I have you spayed or neutered your pets?

[xultar]

Poll question: I have you spayed or neutered your pets?

We do have a problem with pet populations. Lots of us here @ DU work with rescue organizations to place pets. Lots of us have pets from rescue.

I have spayed and neutured all of my 3 cats and 2 dogs but Onyx who will be soon.

Have you spayed or neutered your furbabies?

[kedrys]

1. Spayed and neutered

The last one of the hordes to get the "operation" was Imhotep, 2 years ago. Everyone else was taken care of early in life. They're all much more laid back and happy for it.

[dhinojosa]

2. Both...

My 2 dogs are fixed.

[Orsino]

42. All cats and dogs spayed or neutered, as appropriate. n/t

They're all strays or hand-me-downs, and only one is likely to be purebred (but no papers).

[seemunkee]

3. spayed our puppy

Part of the condition for purchasing from the breeder

[Deja Q]

4. I think my parrot is fixed. I've never seen her drop an egg, nor...

have I seen him hump a toy. Had her/him/it for 8 years now. Senegals are not conclusively dimorphic so I don't know what it is. Except he/she/it is a lovely bird.

[indy_azcat]

5. 2 neutered rescue pups

they came that way - but we would have done it regardless.

http://www.shihtzuandfurbabyrescue.com/

[ProfessorGAC]

6. Spayed the Cats, Neutered the Dog

You didn't leave a choice for both, since we've got a boy doggie and girl kitties.
The Professor

[stellanoir]

7. Of course we all have a responsibility

to spay and neuter our animals. Yet I've some very mixed feelings about the whole issue.

Sometimes I feel that often, it might just be done way too soon for the well being of the animal.

I've known quite a few hyper male dogs and cats who seem as though they're really tightly wound. I've found that if you scratch them (especially the dogs) on their chests (breastplates) it's often the only way to calm them down. It's as though you have to draw their consciousness to the front of their bodies otherwise they seem to be thinking of their missing cojones more often than not.

With certain females of both species, I've often have the sense that they'd be far less skittish and needy if they were allowed to have one litter or at least, arrive at their sexual maturity before they were spayed.

Just my two cents.

[xultar]

25. Agreed! Altering earlier than 3 months can do more harm than good.

Altering @ 12 months is ideal.

Great minds think a like!

[bertha katzenengel]

8. All but two are altered. The kittens, Skittles and Charley, go in soon.

I will miss their little "purrups," though, that sound they make when they're in a matin' mood.

We also trap feral and stray cats around our home, take them in for quick vetting under anesthesia, and at that time they are altered. It's called "trap-neuter-return." I'm always happy to educate folks about it, like you, Xultar. :bounce:

[xultar]

11. That is pretty kewl. I wanna become a vet and do work like that in the US

and abroad. I've seen some shows on the animal planet where vets go to third world contries on their vacation and do the trap alter and return. On one show they had some vets work with people to bring their pets for the alter for free and the other vets worked the trap alter and return on an island some where.

[kodi]

9. all 6 of mine are fixed. 4 females, 2 males.

anyone who doesn't fix their dogs has a bunch of trouble when a bitch comes into heat.

[RPM]

10. whats the diff between spaying and neutering?

has tourbled me since i first heard the words cross bob barker's lips

[xultar]

13. spay a female/ neuter a male

[RPM]

15. thank you

I thought one was for a dog and the other for a cat;

of course as a child i thought dogs were boys and cats were girls...

could explain my confusion.

thanks again

[bertha katzenengel]

21. "as a child i thought dogs were boys and cats were girls" - ME TOO!

Wow! I always thought I was alone in that. :hi:

[xultar]

31. Ditto! I thought the kitties were the girls too!

[indy_azcat]

17. besides oophorectomy is more fun to say

:D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oophorectomy

[MissMillie]

12. Both

1 male cat and 2 female cats.... all are altered.

[China_cat]

14. Everything in this household is 'fixed'

except my husband. And the vet says she can fix that.

[Love Bug]

16. Both my cats are spayed

When I got my cat K'Ehleyr she was 2 years old and NOT spayed but she WAS declawed. For the life of me I don't understand why the former owners let her go into heat every 3 weeks for over a year yet spent the money to have her declawed. I got her spayed soon after I got her.

[Heidi]

18. Dumb question: are there birth control pills for cats in the U.S.?

Here in Switzerland, veterinarians prescribe birth control pills for female cats whose humans don't want them pregnant now but want them to be able to have kittens in the future.

