Spay & Neuter Your Pet Cats
Monday September 3, 2007
Although this article was written as part of my "Care of a Pregnant Cat" tutorial, the subject matter here is of equal importance to all cats. The old adage that "if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem" is particularly applicable to unwanted pregnancy in cats and the proliferation of kittens needing homes that continues year-round.
Neuter Your Male Cats
This is the most proactive step. Neutering is a simple surgery with a very quick recovery period. Besides preventing unwanted pregnancies, neutering a male will help mitigate certain problem behavior found in whole males, and it will help prevent certain medical conditions, too. (Read the linked article for these health problems.)
Spay Your Female Cats
Anyone who has lived through the misery of having a female cat in almost constant heat cycles will attest that it is not a pleasant experience. Their loud calling, often accompanied by spraying urine (to attract a mate) are evidence that they are, if not actually physically in pain, at least uncomfortable and unhappy. Aside from the very real feline overpopulation problem, there are some valid health reasons for spaying female cats...Learn more.
Neuter Your Male Cats
This is the most proactive step. Neutering is a simple surgery with a very quick recovery period. Besides preventing unwanted pregnancies, neutering a male will help mitigate certain problem behavior found in whole males, and it will help prevent certain medical conditions, too. (Read the linked article for these health problems.)
Spay Your Female Cats
Anyone who has lived through the misery of having a female cat in almost constant heat cycles will attest that it is not a pleasant experience. Their loud calling, often accompanied by spraying urine (to attract a mate) are evidence that they are, if not actually physically in pain, at least uncomfortable and unhappy. Aside from the very real feline overpopulation problem, there are some valid health reasons for spaying female cats...Learn more.
Comments
i have a female cat, To prevent her pregnancy, my parent prison the cat in our underground-room when the dangerious days coming , generally it will last four or five days. do you considerade whether this is a good method.
case: It might prevent pregnancy, but think about the health and happiness of your cat. If you had an uncontrollable urge to go outside, would you want to be locked up in a room underground for almost a week?
last year my cat born six baby, it really troubled me, nowadays, a few people like to adopt little cats, especially in china, most citizen are living in limited unit. i had to sent four of them to remote village. that means they will keep their lifies but obviously not a happiness. people consider them machinery to catch mouses. the remain two cats have appealing looks. i left them beside their mother and me. but unfotunately, they all dead with unnamed digestive decease disease. The first clinic i took them is a lier, a murderer, they killed one of the cats and damaged another, when i took the last cat which is my favorite little cat to a kindhearted clinic, even the doctor tried his best to resolve the little life but it is too late. they all left me in four months arter born , when healthy they were lovely and smart. so it hurt me deeply. i do not dare to sent my cat to any clinic of china. so i agreed my parents, presion, is a practical method, maybe the best way to keep her away from pregnancy. my cat had born totally 15 babies. only one little cat stay in my house. there is a family will adopt him, but still remote village. my father, my sister and me all love cats. The cats in my family are lucky. too many cats were abused by low quality people. i have a question what is “neuter” still it need a horoble Surgery. can i help my cat with a convenient way –medicine
case: I am so, so sorry that you had to lose several of your cats in such a horrible manner. I understand your situation now. I don’t think there is any reliable, safe, or humane medicine that will “neuter” a cat; I wouldn’t trust any vet that says something will. The surgery, especially in males, is supposed to be fairly low-risk and isn’t very major or horrible, and the great majority of cats recover quickly from it and get a lot of benefits. If you think surgery might be too risky, I would make your cat indoor-only (or have her under your supervision as much as possible if you need her to catch mice or do a job) and definitely keep her inside when she is in heat. Maybe not in the basement, but somewher wher she can’t escape outside.
I neutered my 3 yr old cat about 4 months ago and now he is been really aggressive towards a female cat that we got 2 months before he went into surgery. The female cat has been spayed for a long time. I don’t know what to do anymore since the male attacks the female every chance he gets. I had cats for many years and never seen this type of behavior. Now the female hides under the bed 24 hrs unless I go and get her out. I have another female that has been with me for 2 yrs and there is no problem with her.
Please help… I love my cats and I don’t want to give one up.
Thanks,
Lola