Last Updated on January 31, 2023 by admin
Adopting a cat or kitten comes with a lot of responsibility. One of the big decisions every owner must make is whether to neuter or spay their cat. Neutering your cat can be a costly affair in addition to the emotional burden for many first time cat parents. Some people don’t like the idea of robbing their cats of the ability to have children or forever changing their cats behavior.
But if you don’t intend or want your cats to breed the benefits of neutering far outweigh the cons. One thing to remember is that neutering your cat will help your cat live a longer and happier life. This is especially true if you own or plan to own many cats of both sexes. It’s the only way to have them in the same house without becoming flooded kittens. Not only that the sexual competition will lead to more fights and conflict between your cats.
Here are the benefits of neutering or spaying your cat:
- Prevents diseases like cancer
- Improves cat behavior
- Helps control cat population
- Lowers the risk of your cat running away
- Reduces the spread of disease
- Helps your cat live longer
Let’s go through these benefits separately.
Prevents Diseases like Cancer
For female cats spaying can prevent a variety of diseases like breast tumors and uterine infections. Spaying is literally the best way to prevent your female cat from getting cancer.
Neutering your male cat prevents testicular cancer as well as problems with their prostate.
Improves Cat Behavior
Cats already have a lot of personality and can sometimes require a lot of patience from their owners. Neutering improves a lot of cat behavior. Did you know that cats that are not neutered, whether they are male or female, are more likely to mark their territory with urine? Unfortunately this includes the inside of your house. You do not want to live in a house that smells of cat urine.
Being territorial will also naturally lead to fights with other cats over territory.
Cats that aren’t neutered will have a harder time getting along with other cats, pets, children, and adults.
Helps Control Cat Population
Most cat rescue organizations or shelters will neuter any cat that comes under their care regardless of age, except in very special circumstances. This is not only for the health benefits, even though the earlier is obviously better. It is also to prevent over population of stray cats.
Cats are very good hunters and can wreak havoc on the local wildlife. Rescued cats that can’t be homed are more likely to be euthanized due to the financial realities of these rescue operations. It’s much better to prevent a generation of feral cats to be born into struggle and much more ethical than having their lives destroyed due to budget constraints. Every year roughly half a million cats with no health issues are killed/euthanized.
Even for your own cat, an unwanted pregnancy can lead to a surprise vet bill if there are complications with the birthing. A c-section alone can cost anywhere from $500 to $2000. If there is a greater complication with the preganancy even $5000 is not unheard of.
If you let your cat outside there is no way to prevent your cat from mating with other cats behind your back. This means your female cat could come home pregnant without even realizing it until it’s too later or your male cat fathering kittens outside the home. If they impregnate a feral cat you’ll be contributing over population. If the female is a neighbor’s cat and they trace it back to you there will likely be trouble about the financial burden involved.
Lowers the Risk of Your Cat Running Away
Adult cats that are not neutered are a greater flight risk since they have a strong desire to seek a mate when in heat. Even if your cat is raised to be an indoor cat, the reproductive instinct will make them a flight risk so you’ll have to be extra vigilant about not letting your cat wander off. Also remember that the outside world is also filled with many dangers. Cats can be run over by cars, killed by wild animals, get in a fatal fight with other cats, or even be wrongly captured and euthanized by pest control.
Reduces the Spread of Disease
More feral cats in the community means more feline diseases that can likely spread to house cats. Feral cats are mostly left to their own devices and do not have access to health care including vaccinations. If you have a male cat that isn’t neutered and allowed to wander it can father a lot of kittens without you ever knowing it. Not only can your cat come back with diseases the cat’s children will grow up in a harsh environment and exposed to lots of diseases and parasites in the wild.
Helps Your Cat Live Longer
In general neutered cats live 3 to 5 years longer than cats that aren’t. This is a combination of factors listed above that reduce the risks of health issues and risky behavior. Also remember that giving birth for female cats is a very taxing affair on the mom cat’s body even without pregnancy complications.
Neutering your cat is not about purely selfish reasons of the owner. Althouth it is a very big decision with a huge impact on your cat’s life, not only will your cat most likely live a longer and happier life, there are even benefits to the greater community around you if your cat ends up exploring the outside world.
Also remember that even though neutering modifies your cat behavior for the better they will still have the same personality and charm. They will still enjoy most of the same things and neutering doesn’t affect their ability or desire to hunt.