Why Spay or Neuter Rats?

[SQ]

Why Spay or Neuter Rats?​

Why Spay rats (Ovariohysterectomy) ?
A full Ovariohysterectomy = complete removal of the ovaries & the uterus.

1. Unspayed rats are very prone to developing mammary tumours. Some sources report that unsprayed girls have more than an 85% chance of developing mammary tumours. If a girl has one mammary tumour she will develop more unless she is spayed. Spaying girls who have had a mammary tumour may prevent or slow the growth of future mammary tumours.

- Spayed rats have a 3% to 4% chance of developing mammary tumours (thus a 96% to 97% chance of not developing mammary tumours).

- I have never heard of a rat that was spayed by 4 months of age developing mammary tumours.

- Mammary tumours can grow very huge very quickly, they use up nutrients that your rat needs to be healthy, and they lower a rat’s quality of life.

- Mammary tumours require surgical removal or eventually the rat will need to be put to sleep.

- Mammary tumours can outgrow their blood supply and become necrotic and start to rot.

- Surgical removal of mammary tumours may not be an option if a rat has other health issues that make surgery too much of a risk.

2. Pituitary tumours – the most frequent type of pituitary tumour is prolactin based (estrogen driven). Spaying rats may prevent this type of pituitary tumour. This type of tumour may respond to medication but if it helps, it only reduces the symptoms allowing the rat to have a good quality of life for awhile. Medication does not cure the tumour.

3. To prevent a prolapsed uterus
When a rat has had an ovariohysterectomy, she no longer has a uterus.

4. To prevent uterine infection ( Pyometra) Pyometra is an infected, pus filled uterus. This is life threatening and often fatal, even with prompt medical attention. To my knowledge there are no statistics on how prevalent this is. When a rat has had an ovariohysterectomy, she no longer has a uterus. There have been cases where a rat’s uterine stump has become infected later in life but this is extremely rare.

5. To prevent uterine/ovarian tumours and cancer
Spayed rats do not develop life threatening uterine tumours or cancer, or ovarian tumours or cancer because their uterus and ovaries have been removed.

6. To prevent unwanted pregnancy
Pet rats go into heat every 3 to 4 days, experiencing changes in their hormone levels, attracting male rats, and affecting any male rats in the household.

7. Cost-Saving
It is less expensive to have a healthy young rat given an ovariohysterectomy, then it is to pay for treatment of mammary tumours, a pituitary tumour, and/or ovarian masses and infection when your rat is older and no longer as healthy.

Note: It is best to spay rats by 4 months of age, however, spaying rats at any age will help to prevent health issues. Spaying rats after the removal of a mammary tumour may prevent further mammary tumours or slow their growth. The word spay in this document refers to a full Ovariohysterectomy .

All surgery is a risk but it is low risk if you use a good vet with the knowledge and experience to safely spay rats. Only gas is used and no injections are given until after the surgery is over.​

A partial spay (o-spay, ovariectomy ) may be done to young rats.
It is less invasive, usually less expensive, and provides most of the benefits mentioned, but not necessarily all of the benefits because the uterus is not removed.

For more information, please see: http://ratguide.com/health/reproductive/spay.php
Do not copy without my permission - SQ

Why Neuter Rats?

1. To reduce aggression.
Some rats will develop hormone based aggression after they enter their teens and a neuter will solve this problem.

2. Unneutered male rats have 100 times the amount of allergen in their urine as neutered rats.
People with allergies are less allergic to male rats if they are neutered.

3. To prevent testicular tumours.

4. To prevent pregnancy.

5. Rats must be neutered if:
A. There are retained testicles in abdomen - One or both testicles do not drop
B. There is an unusual mass felt in addition to testes in the scrotum
C. There is an absence of one teste

6. A benefit: It will prevent or reduce buck grease. Unneutered males have a hormonal secretion on their skin. The amount varies from rat to rat. Neutered males do not usually have buck grease.

7. A benefit: It will reduce the incidence of penis plugs in older rats.

8. A benefit: It will reduce any odor related to hormonal secretions.

All surgery is a risk but it is low risk if you use a good vet with the knowledge and experience to safely neuter rats. Only gas is used and no injections are given until after the surgery is over.
​

For more information, please see http://ratguide.com/health/reproductive/neuter.php

Do not copy without my permission - SQ

 

[Sheldon]

Beautiful summary. Thank you for taking the time to put all of this into words. It’s hard to think about paying for these surgeries when you have multiple rats, but it really is cost-saving. It also makes their lives so much more enjoyable, therefore they become better pets to their owners. I had 11 of my own rats (in total) and every one of them was de-sexed. The only rats that were not were those that were too ill to go through surgery when they arrived at the sanctuary I helped with.

Get your pets spayed and neutered.

 

[jorats]

I agree, great write up.

 

[Fidget]

Yup, lots of info in 1 easy-to-understand page. Needs to be in the reference section!

 

[oasisandbambi]

Why Spay or Neuter Rats?​

Why Spay rats (Ovariohysterectomy) ?
A full Ovariohysterectomy = complete removal of the ovaries & the uterus.

