Other facts about cats and dogs

Early-Age Sterilization

There has been controversy within the veterinary medical profession and among humane organizations about whether early-age sterilization-spaying and castrating as young as eight weeks of age should be considered as the new standard for performing these surgeries. The fact of the matter is that early-age sterilization is being performed more and more frequently because of the range of benefits it provides to the nonhuman patients and people as well.

One of the benefits of early-age sterilization is its role in reducing the overpopulation of dogs and cats and the destruction of millions of healthy, but homeless, individuals each year. Dogs and cats can reproduce as young as four months of age, younger than many veterinary clinics have been willing to sterilize them. Many dogs and cats adopted from shelters are at the puppy and kitten age. It has been shown that, if the decision to sterilize is left to the adopting person, many animals will not be altered and will be allowed to reproduce, compounding the problem adoption was intended to ameliorate. It has been well-documented, however, that once shelters begin to perform early-age sterilizations, the numbers of dogs and cats being destroyed at those shelters declines dramatically.

Details of surgical techniques for early-age sterilization are well-described in peer-reviewed veterinary literature. While performing sterilization procedures on puppies and kittens does require some adjustment of technique on the part of the surgeon, performing the surgery on a very young animal is no more difficult, and may even be easier, than on an older animal.

For eight-week-old puppies and kittens, anesthesia and monitoring during anesthesia do require special attention. Safe anesthetic protocols are described in peer-reviewed veterinary literature and take into account pediatric concerns, such as hypothermia, hypoglycemia, and stress.