| In fact, many serious health risks can be minimized or prevented altogether with spaying and neutering – especially if done at an early age.
What is a Neuter?
Male animals undergoing the procedure to have their testicles surgically removed are considered “neutered”. As long as both testicles have descended into the scrotal sac, the surgery is relatively non-invasive, with an incision just in front of the scrotum.
Advantages to Neutering Pets
 Since neutering removes the testicles, it completely eliminates the possibility of testicular cancer.
Neutering a male animal also reduces the influence of testosterone on the prostate gland and prevents enlargement. An enlarged prostate is more susceptible to infection (prostatitis) and may cause discomfort and interfere with urination in addition to defecation.
Older dogs are often neutered mainly as a treatment against an enlarged prostate.
Personality does not dramatically change after surgical altering, but, territorial urine marking should considerably lessen especially when neutered at an early age.
In addition, male sterilization dramatically reduces the behavioral effects of testosterone, such as aggression and roaming.
Many serious health risks can be minimized or prevented altogether with spaying and neutering – especially if done at an early age.
What is a Spay?
When a female animal has her reproductive organs removed, it is called an ovariohysterectomy (OVH), commonly referred to as a "spay".
Recovery generally is fairly quick, though keeping your pet inactive for several days to a week dramatically decreases post-operative complications.
Veterinarians are now beginning to use newer techniques using laparoscopes (long surgical tubes with cameras and lights at the end), making only one to three tiny incisions. This approach to spaying causes much less trauma to the body wall.
Post-operative pain is lessened and recovery is faster. At this time, this technique is limited in availability. While it is also generally associated with higher costs, though gaining popularity, only a small percentage of veterinary clinics are trained in and have purchased the expensive equipment.
Why Spay Pets?
 Pet-population control is another common reason to spay pets. In fact, the city of Los Angeles recently became the largest municipality in the country to pass an ordinance requiring pet owners to spay or neuter their pets, possibly setting a precedent for other communities with an overflow of sheltered animals.
More importantly, spaying your pet has great advantages in long-term health issues. Perhaps the most common health risk avoided by spaying is pyometra, a rapid, life-threatening infection of the uterus which can occur at any age but is commonly diagnosed in middle-aged to older female dogs.
Early spaying can also reduce the risk of mammary cancer by 99 percent if done prior to the first reproductive cycle of a female dog or cat (usually around 6 months of age). The standard OVH procedure can eliminate the chance of ovarian and uterine cancer, notably all too frequent in unspayed females.
Complications of Altering Your Pet
Of course, any surgical procedure carries with it inherent risks, but with current anesthetic and surgical precautions, along with appropriate aftercare by the pet-owners, the potential for these complications are minimized – especially compared to the risks of NOT spaying your pet.
Certainly problems can arise from spaying and neutering as well. Although not caused due to spay or neuter, obesity is one of the most common complaints in altered animals. Pet owners need to be aware that due to the lack of hormones, a pet's metabolism will slow down. Consult with your veterinarian about the proper amount of food you should feed your pet following a spay or neuter.
Urinary incontinence is another (usually in spayed females) potential complication. However, this often can be controlled with medications.
When to Spay or Neuter Pets
Though many veterinarians and shelters sterilize when the animals are three to four months old or even younger, most veterinarians will recommend spaying and neutering dogs and cats at six months of age. At this time, they should have sufficient growth and development, without yet having gone through a heat cycle.
Discuss with your veterinarian your pet and his or her specific needs. Your veterinarian will be able to guide you as to what is best for your pet.
Dr. Ingrid Pyka is the medical director at Harrison Memorial Animal Hospital in Denver, Colo., a non-profit veterinary hospital for qualified low income pet owners. As a veterinarian, Dr. Pyka emphasizes educating her clients to give them the tools to best care for their furry companions. She strongly feels that combining the highest quality medicine with complete client understanding allows patients and their owners to receive the best and most appropriate veterinary care.
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Certainly, the most common surgeries performed in small animal veterinary medicine are spays and neuters. Health concerns and the will to improve and extend the quality of our pets' lives has become a major incentive to spaying and neutering our four-legged companions..jpg)
