Why Spay and Neuter Your Pets
I have touched on this topic in other posts and while I discussed the events of the procedure I never really talked about the WHY.
The picture above is the Amazing Rufus. He was found on a cold night in town as an unaltered adult male. He was an amazingly wonderful cat. I had him neutered as part of his rescue. He died three months later from an unknown medical issue. It was a sad day. He was those one in a million cats that you might not see again for a long time. The point of this discussion is while 99.9 % of spay and neuters happen with no adverse events, sometimes it might be best to leave things alone. Rufus never sprayed and always used the litter box. There was no one to get pregnant. At his age it might of been best just to leave him alone. This a rare case and if you find your self in this situation a consultation with a veterinarian is necessary plus some personal best guess judgement. Now to the topic at hand.
Why should we spay and neuter our cats? I think the primary reason is to prevent unwanted kittens. It appears that the world is overrun with feral cats. Responsible reproductive management is necessary.
The spaying of females is an invasive surgery and should be done prior to the first heat or within the first year after birth. I have read where it can be done as early as eight weeks. That seems a bit young to me. Consult your vet. Spaying will prevent your cat from going into heat and you wont have to listen to howling all night. Female cats that are spayed are saved from uterine infections and breast tumors, which are malignant or cancerous. After your cat is spayed it will be necessary to monitor the surgery. Roxanne developed an infection and was still weeping after the first week. A shot of antibiotics was required and she recuperated just fine. Esther went through her surgery with no complications. After three weeks I was confident that the surgery was healed up properly.
The neutering of males is a straight forward surgery. All of my males recovered quickly with only minor licking of the wound. The surgery is not stitched to help with draining so it is open and it might be necessary for the cat to wear a cone for a while. We have not had to use this device. When Ariel was neutered he bounced back like nothing happened. Neutering males will prevent unwanted kittens, prevents testicular cancer and prostate problems. It will also prevent spraying urine as an adult. This might be a little known fact, but unaltered adult males will kill kittens to keep females in heat. I have seen this with my own eyes. My adult neutered males never hurt the kittens and I was never worried to leave them alone.
After surgery monitoring is necessary. I don’t let my cats run free so the are house bound anyway. Watch for swelling and infection and don’t be afraid to go back to the vet.
Hint for the Day
On my Maintaining Your Cat Page I have two great articles on Cat Food. Be sure to read the Review.com article on what goes into your cat food. The other article will help you read food labels.
That’s my story for today. Please hug a kitty and do something green for the environment. If you enjoyed this article please leave a comment below.
Trevor