Should you neuter your pet?  When we brought Rocky home and I took him to the Vet for the first time I will never forget when they asked if we planned to neuter him.  The first thing that popped into my head was Bob Barker.  I know this may sound hilarious, but I grew up watching Bob Barker on The Price Is Right.  In particular I remember watching the game show when I visited my great Aunt Ida, great Aunt Mary and at my grandparents' house.  I also watched it at my house with my mom and sister.

Tips for preparing for Neuter:

At the close of every single show Bob Barker would remind the viewers to spay or neuter your pet to help control the pet population.  After discussing the pros and cons (we had no desire for Rocky to breed) we immediately decided that yes, he should be neutered, and we scheduled his appointment.  According to our Vet it’s best to neuter your dog before he reaches sexual maturity at six months of age.  This will help with potty training and behavior issues.

Though it was traumatic for us to take him, and it was sad after the surgery, he rebounded quickly and within 24-48 hour he was back to his normal self.  What I did find after the neuter was that he was better behaved and calmer.  It was the best decision for us as a family and for him.

Benefits to neutering include:

• Testicular and Prostate Cancer
• Urine Marking
• Less Aggression
• Less Social Aggression
• Inappropriate Mounting

Hopefully this article will help you decide.  I do know like with any surgery that Rocky felt pain and discomfort which made me sad, but we did give him pain medication and lots of love, hugs and cuddles to help him through it.

I would suggest sending a comforting blanket or toy or bringing it with you when you pick up your pet.  That really helped Rocky.  I spent the majority of the evening after we picked him upholding him and letting him sleep off his anesthesia.  By the next morning he started perking up and by that evening we had a hard time keeping him from jumping and playing.  I would say recovery is harder once your pet feels better because you have to limit the jumping, running and activity.

If you have more than 1 pet, then you have to factor in keeping the pets separated (for several days) and the cone is used to keep your pet from licking the incision. Rocky tried to lick Smokey so that was a major issue for us for several days.  Though it is a pain, and your pet will not enjoy it, it is there for the prevention of infection (your pet can cause an infection by licking) or even open the wound up which will cause your pet to have to go back into surgery.

Our vet wanted us to keep the cone of shame on for a full 10 days.  We did remove it when our dogs were with us but never when they were alone or crated.  For Rocky he did have stitches that had to be removed however for Smokey he had internal stitches and glue that did not have to be removed. We went for a follow up appointment at 10 days for both pups.

Hope this helps!

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Melissa Jennings

Melissa is a soccer mom who has been married to her best friend for 22 years. She loves sharing recipes, travel reviews and tips that focus on helping busy families make memories.