Do not release your cat until it has been neutered and ID-marked.
You can advantageously neuter the cat while it is a kitten.
Then it heals faster and recovers faster and you avoid the problems that sexual maturation entails.
The cat feels better from being neutered. When you neuter a cat, you avoid the sexual drive that is stressful for the cat, and this applies to both indoor cats and outdoor cats. A female that goes out fertile risks uterine inflammation and repeated pregnancies for about 15 years, which is extremely stressful if the female even survives that long.
Males that are unneutered often go down, they end up in territory fights and can just like female cats start urinating. Those who want their cat to take mice and rats sometimes think that the cat hunts better if it is kept fertile, but the truth is that the cat’s strong sex drive instead makes them hunt less, the drive to find a partner to mate with is stronger than the hunting instinct.
A neutered female and male becomes both more calm and harmonious, and often also more cuddly and inclined to turn to their mistress / master. It also gets along better with and more easily accepts new cat friends at home. Both indoor and outdoor cats thus feel better from being neutered.
The cat’s sexual maturity
Neutering can be done before the cat is sexually mature – which can already be done at 4-6 months of age – and in this way you avoid the risk of unplanned pregnancy and for behavioral problems such as re-cushioning that both fertile females and males can give rise to. SVA, the Swedish Veterinary Institute, previously had the recommendation to castrate from the age of 6 months, but at the norm group meeting in September 2013, the age limit was removed. It has been concluded that the age limit for castration at 6 months of age did not rest on a scientific basis and therefore would not remain. Instead, the veterinarian should assess the cat’s general condition at the time of neutering.
In other countries, castrations are performed as soon as the cat can be anesthetized from about 3 months of age. Research shows that early neutering is gentler because young cats heal and recover faster. Many breeders choose to neuter their cats before delivery today. There are several veterinarians who castrate early and it may be worthwhile to look for one in your particular city.
Neutering of female cat
Many people think that it is called sterilization when referring to female cat surgery, but it is called castration for both males and females. Medically, it is an ovarian hysterectomy that is done when castrating a female. Both uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries are removed. During sterilization, only the fallopian tubes are snorted and the female continues to run and retains the stressful sex drive, but cannot become pregnant. A castration for a female costs about $70-$100 USD.
There are old myths that survive that a female must have had a litter before she is neutered, but it is incorrect and only harms our domestic cat. It is also wrong for a female to have run before she can be neutered. On many females it is not noticeable that they are running, instead they come home already pregnant. It is possible to remove a fetus in connection with a castration, if it is only done in time and that assessment is made by a veterinarian. It is often more gentle for a young female than being forced through a stressful pregnancy and litter at a premature age.
Cut
Today, most veterinarians make a small incision of one or a few centimeters on the abdomen of the female when they open to castrate. This gives the female a smaller wound.
Some people think that this small cut is called peephole castration, but it is the wrong concept. Peephole surgery, laparoscopy, is not done when neutering cats. In peephole surgery, a video camera is used and to fit all the instruments, it is necessary to make several small incisions on, for example, a person’s abdomen. To neuter a cat, the veterinarian does not need a video camera, nor does he have to make multiple incisions. The cut is small, but the term peephole castration is therefore incorrect to use.
Pills cause udder tumors
Birth control pills for cats are not a safe protection. So it is not an option instead of neutering your female cat. If you have an outdoor cat, it is important that you neuter it before it is released. Birth control pills also increase the risk of udder tumors, even with short-term use. If you buy a female kitten, you should therefore count on the cost of neutering.
Castration of male cat
When castrating male cats, the testicles are removed with a simple procedure. Up to 6 weeks after castration, however, a male cat can have sperm left and fertilize a female, so if you have a female cat at home, you must keep them separate at that time. It is also not possible to release a male cat at that time after castration. A castration for a male costs between $50 to $80 USD.
Neutering can stop the increase in homeless cats
We have a huge surplus of domestic cats in the world, which means that an estimated 100,000,000 domestic cats live homeless in need. Every year a large number of kittens are born, both unwanted and desired. A female who is allowed to go out fertile can during her lifetime get about 120 kittens, it goes without saying that it is not possible to find a home for all of these. Likewise, a single fertile male cat has time to give rise to an innumerable number of kittens each year. All of these kittens do not have homes and many are killed or dumped and become part of the suffering homeless cats that continue to reproduce and create new generations of cats without homes.
Sweden does not have enough cat shelters to save all these cats, there are about 100 cat shelters today and it would take about 2000 more. This is despite the fact that the municipalities themselves shoot cats to death every year, which obviously does not help because it continues to be born for many kittens that grow up to adult cats no one wants. The change must come from each individual cat owner who must gain knowledge of how important it is to neuter.
We at Cat Status want it to be obvious not to make the cat an outdoor cat until it is neutered and ID-marked, and not to let fertile cats go loose outside. If the suffering is to end at any time, every domestic cat owner must take responsibility. Our beloved domestic cat deserves higher status and the way there is through neutering, ID marking, vaccination and insurance.