What is neutering? If you’re thinking about neutering your cat or dog, it’s important to understand what neutering is and the benefits. Neutering involves removing the sex organs to help prevent unwanted pregnancies, pregnancy related illness, and conditions such as testicular, ovarian, and mammary cancers. The male procedure is called castration, and the female procedure is called spaying. When is the best time to neuter your pet? Pets can be neutered from 6 months old, but it’s important to speak to your vet about the right time to neuter your pet. When speaking to your vet about neutering or spaying, they will consider individual reasons for going ahead with the treatment, including whether you have a cat or dog and the breed and size of your pet. If you’re considering spaying a female, you must wait three months after the last date of their season to spay them, to allow their body to settle. When spaying too close to a season it can increase the risk of surgery as the blood vessels are larger and increases the blood supply. What are the health benefits of neutering your pet? Neutering a female pet helps to prevent pregnancy and womb infections such as pyometra. If your dog has pyometra and needs to be spayed, this may be more expensive than spaying a healthy dog. There may also be a greater risk involved in the procedure if performed in an emergency scenario. It’s important to remember that prevention in this situation is better than cure. Spaying female pets can also help to reduce the chance of mammary and breast conditions, which can be fatal. Some unneutered female dogs may have a false pregnancy after a season and, although this is natural, it can cause behavioural and medical problems. Castration for male dogs significantly reduces the risk of some cancers, including testicular cancer and prostate disease later in life. Are there any other benefits? Neutering or spaying your pet, may help to reduce the need to seek a mate, and therefore stop them roaming away from home. Reduces the chance of unwanted behaviours such as humping. What recovery is involved? Rest: when your pet comes home after their treatment, they will need plenty of rest and may be sleepy and seem disorientated for several hours due to the anaesthetic in their body. Recovery: depending on the type of surgery that has been performed on your pet, the recovery period can differ and it’s best to speak to your vet and follow their post-operation instructions. Exercise after recovery: once they have fully recovered from their treatment, you can start slowly returning them to exercise. Protecting the wound: it’s likely that your pet will need to wear a protective cone, buster collar or surgical pet shirt to stop them licking and biting their wound. Check-up at the vet: your pet will need a check-up 2 to 3 days and 7 to 10 days after their operation, to check they are healing well. If you have any concerns about your pet after their treatment, always speak to your vet for advice. What is the cost of neutering your pet? The price of neutering your cat or dog will depend on their size and gender of your pet. It’s important to speak to your vet about the costs and treatment involved. If you are struggling with the cost, speak to your vet practice or local dog warden to find out what help is available. If you are concerned about your pet always speak to your vet or you can phone our 24/7 pet care advice service and speak to one of our expert vets or vet nurses. Pet care advice when you need it the most. If your pet is unwell our 24/7 advice service may help save you an unnecessary trip to the vet. Speak to a vet or vet nurse by phone, chat, and video. Our pet care service also offers behavioural and nutritional support, to help you take care of your pet. Learn more about our petconnect service Do you need pet insurance? We understand being a pet parent can be tough, especially if your pet becomes ill or gets injured. It’s important to consider pet insurance if you have a pet, as cover can help cover the cost of vet fees should your cat or dog need to visit the vet. Compare our insurance plans and get a quote through our website using the following link. Get a quote for your pet