Are birth control pills available for female cats in the U.S.?

(Our wiley and excellent boy cat named Ginger was neutered when he was younger than a year old.)

[Mizmoon]

22. Never heard of such a thing

I do know someone who got her dog an abortion and then had her spayed. I thought that sounded very involved ...

[Heidi]

28. I hadn't heard of it, either, until I moved here.

I'll try to find some information about cat birth control and post it here, or PM you (if you don't mind). My cat, who is very healthy, intelligent and loving, is the "son" of a female cat who'd been on feline birth control pills for three years before becoming pregnant. My cat's mother is now about eight years old and still extremely healthy, according to her vet, and seems to have suffered no ill effects from the pill. (After my cat and the rest of his litter were weaned, his mom was spayed.)

[China_cat]

26. They were in fashion about 25 years ago

but the side effects (and lack of effectiveness) soon moved them out of the veterinary arsenal in favor of permanent, surgical, methods.

[Heidi]

30. Things have come a long way in 25 years, though.

What side effects have you heard about?

(I love your username. I used to have a cat named China.)

[China_cat]

33. Mainly death from kidney and liver problems.

[Tsiyu]

19. Good reminder

All of ours are spayed ( thanks in part to RAVS) except the two young male dogs and male cats and they will be neutered at six months.

Just had to take a mama and pups in to stop that cycle. She was killing animals, chasing cars, growling at kids. If she's allowed to raise up those pups they will do the same thing and have more who will do the same thing.

I wish i could keep every dog in the universe but sometimes the best thing is to stop the cycle. But heartache can be avoided altogether if you just spay/neuter. Then there are no unwanted puppies and kittens.

[kick-ass-bob]

20. Spayed the males, neutered the females...

That's what that traveling vet said. I'm not sure why there are so many baby cats and dogs around...

:shrug:

[Coventina]

23. Sarah came to us spayed.

She was a stray, but already spayed. And yes, we did try to find her family, did everything we could, no one claimed her.

But if she hadn't been spayed, we would have done it. Prevent a litter, save some lives!!!

[xultar]

32. I'm glad she found your home. You both lucked out!

[Coventina]

35. We sure did, she's an angel!

If I knew how to post pictures, I'd put up a picture of her.

[xultar]

36. Well I think you can sign up for a free pix hosting account @

photobucket.com

PM me after you've done that part and I'll talk you in from there.

[Yit]

24. Ha, Bob Barker!

[JVS]

27. I'll do neither

But I also don't have pets, so it's no biggie.

[Bridget Burke]

29. No, the vet did it!

(Yes, I know what you really meant.)

I've got two male cats, now getting on in years. The vet made sure to operate at the right age--they were adopted together & one took longer to mature.

[Wcross]

34. Spayed & neutered 6 dogs within a two month period!

It cost a bundle but it had to be done as I have 4 boys and two girls. When I took in Angel & Peedee they were both prego- and thats how I added three of the boys. I couldn't afford more than six dogs so it was off to the vet.

They all seem happy now, even though they ain't getting any action.

[xultar]

38. Well with cancer lurking it is better that you did than didn't.

[scarlet_owl]

37. All my pets are spayed/neutered, with the exception of the

rats, jird, and bearded dragon. But they live in cages and are not exposed to females.

[gaspee]

39. One of them

I spayed my retired brood bitch after her third and final litter. She's now ten years old. She's the mother of 7 champions (out of ten) a national specialty winner, has the best temperment ever and produced it in all of her get.

She's spayed, but my seven year old male (her son and also a champion) isn't neutered and won't be until he's twelve or so. He still competes in the veterans class occasionally.

My eigteen month old bitch is definitely not spayed! She completed her championship in only seven shows and will have her first litter once she's had all of her health screenings (hips, patellas, eyes, elbows, thyroid.)

My baby, four months, won't be neutered unless he doesn't meet certain standards of heath and temperament.

Before any of the breeder-haters get going -- I've been breeding and showing dogs for fifteen years and rarely breed litters. I keep in contact with all of my puppy buyers and it's harder to get a puppy from me than it is to adopt a kid.

I take showing and breeding seriously and all of my dogs are pets as well as show dogs. I wouldn't trade them for anything.

<>

[Piperay]

40. BOTH

spayed and neutured, it's better for the health of the animals.

[Arugula Latte]

41. All three kitties are fixed. nt

[Left Is Write]

43. I no longer have my cats, but all three were fixed.

I had one male and two females.