February is Spay/Neuter Awareness Month, just in time for puppy and kitten season.
Around half of all liters born are not planned; partially due to lack of knowledge on how young an animal can have babies.
Kittens are able to conceive as young as four months and puppies as young as five months of age.
So, make sure you have your pet spayed or neutered by four months of age.
Dogs can have two litters a year, with anywhere from six to ten puppies per litter.
Cats can have three litters a year, and four to six kittens per litter.
That means one dog can have up to twenty puppies a year, and a cat can have eighteen kittens a year.
If you keep doing the math on that, let us just say that in a few short years you will have 2,000 cats.
Not only does having a pet fixed help with the overcrowding problem we have, but it helps keep unwanted pets from ending up in a shelter or living wild.
Shelters see around ten million animals annually, with four to six million of those animals being euthanized.
During puppy and kitten season shelters are already overwhelmed, and sometimes the only way to accept more is to euthanize the ones they have.
Euthanasia is the biggest killer of dogs, cats and other companion animals.
Another advantage of having a pet spayed or neutered is health.
Many studies have shown that having a pet fixed can lower their chances of a variety of different diseases, and even increase how long of a life your pet lives.
Feral populations can also be neutered and released after receiving a notch on their ear.
Any of the local vets can assist you in having an animal fixed along with many other services.
You can reach out to the Spay Neuter network, and see if they are able to help you.
Their website, https://spayneuternet.org/locations/ list different locations and what date they will pick up animals from that location to be fixed.
Spaying or Neutering your pet makes for One Amazing Month.
