(IN): How to raise your pets- Maneka Gandhi

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Posted on: 23 Dec 2008

 

How to raise your pets

 

-Maneka Gandhi

 

Many years ago, before I started learning about animal management the great

love of my life was a

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called

Sabra who had been given to me. Like every dog owner I was told that one

litter is really important to a female. Sabra was mated and had nine puppies

which we gave away to people frantic to have them. Three months after they

were given away this is what happened to them : one had his leg broken and

died of gangrene, one died of rabies, one was abandoned in a farmhouse as

she was too boisterous, one ran away and was never found and one changed

three houses and became vicious so was locked up the whole day in a garage.

Sabra got pyometra ( an infection of the uterus) the next year and died. All

these pups went to 'good' homes – the gangrene victim to a Prime Minister's

house, the rabies victim to my cousin, the abandoned farmhouse one to my

son's teacher. Please spay your dogs , cats and rabbits. There are so many

benefits – medical, behavioural and environmental that only a very foolish

and cruel person would not do so.

Spaying (ovario-hysterectomy) is the surgical removal of the reproductive

organs (ovaries, uterus, fallopian tubes) of the female animal. Neutering

(orchectomy or castration) is the surgical removal of the reproductive

glands (testes) of the male animal. The animal should be spayed or neutered

by 6-8 months old. Older animals can be done as long as they are in good

health. All sterilization surgery is performed under general anesthesia by a

licensed veterinary surgeon.

Female dogs and cats can be spayed when in heat or pregnant. This can

usually be done up until a few days before delivery. These surgeries can

take longer and need experienced doctors.

Spaying before having a first litter or heat cycle is usually a simpler

procedure. The heat cycle for dogs is once or twice a year starting as early

as 6 months of age. Duration is 3 weeks. Heat cycles in cats start as early

as 6 months and occur every 3-4 weeks during spring through early autumn.

The gestation period for both dogs and cats is 63 days.

What are the health benefits of Spaying and Neutering? Spayed animals no

longer feel the need to roam to look for a mate. The result is that they

stay home and have less chance of being involved in traumatic accidents such

as being hit by a car. They also have a much lower incidence of contracting

contagious diseases, and get into fewer fights saving you veterinary bills

and aggravation.

In males, neutering decreases the chances of developing prostatic disease

and hernias, and eliminates the chances of developing testicular cancer. It

also reduces problems with territorial and sexual aggression, inappropriate

urination (spraying) and other undesirable male behavior. It reduces the

annoying and embarrassing urge of male dogs to 'mount' human legs.

In females, spaying decreases the incidence of breast cancer. It eliminates

the chance of developing a serious and potentially fatal infection of the

uterus experienced by many unspayed animals (pyometra). Spay surgery also

eliminates the heat cycle and associated mood swings and undesirable

behaviors, messy blood spotting and the attraction of all available males to

your house.. It eliminates sexual frustration. A male sensing a female in

heat nearby may dig out or jump fences in the desire to mate. You don't need

to confine your female while in heat. And listen to her frantic pacing and

crying by the female while in heat (cats are especially vocal at this time).

It stops tomcats from 'spraying' foul-smelling urine in the house.Spaying

and neutering greatly increases the lifespan of your pet and increases

quality of life as well!

Environmentally it helps decrease the overpopulation problem. One male

running loose for just a few hours can impregnate many females adding to the

serious problem of unwanted puppies and kittens. How many animals in the

streets and in shelters are the offspring of cherished family pets. Maybe

someone's dog or cat got out just that one time or maybe the litter was

intentional, but efforts to find enough good homes failed. For every person

that is born, 15 dogs and 15 cats are also born. There is no way we can find

homes for them all. Of these 30 animals , 25 die in the first month of being

on the road – from being run over, starvation, cold, beaten to death or

disease. Every shelter in India is full to the brim and mortality rates in

the shelters are staggering. Abroad , they simply kill all the animals in

shelters after 20 days of holding them. Over 5 million are killed in the US

alone.

Every day we pick up abandoned pedigreed dogs , most of them thrown out

because they are sick or old and their owners have got new ones. Hundreds of

puppies are left in baskets outside our gates in the middle of winter. 90%

die in the first two weeks as each one needs hourly individual attention

which is simply not possible. As dog and cat owners increase the number of

pedigreed dogs , it is the Indian dogs that are being killed to make space

for the foreign ones. Municipalities spend millions to control and eliminate

unwanted animals. Irresponsible breeding contributes to the problem of dog

bites and attacks.

Here are some myths that stop people from having this operation done:

· Neutering will take away the 'guard dog' instincts. NOT TRUE Neutering a

dog does not reduce its ability as a watch dog. They will still be as

protective of their territory as they were before the surgery.

· Neutering makes pets fat. NOT TRUE. Neutering does not make your pet fat

or lazy. Too much food and not enough exercise is the cause of obesity.

· Neutering will hurt him or her. NOT TRUE. Neutering is a safe and

relatively painless operation done by a registered veterinary surgeon using

the flank spaying method. Depending on your pet's age, size and health, he

or she will stay at your veterinarian's office for a few hours or a few

days..

· She should have one litter first. NOT TRUE. It is actually better for her

not to have a litter or a heat period before being spayed.

· I will find good homes for the puppies or kittens. NOT TRUE. You may be

able to place your puppies or kittens, but are they in 'good' homes and

'permanent' homes? And remember, each time you place one of your puppies or

kittens, somewhere else an animal is being killed because there was no

available home.

· We can sell puppies or kittens and make money. NOT TRUE . You will be

fortunate if you even break even on raising purebred litters. The cost of

raising such a litter -- which includes stud fees, vaccinations and other

health care costs, and feeding quality food -- consumes most of the

'profit.' .

Spayed and neutered pets are better, more affectionate, companions. Neutered

cats are less likely to spray and mark territory. Spayed and neutered pets

are less likely to bite. Unaltered animals often exhibit more behavior and

temperament problems than those that have been spayed or neutered

Don't forget to spay or neuter your pet rabbit. Rabbits reproduce faster

than dogs or cats and often end up being sold to butchers for meat . Spaying

or neutering rabbits can reduce hormone-driven behavior such as lunging,

mounting, spraying and boxing.

How can people look into their pet's unconditional loving eyes, and say that

its life, is not worth the money or the time it takes to neuter them? The

more animals that do not have to die needlessly, the better job we are doing

of being kind. If you want a dog or cat ( rather than a possession or a

status symbol toy) take a sterilized one from any shelter.

 

*

To join the animal welfare movement contact gandhim *

 

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