Ed. Note: The following content was provided by Cinema Veterinary Centre, who is a client of KHTS AM-1220.

With kitten and puppy season quickly approaching, Santa Clarita pet owners can help reduce the pet overpopulation problem while also improving their pet’s health and preventing behavioral issues by spaying or neutering their pets.

Having pets spayed or neutered is actually mandated by law in Los Angeles County, with spay/neuter certificates required in order to license pets.

Every spring countless unwanted kittens and puppies are born, contributing to a national pet overpopulation problem that results in the euthanasia of approximately 2.7 million adoptable dogs and cats in shelters every year, according to the Humane Society of the United States.

“It’s beginning to be more like spring, and that is definitely kitten season,” said Dr. Jaimie Ronchetto of Cinema Veterinary Centre. “It’s very important to spay and neuter your pets.”

Pet owners can not only help save lives by spaying or neutering their pets, but they can also help improve their pet’s overall health, prevent cancer and reduce behavioral issues like aggression and marking.

Related: Santa Clarita Veterinarian Offers Tips On Traveling With Pets

“Spaying and neutering both for females and for males is much healthier for them overall,” Ronchetto said. “It prevents certain cancers later on in life; for males, certain prostate issues; and certainly helps with behavioral issues.”

Fixing pets while they’re still young is key in preventing behavioral issues, which can be difficult to break after bad habits have already been formed, Ronchetto added, with the recommended age being about six months.

“They seem to be mature enough at that point,” she said. “They’ve grown up enough that anesthesia is safer for them, they’ve had that hormonal influence for just a little bit of time… That just seems to be a good age.”

The time of the surgery is also an ideal time to have pets microchipped, which allows veterinarians and shelters to easily reunite a lost pet with its owners.

“It’s just always easier if we’re going to be putting them under anesthesia anyways to do it while they’re sleeping,” Ronchetto said, adding that keeping the microchip’s contact information current is crucial.

“Many times we get owners who have gone through with microchipping and the microchip is there, but it’s not going to do any good unless you actually make sure you keep your contact information up to date,” she continued. “There’s several times that we’ve had to call and there’s been outdated numbers, and then we can’t reach the owners.”

Ronchetto encourages Santa Clarita pet owners who need to spay or neuter their pets to schedule an appointment with their veterinarian or the staff at Cinema Veterinary Centre.

“There’s always lots of questions that owners have,” she said. “We can discuss all of those concerns with you and give you a full estimate of what the entire surgery entails. We go through it detail by detail and usually that alleviates a lot of the worries.”

Cinema Veterinary Centre

23460 Cinema Drive

Valencia, CA 91355

661-253-9300