Annual Spay Day and Pet
Theft Awareness Day

FEBRUARY 22 is Annual Spay Day and also happens to be Pet Theft Awareness Day. To spay an animal and/or prevent the theft of your pet means a visit to your veterinarian.

Those appointments can be costly and time consuming but there is a way to combine the two visits into one.

But first, let's talk about pet sterilization. Females have a surgery referred to as a "spay". The medical term is ovariohysterectomy, where the uterus and ovaries are removed. This procedure stops the heat cycle (period) and eliminates the dogs' ability to have puppies.

Males have surgery referred to as a "neuter". The medical term is orchiectomy, where the spermatic cord and testicles are removed. This procedure stops production of sperm and testosterone, the male hormone, not allowing the dog to father puppies. Both of these surgeries require general anesthesia for the animal. There is another option for the young male dog that does not require general anesthesia. It is an injection of a substance directly into the testicle.

Pet sterilization does help control pet population but there are also good medical reasons to spay and neuter. The incidence of hormone-related disease is greatly reduced. These include uterine infection and breast cancer in the females and testicular, prostate, and rectal tumors in the male. Sterilized pets are less likely to want to roam, thus decreasing the chance of road trauma.

What happens if your pet becomes lost or stolen? The usual means of identification are collars, personalized nametags, pet licenses and rabies tags. All of these can easily be removed and destroyed. Two permanent methods of ID are tattoos and microchips. Discuss the pros and cons of all these procedures with your veterinarian. If you decide to microchip your dog, a good time to have it done is at the same time as sterilization, thus saving you time and money.

Call your veterinarian to make an appointment and help curb pet over population and pet theft. - Dr. Gary L. Ailes

Dr Ailes is an experienced veterinarian, an owner of Sierra Veterinary Hospital in Carson City, Nevada and co-author of Happy Tails - Hilarious Helpful Hints for Dog Owners.