Why spaying your pet is about more than preventing litters
Monday, June 9, 2025
We have a tale of two Beans to tell you about why spaying your pets is such an important part of their care!
At Friends of Strays, we often talk about the importance of spaying and neutering to prevent unplanned litters—but the health benefits go far beyond population control. Spaying your female pet is one of the most important steps you can take to protect her long-term well-being and even save her life.
Beans, a sweet 5-year-old pup, came to us with her best friend, Einstein. During Beans’ spay surgery, our medical team discovered a mammary tumor. A biopsy confirmed what we feared: it was cancerous. Mammary tumors are the most common tumors found in unspayed female dogs, and about 50% of them are malignant. Spaying before a dog’s first heat reduces the risk of mammary cancer by more than 99%. However, each heat cycle dramatically increases the risk. Once a dog has gone through multiple heat cycles, the protective effect of spaying decreases dramatically. However, spaying later in life can still be beneficial: removing the ovaries does halt hormone stimulation, which may still help reduce progression of pre-existing benign tumors or risk of recurrence after treatment.
Bean the cat came to us from another shelter, where she had to have an emergency spay to save her life. She was suffering from pyometra, a life-threatening uterine infection that can affect both dogs and cats. Pyometra is caused by hormonal changes in the reproductive tract and can develop suddenly, leading to sepsis or death if untreated. Emergency surgery is often the only option once symptoms appear. It's a painful, expensive, and entirely preventable condition—spayed cats and dogs cannot suffer from pyometra.
When you spay your pet, you’re not just helping to reduce the number of homeless animals in shelters—you’re actively protecting her from serious, preventable diseases.
And, we're happy to say that Beans and Einstein and Bean the cat have all been adopted! Beans and Einstein went home together!
