# which is easier? to spay or neuter?



## little ratscals (Nov 3, 2008)

i want to get a young male rat but i have an eight month old girl right now. her cage mate just passed away and i want to try to get a male as i have never had one. so my question is. is it easier to neuter a male than spay a female? i know with male dogs the procedure is easier than with female dogs and wondering if it was the same for rats.
should i just neuter the male or spay the female as well.
also if you get a baby male when do you or when can you neuter him?


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

It's an easier op to neuter a male than spay a female, but any surgery has a risk. 

There are health benefits to spaying a female - the chance of developing mammary tumours is decreased. There aren't any health benefits to neutering a male, apart from there being no chance of testicular tumours but they aren't all that common. My Spike developed a testicular tumour at 2 years old and was neutered; with the only problem afterwards being two post-neuter abscesses.

If it was me, I would spay the female as mammary tumours are common. Alternatively you could get a female friend for your girl and get two males to house separately.


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## AMJ087 (Aug 27, 2008)

I vote do a spay and neuter. Its healthier for both in the long run. You also dont have to worry about hormonal behavioral problems some males get and tumors for both is a decreased chance.


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

AMJ087 said:


> I vote do a spay and neuter. Its healthier for both in the long run. You also dont have to worry about hormonal behavioral problems some males get and tumors for both is a decreased chance.


I wouldn't both spay and neuter. If aggression was to occur later, then neutering could be considered but it's not all that common for aggression issues. Many intact males happily live together without any problems. There aren't really any health benefits in neutering males. I found the below and the _possible_ benefit is minimal. A healthy and happy lifestyle is most likely the best way to prolong rats lives. 



ratbehavior.org said:


> In Drori and Folman (1976), 10.4% of intact males developed tumors, compared with 8.7% of castrated males -- a small decrease.


Info on what neutering does: http://www.ratbehavior.org/Neutering.htm


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## Ratnoob523 (May 8, 2009)

I have 3 girls and was thinking about adopting 2 boys.. I'm not sure if I should neuter or spay. Neutering would probably be cheaper sense it's 2 instead of 3, and I'd prefer they not have those enormous.. parts.. hanging out all the time. On the other hand I would like the health benefits of spaying as one of the girls and I are extremely attached to eachother. She's a perfect little angel and always runs up to greet me whenever I enter the room, whether in her cage or free ranging on the floor/bed. Suggestions? Maybe I could neuter the two boys now then wait a month or 2 to spay the girl.


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## JadeAmber (Jul 30, 2007)

I would also say go for the spay. It's more invasive and probably more expensive, but I agree with Stace87 about the health benifits for females. One of my past females had a mamory tumor removed and later developed an ovarian tumor... needless to say I spayed the next female I had.


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## chiklet1503 (Jun 12, 2009)

Behaviorally speaking, a neuter makes more sense and it's easier on the rat than a spay (same goes for most other types of pets)

A spay is usually a full hysterectomy which is definitely more invasive than castration aka neuter.

I wouldn't spay a female unless it was a medical emergency and it was a last resort. Just my opinion.


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

chiklet1503 said:


> I wouldn't spay a female unless it was a medical emergency and it was a last resort. Just my opinion.


Spaying would reduce the chance of future operations (possibily numerous operations) being carried out in the future due to mammary tumours.


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## MissHinasaki (Jul 29, 2009)

I was just wondering what the cost difference is between spaying and neutering. I don't have my rats yet but I'm trying to decide between getting males vs. females. 

I would definitely get the surgery done no matter the gender to decrease spraying for males (I was wondering, does it really decrease the spraying that much?) and to decrease tumors for females.

Also, at what age should I get either surgery done?


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## Ratnoob523 (May 8, 2009)

In my area the best I could find was $90 for neuter, $120 for spay.


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

MissHinasaki said:


> I was just wondering what the cost difference is between spaying and neutering. I don't have my rats yet but I'm trying to decide between getting males vs. females.
> 
> I would definitely get the surgery done no matter the gender to decrease spraying for males (I was wondering, does it really decrease the spraying that much?) and to decrease tumors for females.


I'm assuming you're referring to males urine marking? In my opinion, it's not fair to put an animal through an operation just for the benefit of people. I would only neuter a male for health problems (e.g. my Spike had a testicular tumour at 2 years old) or for severe aggression issues. Neutering doesn't stop urine marking either. Spike does still mark sometimes. Also I don't know if you're aware, but some female urine mark too. 

