Is it fair to a cat to neuter it before it has fathered / mothered one litter?

Question

From the cat's point of view it seems cruel and I feel guilty about taking my cats to the vet to be "fixed". Would you feel guilty too?

thank you all for your answers so far. I cant help thinking that if I was male I wouldnt want my bits snipped off but I'm probably just imagining that my puddytats have emotions which they dont really have. But it must be a natural instinct to reproduce.

Answer 1

Cats aren't humans and they don't think like we do. If you take away their reproductive organs, they don't have a sex drive and they lose it without knowing it's gone.

If you're feeling guilty, think of the health benefits as they'll have a longer life expectancy. Males won't roam as much, lessening the risk of traffic accidents. They'll be less likely to fight and be injured, reducing the risk of catching illnesses including serious ones such as feline leukaemia and FIV. There'll be less scent marking and spraying, and no caterwauling to 'serenade' a queen in heat.

A female comes into season up to 4 times a year, each time lasting about 3 weeks. During these times, she'll howl loudly and her behaviour will change, on top of which she'll have lots of attention of caterwauling toms. She'll still look and act like a kitten when she first becomes sexually mature, and I've known people who've been caught by surprise when their little kitten became pregnant. The younger the cat, the more difficult, traumatic and problematic the pregnancy and delivery.

Once she's neutered, she'll have less chance of catching certain diseases through bites and reproductive activity. She'll have reduced risk of some illesses, such as mammary cancer. Note that a queen neutered after it has first come into heat has a 7-times greater risk of having this cancer than a cat neutered before its first one.

In short, cats have sex to satisfy hormone-induced instincts, not for pleasure like humans. They don't miss what they've never had and you'll be giving them a longer life. There are no benefits at all in letting your cat have a littering before being neutered. The bare fact is that neutered cats have twice the life expectancy of unneutered ones.

On top of that, there are enough unwanted kittens in the world, many being destroyed for want of a good home. Why bring more kittens into the world? Even if you manage to find good homes for all the litter, would it not have been better not to have kittens and let the homes take unwanted cats from shelters?

We've 4 cats, all neutered males, and they are all affectionate. We've had 3 since they were kittens and we had them neutered. Their behaviour has changed for the better since the operation, and they seem more contented.

If you're still not sure, have a look at these:

http://www.oregonvma.org/petowners/spayneuter.asp

http://www.vetsmart.co.uk/html/Factsheets/Cat/24_265587.asp?id=1

http://www.catsinternational.org/articles/feline_care/benefits_spaying_neutering.html

http://www.cats.org.uk/catcare/key_cat_care_neutering.asp

http://www.rspca.org.uk/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RSPCA/RSPCARedirect&pg=CatsPetCare&marker=1&articleId=1154077765255

Answer 2

It is not cruel for them at all. It's the opposite actually. They don't know they are missing anything. Unlike humans they don't mate for pleasure.

By fixing them early, before their first heat is best, you lower their risk of getting certain types of cancer by up to 80%. They are also calmer, don't mark or spray on things, are less aggressive towards people and other animals and in general are much healthier.

You are also doing your part as a responsible pet owner to stop the over population of animals.

There are hundreds of thousands of animals put to death each year because of overpopulation.

For every 1 unfixed cat, there can be over 500 kittens born each year. This number goes up every 6 months or so too.

Example: your cat breeds and has 6 kittens, on average 3 will be females. Then those females breed and each have 6 kittens...and so on.

So you can see how it can get out of control very rapidly.

Please spay and neuter your cats as soon as they are old enough, 8 weeks.

If you want to see this problem first hand, visit your local animal shelter or ASPCA. They can show you in person what happens when people don't fix their pets.

Answer 3

It is not necessary to allow a cat to have kittens before being neutered. In fact I believe in what you've never had you wont miss.

All my cats have been neutered at 5 and a half months old so they have never experience being in season or spraying. I feel a little guilty stressing them out taking them to the vet, but only for that reason and not because they will never have kittens.