1. Unspayed rats are very prone to developing mammary tumours. Some sources report that unsprayed girls have more than an 85% chance of developing mammary tumours. If a girl has one mammary tumour she will develop more unless she is spayed. Spaying girls who have had a mammary tumour may prevent or slow the growth of future mammary tumours.

- Spayed rats have a 3% to 4% chance of developing mammary tumours (thus a 96% to 97% chance of not developing mammary tumours).

- I have never heard of a rat that was spayed by 4 months of age developing mammary tumours.

- Mammary tumours can grow very huge very quickly, they use up nutrients that your rat needs to be healthy, and they lower a rat’s quality of life.

- Mammary tumours require surgical removal or eventually the rat will need to be put to sleep.

- Mammary tumours can outgrow their blood supply and become necrotic and start to rot.

- Surgical removal of mammary tumours may not be an option if a rat has other health issues that make surgery too much of a risk.

2. Pituitary tumours – the most frequent type of pituitary tumour is prolactin based (estrogen driven). Spaying rats may prevent this type of pituitary tumour. This type of tumour may respond to medication but if it helps, it only reduces the symptoms allowing the rat to have a good quality of life for awhile. Medication does not cure the tumour.

3. To prevent a prolapsed uterus
When a rat has had an ovariohysterectomy, she no longer has a uterus.

4. To prevent uterine infection ( Pyometra) Pyometra is an infected, pus filled uterus. This is life threatening and often fatal, even with prompt medical attention. To my knowledge there are no statistics on how prevalent this is. When a rat has had an ovariohysterectomy, she no longer has a uterus. There have been cases where a rat’s uterine stump has become infected later in life but this is extremely rare.

5. To prevent uterine/ovarian tumours and cancer
Spayed rats do not develop life threatening uterine tumours or cancer, or ovarian tumours or cancer because their uterus and ovaries have been removed.

6. To prevent unwanted pregnancy
Pet rats go into heat every 3 to 4 days, experiencing changes in their hormone levels, attracting male rats, and affecting any male rats in the household.

7. Cost-Saving
It is less expensive to have a healthy young rat given an ovariohysterectomy, then it is to pay for treatment of mammary tumours, a pituitary tumour, and/or ovarian masses and infection when your rat is older and no longer as healthy.

Note: It is best to spay rats by 4 months of age, however, spaying rats at any age will help to prevent health issues. Spaying rats after the removal of a mammary tumour may prevent further mammary tumours or slow their growth. The word spay in this document refers to a full Ovariohysterectomy .

A partial spay (o-spay, ovariectomy ) may be done to young rats.
It is less invasive, usually less expensive, and provides most of the benefits mentioned, but not necessarily all of the benefits because the uterus is not removed.

For more information, please see: http://ratguide.com/health/reproductive/spay.php
Do not copy without my permission - SQ

Why Neuter Rats?

1. To reduce aggression.
Some rats will develop hormone based aggression after they enter their teens and a neuter will solve this problem.

2. Unneutered male rats have 100 times the amount of allergen in their urine as neutered rats.
People with allergies are less allergic to male rats if they are neutered.

3. To prevent testicular tumours.

4. To prevent pregnancy.

5. Rats must be neutered if:
A. There are retained testicles in abdomen - One or both testicles do not drop
B. These is an unusual mass felt in addition to testes in the scrotum
C. There is an absence of one teste

6. A benefit: It will prevent buck grease. Unneutered males have a hormonal secretion on their skin. The amount varies from rat to rat. Neutered males do not have buck grease.

7. A benefit: It will reduce the incidence of penis plugs in older rats.

8. A benefit: It will reduce any odor related to hormonal secretions.

For more information, please see http://ratguide.com/health/reproductive/neuter.php

Do not copy without my permission - SQ

Thank you so much! This is just what I was looking for!

 

[allie]

I want to be able to afford to neuter my rats if I ever get more, for a slightly different reason, which may sound kind of silly but here it goes anyway: their testicles are kind of gross looking

In addition to all the health benefits, and another reason I like the idea is that you could have a group of males and females together if they are de-sexed, which seems more natural for them since the wild rats live in family groups of mixed genders too.

With dogs, neutering a male is usually less expensive than spaying a female because it is less invasive and doesn't require as much pain management afterwards. Is it the same with rats, males being easier to neuter and therefore less costly? Just curious.

 

[Petunia]

yes neutering a male rats is a LOT less expensive than spaying a female

no worries about thinking that their testicles are gross, I kinda like my boy's balls, LOL something about their huge size always makes me giggle

Yes a mixed gender group is much more like their natural condition , they'r more interesting to watch and I think they do things that single gender groups don't do.
Well one thing that can change when you put girls and boys together is that often some or all stop using the litter box if they were trained to use it in the past.
Not always but I think it's more common in a mixed group

 

[SQ]

Yes, as Petunia mentioned, neutering males is less invasive and less expensive then spaying girls, however, spaying girls when possible is extremely important because of the health benefits that reduce (the risks) or prevent common terminal health issues.
The cost of surgery varies from vet to vet and from city/area/country to city/area/country

I love having mixed colonies and it also feels good to be able to allow families to remain together