I thought that it might be a good idea to have a spay/neuter sticky and people can add their info to it or stories about their neutered pets?

This is what I send to my new kitten owners and we chat about it:

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Why should I neuter/spay my cat, I don’t want to breed...BUT…

Behavioral advantages of neutering Decreased Aggression: The (male) androgen hormones, of which testosterone is the most important, are responsible for the development of many behavioural patterns. Testosterone greatly affects aggression in cats. One of the most important behavioural advantages of castration is that as adults, these neutered cats will tend to be less aggressive toward other cats.

Decreased Spraying: Spraying urine is a normal sexual behaviour of un-castrated male tomcats. Anyone who has smelled tomcat urine will quickly agree that spraying is a very unwanted behaviour. Some un-spayed and spayed females, and some castrated males, will spray, but it is much more common in un-neutered males. If the behaviour is allowed to start, the cat has already learned this ‘habit’ it is harder to stop, therefore Many cats end up in rescue for this reason!! Early spaying/neutering before the kitten turns into a ‘adult’ sexually matures is vital.

Decreased Roaming: Another behavioural advantage of neutering is that neutered cats are much less likely to react when they sense a female in heat. Male cats can sense females in heat through pheromones. These are airborne chemical attractants that are liberated from the female when she is cycling. They travel through the air for great distances. Male cats neutered at an early age will generally not sense or respond to pheromones, and would certainly be less stressed and tend to stay home if they are outdoor cats.


Medical Advantages There are numerous behavioural and medical benefits to neutering your cat.
Reduced Injuries: The biggest medical advantage to neutering cats is really related to their behaviour. Un-neutered male cats fight to defend their territory. Such fights can be extremely serious, as abscesses often develop from the bite wounds. The veterinarians at the Drs. Foster and Smith Veterinary Medical Facility have seen many tomcats who are missing parts of their ears and tails, or have faces with multiple scars resulting from the fights they had with other toms. Passing on infections, Indoor, neutered cats lead much healthier and longer lives. Decreased Roaming.

Another behavioural advantage of neutering is that neutered cats are much less likely to react when they sense a female in heat. Male cats can sense females in heat through pheromones. These are airborne chemical attractants that are liberated from the female when she is cycling. They travel through the air for great distances. Male cats neutered at an early age will generally not sense or respond to pheromones, and would certainly be less stressed and tend to stay home if they are outdoor cats.

Improved Genetics: We want breeding animals to be the best representatives of their species. The selection is best done by professional breeders. We certainly do not want unwanted traits like hereditary diseases or aggressive personalities passed on.

Females:

Having a litter of kittens may seem like a fun thing to do. Some even believe that it helps their female cat, in some way, to develop more completely or become a better pet. Neither is true. Becoming pregnant and having a litter of kittens in no way alters the maturity level of the cat, either physically or mentally. In most cases, people find out that it is hard to find good homes for all of the kittens, even if they are advertised "Free to a Good Home." In addition, not all pregnancies go smoothly. Difficult labour, kitten mortality, and potential health problems in the mother, such as uterine and mammary gland infections, can take all the fun out of the experience. Most of the clients we have worked with end up wishing that they had never allowed their female to have a litter. Professional breeders are prepared and equipped for the entire process and it should generally be left to them.

The female reproductive tract
The reproductive tract of the female cat begins with the ovaries where the ova (or eggs) are produced. When a female kitten is born, every egg that will be released by her ovaries over her lifetime is already present. The ova are, however, in an immature form and require further development to reach a stage that can be fertilized by sperm cells. When a cat's heat cycle starts, hormones stimulate the maturation of some of the ova or eggs. When the cat is bred, the ova are then released through the surface of the ovary and pass into the oviducts. These are tiny tubes that run between the ovaries and the horns of the uterus. It is within the oviducts that fertilization (the union of the sperm cell and ovum) occurs. The horns are the muscular section of the uterus between the oviducts and the body of the uterus. In an adult cat, the horns of the uterus are about six inches long and the diameter of a normal shoelace. When a cat is in heat, the uterus and the blood vessels to it will enlarge. When pregnant, this small uterus enlarges to hold several kittens. The uterus ends at the cervix of the cat. During pregnancy, most kittens develop within the uterine horns, but one may reside within the body of the uterus.

