Neutering - Spaying or castrating your pet
Neutering you pet can be done for a variety of reasons. Primarily it prevents unintended breeding, it also has some health benefits in certain cases and can reduce or prevent the occurrance of certain cancers.
Neutering your Dog
Females are ideally neutered 4 weeks or 4 months after a season has finished. Normally we advise this is done after one season.
Male dogs can be neutered at any time but evidence suggests the ideal age varies for different breeds but is generally best done when they are fully grown.
If you are thinking of neutering your dog for behaviour reasons such as fear, aggression or dominance type issues, please discuss this with a vet first. The benefits can be less clear, and a temporary chemical castration by injection, may be most useful as a trial before castration.
Neutering your Cat
Cats can be neutered from 12 weeks of age but this is primarily for shelter cats. We prefer to neuter them around 20 weeks as standard for both male and females. Timing in respect of seasons is not important for cats, they can still be neutered even if they are 'calling' (in season).
Neutering your Rabbit
This can be essential to prevent hundreds of new rabbits, or just to enable two to get along better. This can be done from 16 weeks of age.
