to ensure the correct pre- and post-operative care - especially as many of our patients come into the clinic with heavy parasite burdens which can be debilitating. However, nearly all of the kittens and puppies recover very quickly. In most cases, by the evening, a casual observer would not realise that the animal had undergone surgery earlier that day.

I have found that most owners are prepared to keep any puppies and kittens born in their household until they are six weeks old and allow us to sterilise them before passing them on. If the owner is doubtful, we try and persuade them that it is not healthy for the pups and kittens to leave their mothers before this age - indeed, weaning them a bit later would generally be better for the youngsters. The decision to sterilise early has been a good one.

SASHA recommends the following:
• For owned puppies or kittens - book in to neuter soon after vaccinations complete.
• In the rescue situation, neuter when at the facility.
• For feral kittens going back to site - neuter when trapped.
• For feral kittens young enough to go to homes, treat as rescue kittens.
• Best to vaccinate before neutering if possible as there is some risk of infection when at the veterinary surgery being neutered.

There are never enough good homes so with fewer animals born the ones currently looking for homes have a better chance of finding one, and less animals born also hopefully means less crowded rescue shelters.

The bottom line is:
"no accidental pregnancies leading to unnecessary suffering and unnecessary euthanasia."