The Importance of Spaying and Neutering

I very rarely go on a rant, but this subject is close to my heart and I've been chewing on it for a while. So, bear with me.

Many people today believe in the importance of spaying and neutering their animals. If you are one of the responsible, I thank you. There are, however, a number of people who believe that it isn't necessary, why bother? Excuses range from "can't afford it" to "one litter won't hurt", "my animal never comes into contact with other animals" and beyond.

Aside from the fact that the animal shelters are overflowing with pets needing good homes and that hundreds of animals are destroyed everyday due to overcrowding in those shelters, there is another factor to consider.

Indiscriminate breeding can also introduce a plethora of health problems into the animal community. Animals who are dumped off at shelters or the vets office are always checked out and given shots, but a lot of times, there are underlying conditions that may arise months later. I have been the lucky recipient of two such animals. Here are their stories:

Stuart the cat was dumped off in a box with his mother and sister at a local vets office. The technician at the office knew I was looking for another kitty so she gave me a call. I fell in love with the little guy and named him Stuart (after Stuart Little). He came home and after a couple of rough adjustment days, seemed like a perfectly normal and healthy little kitten.

About two weeks later he began regurgitating his food. We thought at first he had ingested some grass. It kept up. We changed his food. No good. We eliminated canned food from his diet. Nothing worked. We took him to the vet. After a very brief examination and xray they determined he had an extremely rare heart condition called mega esophagus. In essence, blood vessels from his heart had grown around his esophagus and were squeezing it shut, cutting off his food. The little guy was starving to death. The only option (other than euthanasia) was surgery at UC Davis. My husband and I discussed it and decided to give the little guy a chance. $3,000 later, Stuart is a healthy, happy little cat.

Next came Bella, the lab. Bella came to us from a friend who "accidentally" bred her registered white lab with an unregistered black lab. Early on, they were concerned that she might be blind in her right eye. I knew that if we didn't take her they would probably end up putting her down. We took her to a dog opthamologist, who confirmed that she was blind and that it was a congenital condition passed on to her from one of her parents. He strongly discouraged us from breeding her because she could pass the condition on to her puppies. (We had already decided to have her fixed.)

Things seemed fine, other than she was blind in the one eye, until two months later. We awoke at 3am to her moaning and whining under the bed. Her right eye was glassy and milky. We stayed up with her that night and made arrangements to take her to the specialist (in Stockton this time) the next afternoon. He examined her and diagnosed her with glaucoma. There was nothing to do but remove the bad eye. $1200 later, Bella is a one-eyed white lab in love with life.

I notified my friend of the situation via email and voicemail and begged her not to let her dog breed again. She never responded.

Seven new puppies were born on Easter Sunday. I can only hope that all of them will be lucky and not have the same condition that Bella inherited.

I admit that these two animals are probably extreme examples of what can happen. But let's think about what would have happened to them if the people who adopted them could not afford the unexpected vet bills? Stuart and Bella are wonderful, loving pets and I am glad that my husband and I made the decisions that we did, but not all animals will be so lucky.

Please, please, please do not let your animals breed indiscriminately.