Desexing is also known as a spay for a female animal, or to neuter in male animals. Desexing has many benefits which shall be discussed here.
As we are all aware, Fiji has a large stray dog population but what people overlook is that we also have a large population of owned, "roaming dogs". Many of these dogs are not desexed and so are free to mate, leading to unwanted litters of puppies and the transmission of disease between dogs.
How is desexing carried out?
In female dogs and cats, a small incision is made in the abdomen from which the uterus and ovaries are removed. This is a permanent solution and desexed females dogs will never come into season or have puppies again.
In male dogs and cats, it is a less invasive procedure, where both testicles are removed from a small incision near the scrotum.
All animals are under general anaesthesia for these procedures and are also given extra pain relief to prevent any post-operative discomfort.
Benefits of desexing:
The first and most obvious benefit of desexing is that it will prevent your dog from having puppies or fathering puppies. Did you know that 1 pair of fertile dogs can produce 16 puppies in one year? As all of these puppies grow up and have their own puppies this will lead to over 12,000 puppies in 5 years, all direct decendants of the original mating pair.
Desexing animals also decreases the likelihood of your pet developing many cancers. Breast cancer is extremely common in female dogs and cats that are not spayed, as is testicular and prostate cancer in male dogs and cats.
Desexed animals are also less likely to suffer from infectious diseases such as pyometra (a life-threatening infection of the uterus) in females and infection of the prostate in males. TVT is another common sexually transmitted cancer in dogs. They are also less likely to suffer from infectious disease such as Kennel Cough and Parvo Virus as they are less likely to roam and associate with unvaccinated animals. This also reduces the likelihood of them getting hit by cars (as they are more likely to stay home instead of looking for a mate), and the chances of them getting in a dog ((or cat) fight (due to competition for mates or in heat or pregnant females which are more aggressive).
And please remember, desexing does not just apply to female animals. You are directly contributing to Fiji's stray dog population if you do not desex your male dog or cat!
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