If you've just adopted a pet, be it a dog or cat, you may be wondering about the advantages and disadvantages of spaying or neutering it. Fortunately, there's a wealth of information regarding the benefits of both spaying and neutering that make it much easier to decide. So keep reading to discover just three of the most prominent upsides you can expect when you take your new pet to the vet for an alteration.

Fewer Strays

Stray animals are still a very real problem in many communities across the country. In a perfect world, every animal would have access to a loving home, but the unfortunate truth is that pets who have not been spayed or neutered will procreate faster than their offspring can be adopted. This means a life on the streets for many dogs and cats, who are often picked up by local animal control agencies, brought to shelters, and eventually euthanized because of sheer overpopulation. Spaying and neutering limits the cases of strays and decreases the population of animals without a home.

Less Destructive Behavior

If you don't spay or neuter your pets, be prepared to deal with a host of subsequent problems as a result of their being in heat. Female cats who are seeking a mate will often meow loudly and urinate frequently, even in places where they've been trained not to. Male dogs will resort to digging under fences in order to escape backyards and roam far away from home. These destructive and aggressive behaviors can cause a lot more headaches (and real damage) than any spaying or neutering procedure.

Health Benefits

The reproductive system of dogs and cats are subject to many of the same problems as human ones. In particular, cats and dogs are vulnerable to many types of cancers that may go undetected by owners until it is too late. They may also develop urinary tract infections that lead to more serious problems. These problems may prove to be prohibitively expensive to fix — much more so than a routine spaying or neutering procedure, at least. In fact, there is a direct correlation between a pet's life span and whether not it has been spayed or neutered. Recent research has found that states in which there is the highest rate of spaying and neutering also enjoy their pets for many more years than states whose pets have not been spayed or neutered.

For more information, contact local professionals like Caring Hands Animal Hospital.