You are being rather emotional, which isn't a bad thing, but not necessary in this situation.

Good Luck, go on get your cat neutered, they'll thank you for it in the long run.

No fighting, no roaming, less chance of abscess's, infections and they become so very loving and homely.

Answer 4

Hi!

This is an interesting question and is something that often causes people not to get their cat neutered or spayed.

Cats that have been spayed or neutered before having their first litter have not been known to show an signs of trauma or psychological distress. Most neutered and spayed cats go on to live perfectly happy lives, having never known motherhood or fatherhood.

The benefits, aside from the obvious, are that most spayed and neutered felines have a decreased risk of various health problems, such as cancer.

I think that particularly for an indoor cat, it can actually be kinder to get them neutered, as they will feel less need to get outside and mate - which is ironic, because many people fail to neuter their indoor cats because they think there is no need!

I did feel a little guilty when I got my cat neutered, and I will feel even more guilty when my female kitten's time comes to be spayed, as the operation is a bit heavier. However, I think that ultimately I would feel far more guilty if:
> My cat was going berserk indoors because it wanted to go out and mate (my cats must be kept indoors because of the area I live in)
> My cat developed an illness that could have been prevented if I had only got him/her neutered/spayed
> I had a litter of kittens to look after. Even if I kept them myself, I would still be adding to the population crisis and if I sold them I would be effectively taking homes away from kittens who are already waiting for homes.

I actually think that it must be worse for a cat to have a litter, get used to motherhood/fatherhood and then suddenly not be able to reproduce again. This can also cause health problems and in some cases the female continues to act as if she is on heat, whilst the male continues to spray.

The other problem is that if you let your cat outdoors from say the age of 6 months, they could easily become pregnant and are often too young to really look after their kittens properly - this is the problem with having 'just one litter': it is almost impossible to make sure your cat has the one litter only when she is old enough. Sure, you could keep her indoors for the first year - but the last 6 months of that year would be hell if she was desperate to get out.

Overall, I do feel a little unsure of how fair it is to play God with the bodies and futures of animals, but on a larger scale I do think it is the best thing to do. At the end of the day, animal welfare organisations care about cats just as much as we do, if not more, and they certainly have more medical knowledge than most of us do - they would not recommend neutering and spaying so wholeheartedly if they knew that it caused distress to the cat in the longrun.

xx Emmie

EDIT - oh dear, I've just read the answer from 'lkpo' - if the cat has an interesting 'nutz pattern'!? That is pure craziness. Some people do think that an indoor male cat doesn't need to be neutered - but as I said above, in a way it's even more necessary - the poor thing will go crazy indoors if he is not neutered. Often people think "well, if he ever gets out I won't have to deal with the kittens anyway, so why should I pay to get him neutered?"

Answer 5

Hi Kitty,
It's true that by neutering/spaying your cats you take something away from them which normally would be part of their natural lives. That's why I used to be against neutering/spaying previously.
In a perfect world you would keep your cats whole and allow them to reproduce.
In an imperfect world, which is the one we live in, we have to make compromises that take into consideration the welfare of all concerned.
Compromises are by nature not easy. I sometimes look at my little cat and feel sad thinking what a lovely mum she would have been. But all in all I still think that neutering her at six months was,of all the possible decisions, the least bad one.
It is cruel to keep a cat whole while depriving it of sexual activity. That's essentially a life of forced celibacy and most people wouldn't want to live this kind of live, so why should they want to impose this on their pet?
I'm not sure when a cat becomes sexually mature, I think it's at about six months. If you have the animal spayed/neutered before it is sexually mature then it doesn't know what it is missing.
Yes, you are taking something away from your cat by neutering/spaying them but at the same time you're giving them something very special, a love-relationship with a human. This love-relationship between a human and their pet is a reminder of lost Paradise where man and animals cohabited in peace. Animals were created to love man but as you know the story, we have lost Paradise and as a consequence, animals are now afraid of man. But if you bring up and nurture an animal with you, that divine spark of love which was once dormant in the animal's heart awakens and the animal learns to trust and love you. The love-relationship with you means a great happiness to your pet, which it would not have the opportunity to experience in the wild. So, while you take something away by neutering/spaying, you also give them something very special by loving them and that compensates for a lot.
chirpy