Birth control pills There are birth control pills which can be used in cats, but they can have serious unwanted side effects such as the development of diabetes mellitus. They cannot be used for long periods of time.

Surgical sterilization Since birth control pills are not a viable option, as a practical permanent form of sterilization, we are left with the surgical procedure called spaying (medically referred to as ovariohysterectomy). An ovariohysterectomy (OHE) is the complete removal of the female reproductive tract. The ovaries, oviducts, uterine horns, and body of the uterus are removed. Not only does this procedure prevent the animal from getting pregnant, but it also eliminates the heat cycles. The surgery removes the source of production of such hormones as estrogen and progesterone.
These hormones are responsible for stimulating and controlling heat cycles and play a major role during pregnancy. But they also have other effects on the body and some of them are potentially harmful.

Disadvantages of not spaying your cat An OHE eliminates most, if not all, of the female hormone production. In so doing, the real advantages of this procedure are realized. In humans, great efforts are undertaken to maintain or restore hormone production in the body if the ovaries are removed, but the same is not true for cats. These hormones play key roles in reproduction in the cat. However, they are also responsible for many unwanted side effects.

Estrus: Cats are 'spontaneous ovulators.' This means a cat will ovulate, or release the eggs from her ovaries, only if she is mated. If a female cat is in heat (she will be in heat for 3 to 16 days) and is not mated, she will come back into heat every 14 to 21 days until she is mated. Physiological and behavioural patterns press upon her to mate. Being locked in an apartment or house where this is impossible causes great anxiety and frustration (for her, and you).

Behaviour and hygienic problems: During the heat cycle there are numerous behaviour problems that may develop. Females in heat will actively search out male cats and may attempt to escape from the house or yard, putting them in the danger of traffic, fights with other animals, etc. Often there is a sudden influx of male cats around the home and yard.

The howling at 2 a.m. will affect your behaviour as well as your cat's. In addition, un-spayed females may spray urine when they are heat. This can be difficult to stop, and it is highly recommended that such cats are spayed as part of the treatment.

Mammary cancer: Mammary cancer is the third most common cancer in cats. Reproductive hormones are one of the primary causes of mammary cancer in the cat. Cats who have been spayed have a 40-60% lower risk of developing mammary cancer than those who have not been spayed.
Tumors of the reproductive tract:
Tumors also occur in the uterus and ovaries. An OHE would, of course, eliminate any possibility of this occurring. They are not commonly seen cancers in cats, but they do occur.

Infections of the reproductive tract:Unspayed cats may develop a severe uterine disease called pyometra. With this disorder, bacteria enter the uterus and it becomes filled with pus. The normal 6-inch long, thin horns of the uterus enlarge to 10 inches long and can become the diameter of a human thumb. Undetected, this condition is almost always fatal. In rare cases, when the condition is found early, hormonal and antibiotic therapy may be successful. This type of therapy is limited to valuable breeding animals. Generally, the treatment of pyometra requires a difficult and expensive ovariohysterectomy. The toxicities resulting from the infection can strain the kidneys or heart, and in some cases may be fatal or cause life long problems, even after the infected uterus has been removed.

Behavior and hygienic problems: During the heat cycle there are numerous problems to deal with. There are the behavior problems seen in some females searching or yearning for available males. Owners of females in heat also frequently have to deal with a sudden influx of male cats around the home and yard. The howling at 2 a.m. will affect your behavior as well as your cat's.

Unspayed females may spray urine when they are heat. This can be difficult to stop, and it is highly recommended that such cats are spayed as part of the treatment.



But my cat will be a big fat lazy lump if neutered!

Spaying and neutering does change the metabolism of companion animals, so in most cases, they do not need as much food to maintain their weight as unspayed/unneutered animals. The problem is not with the animal – it is us.
We just tend to overfeed our pets and neutered/spayed dogs and cats are more apt to put on weight because of that.

As for laziness, again, the amount of exercise and activity of our pets is often dependent on us. If we do not give them opportunities for play and exercise, they can become couch potatoes just like some people. Many spayed/neutered dogs are field dogs, are entered in agility shows, become service dogs or are trained in search and rescue. These dogs are anything but lazy. Cats can get lots of exercise with toys and 'chase' games. Some cats love to walk on a leash with their owners. Try it!

