Pet Vet Articles (Published Weekly in the Northern Territory News)

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Desexing: an opportunity to change a life
Dr Stephen Cutter B.V.Sc(hons)

One of the most important aspects of owning a dog or a cat is looking after it properly. Desexing is often considered an optional extra but it really is an essential part of responsible pet ownership.

We all love puppies and kittens, but what happens when our pet is left undesexed and the neighbour’s dog jumps the fence or the cat goes wandering? More puppies and kittens. Cats can become pregnant from as young as four months of age, dogs from around six months. Desexing is an inexpensive, routine, very low risk surgery which permanently prevents this from happening.

In addition to reducing the number of unwanted animals being born, there are many other good reasons to have your pet desexed. Fundamentally, desexing makes them a better pet. It reduces wandering and marking with urine, and helps to prevent aggression. In male dogs it also prevents prostate problems and in female dogs prevents life threatening uterine infections and most breast cancers. Desexing also means that there is no risk to your animal of complications from pregnancy such as milk fever and birthing problems. A late night caesarian is a common occurrence and an expensive reminder to desex your pet.

Unfortunately many people do not desex their pets and the results of this are seen every day at the RSPCA, the pound, and our PAWS shelter. The territory has an enormous burden of unwanted pets. Unfortunately our vets often have to euthanase these otherwise healthy puppies and kittens because of the carelessness and inaction of some pet owners. Not suprisingly we at the Ark are desexing vigilantes and our vets travel all over the Territory to enable people in even the most remote locations to desex their pets.

There can be a happy ending to this story: desex, desex, desex!!! When buying a new animal, choose one which is already desexed, or book it in for the procedure as soon as possible. Consider acquiring your pet from our PAWS shelter, where the desexing cost is already covered at the time of purchase. Desexing is an amazingly easy solution to a very large problem. If we all desex our pets and encourage others to do the same then we can make a difference.

At the Ark animals can be booked in to be desexed on any weekday. It is a day surgery; your pet may be dropped at the clinic between 7:30 and 9 am on the day of surgery, and is usually ready to go home between 4 and 7pm that afternoon. Don’t allow your pet to have any food after midnight the night before surgery: pick up any remaining food bowls or bones before you go to bed, but leave water available. Very small kittens and puppies do not need to be fasted.

Animals can be desexed from 8 weeks of age if they are over 1kg, and for boys as soon as their testes have descended. Immature desexing is a well tried and safe method and the benefits to the animals are numerous. There is absolutely no truth to the old wife’s tale that you should allow animals one litter before having them desexed. In our view, the earlier the better.

To book your animal in to be desexed, call us on 08 8932 9738.

Copyright © 2005-2013 Dr Stephen M Cutter
May not be reproduced without written permission from the author.