52 Pit Bulls and Mixes Altered at Shore Vets

COURT HOUSE – Cape May County Animal Shelter and Adoption Center through a partnership with Shore Veterinarians of Seaville, recently hosted a Pit-ty Party. The goal of these national Pi-ty Parties is to spay and neuter as many pit bulls and pit bull mixes as possible. This event was extremely successful and Shore Veterinarians has reported that they altered 52 pit bulls this summer during this highly successful promotion.
Dr. Nick Holland, owner of Shore Veterinarians, who recently adopted his own pit bull mix, comments, “We were so excited to be asked to do the alterations of these pit bulls because we believe they are great family pets, however, there are far too many of them in the shelters. It is a shame that their reputation prevents adoptions. I myself, fell in love with them when we started these joint ventures with the shelter to alter pit bulls aggressively in the county. We are strong believers here at Shore in spay and neuter and know there are numerous health benefits to altering pets.”
Some of the many benefits of altering your pet are as follows.
1. Cancer prevention. Spaying a female dog before its first heat will decrease the likelihood of developing cancer in her mammary glands as an adult. Neutering a male dog will help prevent testicular cancer and perianal cancer. A female dog spayed before her first heat will have a near zero chance of developing mammary cancer (a huge relief to folks with dogs that develop multiple mammary lumps as they age.) After the first heat, this cancer incidence climbs to 7% and after the second heat the risk is 25%! In the past there was debate about early spaying, but clearly the benefits of preventing such a frequent and often fatal disease are overwhelming. While early spaying is ideal, after the first heat it should still be done as soon as possible; even if the dog is older, has had litters, or already has obvious tumors. Mammary tumors are stimulated by estrogens; so removal of the ovaries – part of standard spay surgeries – removes the estrogen source and slows tumor growth. As spaying removes the uterus as well, there is zero chance of uterine cancer.
2. Pyometra Prevention. Pyometra is a serious infection of the uterus. It occurs in dogs and cats after a heat. It is a life threatening condition that often requires emergency surgery and extended (and expensive) veterinary hospital stays. Spay surgery removes both ovaries and the uterus, protecting female puppies and kittens from getting this condition. Pregnancy Prevention. While the expense, care, medical needs, and placement of litters are the most significant elements of pet pregnancies, risks to the mother’s health are also a concern. For those who love their female dog or cat, it is often not worth gambling with their life in order to have litters one can sell. One out of every five litters has some type of complication. Mothers may require emergency or scheduled C-sections, develop serious post-partum side effects such as infection, hypocalcaemia, endotoxemia and mastitis to name a few.
3. Prostate Problem Prevention. Dogs that are not neutered can eventually develop problems with their prostate glands. Some will develop painful infections of the prostate, called prostatitis. The most common problem in older un-neutered dogs is a condition called benign prostatic hyperplasia. The hormone testosterone causes the prostate to become larger with time. Once it becomes too big to remain in the pelvic canal, it will begin to pinch the rectum and bladder, and lead to your dog having discomfort or straining when trying to defecate or urinate. Neutering corrects the problem, but know that it takes several months for the prostate to shrink down to a more comfortable size.
4. Perineal Herniation. Intact male dogs can develop weakened muscle walls in their rectums that allow stool to store up in pouches. They initially strain to defecate but as time goes on, will develop infections and become progressively unable to defecate normally. These hernia conditions are seen in intact males, and are preventable with neutering.
5. Roaming and Fighting Injury and Disease Prevention. Dogs and cats are more likely to develop dominance and territorial aggression if they are not spay and neutered. They are more likely to roam in search of a mate and also get into fights. Not only are roaming pets exposed to more diseases – from viruses to rabid wild animals – studies have found cats that get into frequent fights are at greater risk of contracting the deadly FELV or FIV viruses. All animals in fights are prone to get cuts, bruises, breaks, abscesses and worse. Too, unaltered roaming animals are at risk for injury or death from traffic accidents and wild animal conflict.
There are still various low cost spay and neuter programs available. To find out if you qualify for any of these programs, please call Shore Veterinarians at 609- 390-9113 during normal business hours.