Pet Health Care | Dog and Cat Behavior Information by Veterinarians

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all my pet cats were neutered at 5/6months, never had any spraying or fighting and all are very loving, it never changedthem one bit, nor are they fat or lazy!

Thought Id update this with some pictures:

a flank spay is half 1CM = 5MM Tiny incision in my kittens that are neutered before they go, and about a half-1 inch scar in a 6month old kitten. stress level is about 1 out of 10, they recover in hours, less drugs used, no effect on mental or body growth, because its purely the mating hormones spraying/fighting/calling that is removed, they are not smaller (infact they are bigger!) and they dont get fat (humans make them fat by giving them crap) or lazy (just keep playing with them!)


Just a example of what a flank spay looks like, this is a girl we neutered before her new home, we are doing a little piece on early neutering for some breeders, so we are follwoing her progress, shes on day 4 now, but here is her photos:

Now on day 21, no scar!!



Then I was sent this from someone who has araggie & british from me, they were neutered at 6months on the dot, this was after 10days:

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Nice post

Decker was Spayed at around 2 years this as due to me having to search for a vet that had reasonable.

Horris was Neutered around 3 to 4 years cause we didnt get him until he was that old and it took awhile for him to be neutered. He still tries to attempt to hump Soda and he can be aggressive but that to his past we believe

Soda wasnt Spayed until she was nearly a year old. My vet said to have her done at five month but I felt she was to tiny so i waited.

Horris did escape once, my dad left the door open and he slipped out. And the other he fell out of the 2nd level window at night.

Saying that I havent had any accidents.

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Cats-Decker, Horris, Soda
Dog-Sophie
10 Gallon tank - 1 fantail goldfish.
Rest in Peace Kira (cat)2011

Good post! I have a BIG problem with people who do not spay/neuter their animals. "Reasons" include:

• All female cats should experience at least one litter
• I want my children to witness the miracle of birth (there are loads of Youtube vids on exactly this subject)
• As a man, I would not like to have my balls cut off. Poor boy: can't do it!
• I can't afford it (if you can't afford it, how can you afford the rest of it???)
• My cat/dog is so special, there should be more of them
• A litter will be fun
• I LOVE kittens, a litter will be fun and I have friends who say they will each take one (yeah...right!)

I WISH I could take every one of the people to our local SPCA admissions. Rows and rows of cages with unwanted litters waiting for PTS. I had to take a very sick feral kitten there a week ago to try and get treatment and the literally dozens of lovely little faces crying at me to take them home. They will never know a loving home. It breaks my heart. Sorrry, I must stop now, I am crying

Have to say i'm pro neutering too.

The ONLY reason not to, in my opinion is if you are breeding a pedigree to better the breed, to show and to contribute something to the breed.

All pets should be neutered. There just isn't any choice to be made, the reasons are clearly stated above

Love your pet, neuter.

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Ali.

A life without animals isn't worth living.



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Excellent thread TB just what we need with so many "accidental "litters around at the moment.Hopefully all new kitten owners can be directed to this and not add to the terrible ,distressing problem in cat rescues.with unplanned litters.

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Great thread. Some people think the personality of their pet will change after neutering. which is completely untrue. I got Loki done at exactly 5 months, as early as I could. I didn't want him to spray (or start trying to hump my 9 year old spayed girl ) didn't want him roaming or fighting. He's still as soppy as ever!

unfortunately there are a few unneutered toms around where I live who fight with my girl, who is very timid, and will now not go out the back at all. Wish people would just neuter their pets.

Wishful thinking here buffie, as lots of people seem to appear on the forum once their cat is already pregnant

Still, we can hope.

And kudos to TB for the starting the thread/getting it stickied

Lets just hope that they come looking for advice when they first get their new furbaby.We have the tools in "sticky" form to feed and neuter them now.

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Thanks! I was hoping that people may 'research' before and come across this or places with info about neutering, thinking of doing a health testing thread aswell, got the idea from the dog section, showing what breeds need what tests?

anyone think thats a good idea? not sure where to post it though?

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