Answer 6

If you want to keep your male cat as a friend, you will want to neuter him. He will be happier for it. Unfixed males can be very hyper and become mean. They will also mark their territory... all over your house, every time they see or smell a female around, even if they are kept indoors and the female is outside. Once they start that, even after you fix them, they won't stop it and you will have a bad situation gone worse. If you are not planning on using a male cat for stud, like if you were a breeder, and it is a pet, you need to get him fixed for his own sake. He will be happier and will also stay healtier. Female cats that are not spayed, can actually get so sick from having one cycle after another that they can die from them. A female will continue to go into heat, time and time again until she is pregnant. During all that on and off heat time, she will also not eat or sleep properly so she gets sick. Also, on the other end of that, too many pregnancies can also make her sick and kill her. Breeders usually keep a steril male around so that he can make the female believe she is pregnant when she is not so that she will go out of heat for several months, otherwise, she can get way too sick. That way they can breed their femals to their stud males only a few times a month and keep them healthy as well. Pets are much better, much healthier and happier when they can just be pets so it's a good thing to fix them.

Answer 7

Fixing a pet can save not only the unwanted babies that always end up dumped at a shelter, in a river or dumpster, etc. but i can also save the pet from severe health issues later in life

Spay a young female kitty before first heat and first litter and you are saving her from mammary cancer (rough equivalent to breast cancer - just along the chain of 6 or 8 nipples) very aggressive from what I have read!
You save your sanity from invasions of goofy male cats tearing thru screens, in thru open windows and doors to get to that being he can smell a mile away!

Male animals can get forms of ailments, spraying, territoriality and aggression issues if he is not spayed. A wandering intact male has something like 50% of the life span an altered male cat

The best part of fixing the kitty \ dog \ rabbit, etc NO SPARE PARTS (kittens, puppies,baby bunnies by the dozen!)

Answer 8

I know were you are coming from, but there are so many kitten born that are not wanted and are neglected, and are also absurd, all you have to do is look at the cat rescue homes to see how many abandoned kittens and cats there are so in a away you are making the right desertion in having your cat neutered before he can father some more unwanted kittens in this world.And he will never know the difference.

Answer 9

No, No No!...the shelters are full of unwanted cats and dogs of all ages that have to be put down every day of the week because of the lack of concern for spaying and neutering. Cats and dogs need to be neutered or spayed as soon as possible to help put a end to the massive killing that goes on every day of the week in shelters. Letting your cat or dog have a litter first is total irresponsible thinking.

Be a responsible pet owner and spay and neuter your pets.

Great question...I gave you a star!

Answer 10

actually we just finished doing this and i felt a little guilty since she's an indoor cat. however, a mere 12 hours later she is a nicer cat, no more bitchy little attacks on us humans. that means that *she* feels better too! no more being told NO over and over again for bad behavior. and she was miserable when in heat, so no more of that. plus she'll live longer, we're told, and have less chance of certain diseases.
BUT...
and someone's gonna shoot me for saying this, but if it's a boy cat, and he's strictly an indoor cat, and he has good behavior, you can let him keep his masculinity--especially (i'm waiting to get shot here) if he has an interesting nutz pattern. for example, he is a black cat with a white face and white nutz, or something like that. that is so pretty that i would let him stay 'a man'-- as long as he is indoors ONLY and is a GOOD BOY around the house. because i haven't heard of any nutz-related health problems. (so shoot me).

Aunty Emmie did shoot me. Some of us have opinions that certain nutz patterns are attractive. Of course they are! It's part of what attracts female cats! So, my 'opinion' is not 'craziness'.