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Spaying-and-Neutering Cats

Why-is-it-important

Cat spaying and neutering are simple operations that has numerous health and wellbeing benefits for your cats as well as stopping any unwanted births.

When should my cat be neutered?

Providing there is no medical reason not to, the best time to neuter your kitten is at four months of age, before they start to become sexually mature. If you have adopted from Meant 2B Loved Pet Rescue Society, the cat you adopted will either already be spayed or neutered or will be scheduled in for surgery when it is old enough. The surgery will be paid for by M2BL.

Why should my cat be spayed or neutered?

When in season, unaltered cats will have much more physical strain put on their bodies than altered cats. This is due to the changes in their hormones, increased activity and restlessness, and for females the process of producing and looking after a litter of kittens.

Unspayed female cats are more likely to suffer from pyometria (an infection in their womb) and cancers of the ovaries, uterus, and mammary glands later in life.

Unspayed females are more likely to contract serious life-threatening diseases (such as FIV), which can be passed on via the infected saliva of a male cat when he bites her neck
during mating.

If the mother is sick, she can pass on her illnesses to the kittens, making them sick too.

These illnesses may include:

  • Cat Flu – in young kittens this can lead to loss of eyesight or severe damage to their eyes and even death from secondary infections caused by the flu.
  • Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) – FIV is an incurable disease which affects the cat’s immune system and can lead to long-term negative impacts on their health.
  • Feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) – like leukaemia in humans, this virus can significantly increase the risk of cats developing anaemia, immunosuppression, and cancer. An estimated 80-90% of cats infected with FeLV die within 3-4 years of being diagnosed.
  • Feline infectious enteritis (FIE) – this virus causes severe gastroenteritis and, in infected kittens, can often lead to death. Pregnant females who are infected with FIE can spread the virus to her unborn kittens, causing them permanent brain damage.

Unneutered males are more likely to get in to fights with other cats, also putting them at greater risk of contracting the same life-threatening diseases as females. Increased fighting may also increase their risk of serious physical injury.

Behaviour benefits

When in season, unspayed females are likely to go outside more, seeking mates. Unneutered males are also likely to go outside and roam a lot further from home than usual. For both sexes, this may potentially put them in harm’s way of busy roads and other hazards they would normally otherwise avoid.

The changes in the hormones of unaltered cats when in season may lead to increased restlessness, general stress and arousal, a decreased ability to relax, and potential changes in the cat’s behaviour towards humans.

Unaltered cats may be more likely to spray indoors and outdoors.

If your cat is used to going outside and you keep them inside while they are in season to avoid unwanted kittens, this may lead to a significant compromise to their welfare, leading to a very stressed, frustrated, and unhappy cat who is desperate to go outdoors.

Environmental Benefits

Females with kittens to feed are more likely to actively hunt and disturb wildlife. It is estimated that roaming and feral cats are responsible for one hundred million bird deaths every year in Canada.

Unspayed females may be very vocal and will attract unneutered toms to an area which could then be very disturbing and stressful for other neighbourhood cats, as well as a nuisance to local residents.

Feral cat populations are a result of cats being allowed to roam or being dumped by humans while unaltered. The number of kittens that can be produced from two unaltered pets is mind boggling. When you count the kittens of those kittens and the next generation of kittens, etc., two cats can be responsible for 420,000 in just 7 years. The only way to avoid this is through spay & neuter.

 

Spay/Neuter Myths & Facts

MYTH: Neutering young cats is dangerous.

FACT: There is currently no evidence to suggest that there are any negative long-term effects on either the behaviour or development of spaying/neutering kittens as young as eight weeks. Spaying/neutering kittens at four months, or younger in some cases, is becoming much more common among vets while advances in surgical techniques and better drugs mean that there are no longer the same concerns over earlier neutering as there used to be. If performed by a veterinary surgeon who has experience of carrying out kitten spaying/neutering, the procedure can be less invasive, quicker and safer to perform than when done on older cats. Cats neutered earlier may generally also have a quicker recovery rate than older cats.

MYTH: You should let your female cat have a litter of kittens before spaying her.

FACT: There are no documented health benefits associated with this. Young mothers are at greater risk of complications during the delivery of their kittens.

MYTH: Kittens don’t need to be altered. They are too young to have their own kittens.

FACT: Female cats can start to become sexually mature from as early as four months of age, so in effect, kittens can have kittens of their own. It is therefore important that your cat is altered before they can go outside, even if they are a young kitten. [Though we strongly advocate for not allowing cats to roam free]

MYTH: You don’t have to spay/neuter cats that are related (i.e. siblings)
FACT: Cats will mate with their closest relatives (i.e. brother and sister, mother and son, father and daughter) so altering all cats who are going to come in contact with each other (whether related or unrelated) is very important. Kittens born from closely related parents may also be more likely to suffer from genetic defects which would negatively affect their health.

MYTH: I have a male cat so don’t need to worry about kittens.

FACT: Your unneutered male cat could be responsible for impregnating many unspayed female cats that you never see. These may be people’s pets or stray cats. Either way, he is contributing to an increase in the population of kittens – many of whom may not always be wanted and may struggle to find loving homes. Kittens born to stray females may also be at a greater risk of suffering from disease or infection.

MYTH: I only have one female cat, how many kittens could she possibly have?

FACT: The length of pregnancy in cats is just nine weeks and a female cat can often come into season again just six weeks after giving birth. A female cat can easily have as many as three litters of kittens a year – that’s potentially up to eighteen kittens in any one year. Remember those 420,000 kittens over 7 years? This is how it happens.

MYTH: I can’t spay my cat because she is in season/pregnant/nursing.

FACT: Even at each of these stages it may still be possible and safe to neuter your cat. You can contact your vet for further advice on this.