Spaying And Neutering
Dogs
Spaying And Neutering
Spaying and neutering are the respective processes of
female and male animal
sterilization, in order to keep them from producing offspring.
Unlike in humans, this usually includes (somewhat
controversially) the entire removal of related major organs. While most
agree on the advantages of sterilization itself, the necessity of the castration
part is even now hotly debated.
The processes are sometimes referred to as
castration,
due to the removal of organs, although the term in itself specifically refers to
the removal of the male testicles.
Household pets
Most
humane societies,
animal shelters, and
rescue
groups urge pet owners to have their pets "spayed or neutered" to prevent
the births of unwanted and accidental litters, contributing to the
overpopulation of animals.
In addition, the process has theoretical health benefits (uterine
and
testicular cancer or similar diseases are definitely ruled out, and
hormone-driven diseases such as
breast or
prostate cancer become a non-issue as well), and it may help to address
behavioral issues that otherwise can result in animals being given up to
shelters, abandoned or put to sleep. Obviously, the animals lose their
libido, and
females no longer experience
heat
cycles. This is due to the great hormonal changes involved with both
genders, and any neutering will definitely cause minor personality changes in
the animal.
Modern Non-surgical Alternatives
Injectable
- Male dogs - Zinc gluconate neutralized by arginine.
[1]
- Female mammals - Purified porcine zona pellucida antigens encapsulated
in liposomes (cholesterol and lecithin) with an adjuvant.
[2]
Other Methods
- Noninvasive vasectomy using ultrasound.
[3]
Females (spaying)
Spaying of a female cat.
In female animals, spaying involves invasive abdominal surgery to remove the
ovaries and
uterus, rarely
involving major complications. It is commonly practiced on household pets such
as cats and
dogs as a method of
birth control, but is rarely performed on
livestock.
Possible
complications include
urinary incontinence and minor
weight gain.
See also
oophorectomy.
Terms for the spayed
A specialized vocabulary in
animal husbandry and
-fancy
has arisen for spayed females of given animal species:
- Sprite (ferret)
- Poulard (chicken)
Males (neutering)
In males, neutering involves the removal of the testes. See
castration.
Terms for the neutered
Neutered males of given animal species also have specific names:
- Barrow
(pig)
- Bullock
(cattle)
- Capon
(chicken)
-
Dinmont (sheep, goat)
- Gelding
(horse)
- Gib (cat,
ferret)
-
Havier (deer)
- Hog (pig)
- Lapin
(rabbit)
- Ox (cattle)
-
Stag (primarily cattle)
- Steer
(cattle)
- Wether
(sheep)
References
-
^
Current Information on Prostate Disease, Testicular Neoplasia, and
Undesirable Behavior in Male Dogs. URL accessed on
May 14,
2005.
-
^
SpayVac. URL accessed on
Early,
2003.
-
^
N.M. Fried, Y.D. Sinelnikov, B.B. Pant,
W.W. Roberts, S.B. Solomon, (December 2001). Noninvasive vasectomy using a
focused ultrasound clip: thermalmeasurements and simulations. Biomedical
Engineering, IEEE Transactions on 48 (12): 1453-1459.
External links
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