Getting your cat neutered before it can breed is an essential part of
responsible cat ownership. Cats are very effective breeders and the number of
kittens they produce increases in line with the amount of food and shelter available.
Without neutering, the cat population can quickly get out of control.
Overpopulation increases feline infectious disease, stress-related disease,
feline conflict and compromises cats’ welfare.
What is neutering?
• A female cat is spayed – her ovaries and uterus (womb) – are removed
• A male cat is castrated – his testicles are removed
Kittens should be neutered at around four months or younger – although your
cat can be neutered at any age. Neutering also prevents some cancers and
infections, reduces straying, fighting and spraying.
Why neuter?
Neutering has many health benefits, as well as helping to reduce the number
of unwanted cats.
Unneutered male cats are more likely to end up injured or catch diseases
from fighting. They travel many miles in search of unneutered females, risking
road accidents and injury. They will spray smelly urine to mark territory and
attract females.
As neutered male cats are less likely to roam it reduces the risk of them contracting
serious diseases such as Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) or Feline
Leukaemia Virus (FeLV)
Unneutered female cats frequently become pregnant from the age of four
months and will often have litters of kittens three times a year. This adds to the
overpopulation problem and increases costs for the owner, especially if there
are complications during pregnancy or birth. They will call and wail every three
weeks during the breeding season to attract a mate, until they become pregnant.
They are more likely to contract diseases spread through sexual contact and
mating behaviour
If they are neutered they are unable to develop cancer of the ovaries or
uterus. They are also at greatly reduced risk of developing mammary cancer –
especially if neutered early.
Cats are very resilient and stoical and usually recover very quickly from
the operation. Your vet will advise on the best care for your cat as he or she
recovers.
Your cat will require much less food after neutering, as his or her body
has less work to do, so you will probably need to monitor your cat’s weight and
reduce the amount of food provided to prevent your cat from becoming too fat.
Excellent advice....we always have our kitties neutered. Better for them, they live longer and healthier lives and most importantly we need to not have unwanted kitties in shelters. Thanks !
ReplyDeleteVery important information! There is nothing quite as nasty as an unneutered teenage house cat! Before one of mine was neutered (we found him) he would leave sticky oily stinky "pee" on the dresser at night! I guess that's what "spraying" means? Fortunately, he stopped after the surgery.
ReplyDeleteGreat message! After losing our sweet cat Luna to honest to goodness breast cancer (!), we learned she might never have gotten it if she hadn't birthed a litter of kittens before finding us. Nature can be so cruel. ~sigh~ In addition, if I'd known my asthma would soon be controlled by meds, allowing us to keep Luna, we would have also kept her three cuties. Oh, well. Luna 'opened the door' for two later adoptions, one geriatric kitty (Jezebel) still hanging in there after Tilly passed away last autumn. So we've been blessed overall. Take care!
ReplyDeletethis is sooooo important and I always thought that everyone naturally did this but many people don't which is a shame. Funny, some oversexed people could use this..i'm just saying:)
ReplyDeleteBob Barker used to push for neutering pets. It's so easy for this to get away from people. So important.
ReplyDeleteI think all kitties should be spayed and neutered. :)
ReplyDelete