Deciding to Neuter Your Cat

Posted by Jeanne on March 18, 2009

In every cat owner’s life comes the time when the decision to interfere, or not, with the pet’s sexual functions must be faced.

This is called “neutering,” or “altering,” or, more directly, castration in the case of the male and spaying in the female. Castration is surgical removal of the testicles. Spaying is an abdominal operation for removal of uterus and ovaries.

Both operations can be performed by a veterinarian with almost certain success, although spaying is more serious and the outcome will depend to some extent on the general good health of the cat. Recovery in either case usually takes about five days. And insist on an anesthetic. It’s a lot easier on everyone and will not add materially to the bill.

The arguments about neutering, pro and con, boil down essentially to two considerations: Do feline sexual habits bother you? Do you want kittens? These are yours to answer. Obviously cats aren’t bothered, and apparently they want kittens. From a human standpoint, male cats are definitely milder if castrated and pretty obstreperous if they’re not. In full possession of their powers, they fight and yowl and spray the premises with urine.

The real problem comes with the female. As noted elsewhere her sexual behavior is mostly embarrassing; her productivity, however, can be overwhelming. It often seems simpler to deprive her of the ability to have kittens than to go through the misery of disposing of her many litters. If neutering is to be done, it’s best done between six and eight months, although if you want your female to have a litter or two, it can be done later.

Cats are such wonderful mothers, that it seems a shame to rob them of the opportunity to bear and raise kittens — at least once. Don’t worry about your cat’s becoming slack or fat. This is still a matter of diet more than anything else. Nor will your cat lose the impulse or ability to hunt mice. There just won’t be any tomcatting, or any kittens.