Spring is coming and the kittens or puppies that you recently adopted may be thinking about making babies of their own.

Here are some very compelling reasons to spay or neuter you pet earlier rather than later:

• Most female dogs and cats have their first heat cycle around 6 months, but some can start as early as four months. Regardless of age, animals in heat are likely to try to get outdoors even if they have never been outside, which can cause pets to become lost.

Kittens and puppies may be adorable, but there are some very compelling reasons to spay or neuter you pet.

• The chances of developing mammary cancer are significantly reduced in both dogs and cats if a spay procedure is performed prior to the first heat cycle. The chances of uterine infection, which can pose a sudden and life-threatening condition in older females, is eliminated if your pet is spayed.

• A female dog’s heat cycle includes vaginal bleeding, which can be problematic at home. Occasionally a heat cycle in female dogs can also be accompanied with increased urination and urine-marking behaviors that are also problematic.

• Female cats do not bleed vaginally during heat cycles but display some irritating behaviors. These include obsessive rubbing against objects, yowling as if in pain, being overly demanding for affection and constantly raising their rear quarters into the air while treading with their hind legs. These behaviors can become so bizarre that some people think their cat is sick!

• Just like dogs, female cats in heat sometimes mark objects with urine, which contains pheromones designed to attract males. Feline pheromones are so potent that male cats can sense a female cat in heat even if she is indoors, and you may find that you have unexpected neighborhood visitors hanging around outside in hopes of getting your little lady’s attention!

• When unneutered male cats reach puberty, they often start spraying urine to mark their territory. Neutering male cats early is important because this behavior can become a habit, and some cats will spray their entire lives making it difficult to keep them indoors as pets.

• Unneutered male dogs also display roaming behaviors just like male cats and in some cases hormonal influences can result in some aggressive behaviors. Older male dogs are susceptible to prostatic hyperplasia, which can result in difficulty urinating. The only real treatment for this condition is — you guessed it — neutering!

The most important thing that you can do to help homeless animals is to spay and neuter your own pets! About 7.6 million animals enter shelters in our country each year, and of those approximately 2.7 million are euthanized. Some of these are euthanized because of severe injury or illness, but many are euthanized simply because there are just not enough homes for every animal.

This is a sad fact that you help correct by neutering or spaying your pet as early as possible. There are so many reasons to get your pet altered that is just makes sense to go ahead and do it. You can also feel great knowing that you have saved lives by preventing unwanted pets in our community.

— Jennifer Stone is the medical director and staff veterinarian at the Lawrence Humane Society. She has been a shelter veterinarian for more than a decade.