What is the best age to sterilize dogs and cats? There are many opinions on both the benefits of sterilization as well as the risks, and most of the concerns expressed currently are based on research published from a referral hospital. But is the information applicable to all animals? What are the risks and benefits? And what are the implications of not sterilizing our pets?

Dr. Phil Bushby, Board Certified Veterinary Surgeon and Marcia Lane Endowed Chair of Humane Ethics and Animal Welfare at the College of Veterinary Medicine in Mississippi State, breaks down the research and helps clarify what the data tells us. In reviewing the research for and against early age sterilization, we discuss bias as well as the power of statistics and how numbers can be manipulated to prove significance when there may not be any.

There are risks and benefits in every decision we make for the pets in our lives. We hope that this episode can help clear some of the confusion behind this topic so that pet owners and caretakers can make educated decisions about their care.

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