With spaying a female you are doing it to benefit the rat, as it can reduce the chance of mammary tumours. A lot of people would only go ahead and spay a female when a first tumour appeared, then the spay and lump removal can be done at the same time. This makes sense to me too as then if the female never ended up getting tumours then she wouldn't be put through surgery unneccessarily. Any surgery has a risk.

I'm in the UK and I paid £43 for Spike's neuter. A spay is £49. I know prices over there are considerably higher and spays are a lot more than neuters.


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## maddy (Jul 27, 2009)

i would only get my rats spayed if i really really had to
plus there's a risk they might not come round from the anisthetic afterwords


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## Lea (May 15, 2009)

Latte's spay was a total cost of $148.50. I debated waiting to see if a tumor actually occurred before doing it but supposedly her tumor risk was even higher since she has had a litter, so I decided to go ahead. In the case of the other two, who will never get pregnant, I haven't totally decided whether to do it now or only if a tumor occurs.

Also, I can vouch for the fact that females urine mark as all three of mine do it with abandon, lol.


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## MissHinasaki (Jul 29, 2009)

It just makes sense to me to spay to prevent tumors before the problem occurs to prevent the pain and discomfort for them as oppose to waiting until it's there and then removing in. Plus the chance of them developing a tumor (as well as uterine cancer) is so high that it just makes sense to try to decrease it as oppose to just waiting for to happen (which you would pretty much just be doing with a rate of around 80%). I'm sorry if I sound a bit defensive on the subject. I've just had to deal with uterine cancer and tumors in humans so I can understand what the pain can be like for the animals as well.

As for neutering, I just thought that it would be a good idea since there's a chance that any males I would have would be housed around females. I've read before that it's either best to both spay and neuter in those situations to be safe, but neutering is a much less invasive surgery. I had been specifically told by several people that it decreased scent marking greatly, but if that isn't the case and there are no females present, then I probably wouldn't worry about it. I have no problem with them marking their territory but since I don't own my own home, I don't want them scent marking other people's things (they probably just wouldn't understand). I've had ferrets before, both male and female, and I did not neuter them and had no problem with their territorial shenanigans and I'm pretty sure that ferrets probably have the capacity to be much smellier than rats.


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## Lea (May 15, 2009)

Since Latte's spay went so well, I'm feeling much more comfortable with spaying the other girls when they're old enough (they may be old enough already, I'm not sure).

Before I got my rats I was leaning towards getting males to avoid the spaying issue. But I'm kind of glad I wound up with females now that I've read about so many aggression problems with males (overrepresented, I'm sure, since it's the problems that get attention).


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

MissHinasaki said:


> It just makes sense to me to spay to prevent tumors before the problem occurs to prevent the pain and discomfort for them as oppose to waiting until it's there and then removing in.
> 
> neutering is a much less invasive surgery.


Rats actually manage very well with tumours. They're a lot tougher than us humans! Of course they should still be removed though, if they are operable, as they will eventually end up taking nutrients from the rat and could ulcerate with time. Spike still acted completely as normal with this tumour, here is a _*photo*_.

Neutering is a less invasive surgery than spaying, but there's still a risk of complications e.g. rats not waking up etc. Also post-neuter abscesses can occur, which I don't think are usually a great problem. I think Spike's were worse than usual. Take a peek at the _*photos*_ if you wish, they are a bit graphic. Everyone makes their own choices for their pets though.



Lea said:


> But I'm kind of glad I wound up with females now that I've read about so many aggression problems with males (overrepresented, I'm sure, since it's the problems that get attention).


Yeah, what you are reading on forums will be very overrepresented. Aggression issues aren't all that common (so I've heard from people that have had many many ratties). No one is really going to post about how well their boys get on with other rats and humans. People tend to join forums when a problem crops up. Even if aggression problems did crop up, a neuter seems to sort the majority of cases out just fine.


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## maddy (Jul 27, 2009)

do the males always turn agressive when they reach a certain age??


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

maddy said:


> do the males always turn agressive when they reach a certain age??


No, that's what we were just saying. You are bound to see a lot of aggression problems on forums as people come to forums for help. No-one is going to make a post "my boys get along great and have no problems whatsoever - urgent help needed!!".


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## trentrules (Aug 2, 2009)

I recently had one of my girls spayed. As long as you have a qualified vet, I'd recommend it. She came through everything wonderfully. The incision is small and she's bounced back a lot faster than any of ine that have had to go for tumor removals. I'm actually making appointments for the rest of my girls.


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