Should I remove my lungs to prevent lung cancer?

Question

I'm really tired of getting told that I should get my indoor cat spayed to prevent her from getting ovarian cancer. Yes, she goes into heat and she can be annoying, but it's natural and it's a part of her personality.

I believe a cat should only be spayed or neutered (this IS surgery and stressful and painful for the animal) if there's a risk of the cat getting pregnant or breeding with other cats. Overpopulation of stray cats is a problem, but my cat has never been outdoors (without being held onto) and never makes a break for the door when it opens.

I do have a male cat who spent most of his life at my previous home in a large house on a 5-acre lot of land. He frequently went outside and explored, but I had him neutered when he was six months old to prevent any risk of reproduction.

But I keep hearing that there are other benefits associated with spaying a cat, like preventing ovarian cancer or getting a uteral infection.

So should I remove my own ovaries and uterus to prevent those organs from becoming diseased? If I want children I can always adopt can't I?

Should I remove my breasts to prevent breast cancer? I don't really NEED them for anything.

"Not only that, but I know two people who had stray cats barge into their house because their cats were in heat."

I want to add that my current home is an apartment on the third floor.

"DO you realize each year millions of dogs and cats are put to death and burned as a result of your line of thinking? WHY not spay your cat and help NOT CONTRIBUTE to the over-population problem?"

Please read all the details before you give an answer like this.

"You say yourself she has never made a break for it."

My roommate once put the cat in the hallway outside our apartment and closed the door. She jumped at the door and threw a fit until we let her back in. The hallway has scary people in it.

I also wanted to add that I have two cats, one male and one female.

When the female cat is in heat, the male cat is only happy to oblige, even though he's neutered. No unexpected kittens. Everyone's happy.

Answer 1

Yes, brilliant idea.

Answer 2

How stressful and painful do you think it will be if your cat ends up with ovarian, uterine or mammary cancer?
It will not only be much more painful and stressful for the cat but it will also be much more expenssive for you if you decide to treat the cat for the condition.
Intact female cats have a 7 fold higher risk for mammary cancer than spayed cats. If she ends up with mammary cancer she will have to have at least one whole mammary chain removed to prevent the spread of the cancer. (hows that stress and pain looking now)
If cats are spayed at a young age and properly cared for (ie. pre- and post-operative pain management) then the stress and pain involved is really pretty minimal and most young cats never slow down and think twice about it.
Old cats have enough other problems to deal with without the added chance of ovarian, uterine or mammary cancer as well as pyometra (uterine infection).
Your argument about removing your lungs to prevent lung cancer has not bearing on the situation. You require your lungs to live.......you do NOT require your ovaries and uterus to live.

Just a few things to think about.

Answer 3

It is mostly hereditary and cancer can affect a person from any possible inheritance from the earlier 6 generations of both mother side and father side. Cancer is such a disease which can never be controlled by food habits. The therapy given to cure cancer are such powerful which makes hair loss in few days of treatment. Regarding radiation it is a great scientific method to kill cancer cells. when i have seen all these things in my own family, I am of the opinion that food habits can prevent or cure is totally absurd.

Answer 4

Believe it or not, some people actually do remove their breasts to prevent breast cancer. I have a coworker with a family history of breast cancer, the doctor told her, she and her sisters had an 80% chance of getting it. So her sister had hers removed, instead of taking the chance and having her family go through watching her die, like they watched their mother die.

As for your cat, that is up to you. If you are sure she will never get out of the house and get pregnant, then don't do it, but if she does get out, you will most likely have a bunch of kittens to get rid of and their are already millions of cats all over not being taken care of.

Answer 5

I am gonna go ahead and take a stab at this one...first of all your sarcasm isn't helping BUT, HAVE you seen all of the unwanted animals out there? DO you realize each year millions of dogs and cats are put to death and burned as a result of your line of thinking? WHY not spay your cat and help NOT CONTRIBUTE to the over-population problem? I would think if you loved her like you say you wouldn't want her to be bred over and over and have kittens that you could not get homes for, even if you got homes the likelihood of them keeping the cat long term is less than 30%. I think you need to visit the http://www.hsus.org/ and read some .....

Answer 6

If you removed your vital organs your body would not be able to sustain itself. To put it in blunt terms - you could not survive.... it would be an impossibility. Removing the lungs which supply oxygen to the blood and oxygen to the brain would make it an impossibility to breathe. Your brain would starve of oxygen and turn a "blue" colour, your blood would also become "deoxygenated"

(Hmmm - people do have strange thoughts??)

P.S I don't think you could ever find a surgeon that would be stupid enough to try and carry out this procedure anyway....

Hope this has answered your question.... ^^

;-)

Answer 7

Hi.if you and your cat are happy then that's fine.my old moggie bless her was 23 years old when she died and she had not been spayed,she too was an indoor cat tho she would try running off if let out,i know people on here will probably scream that i was a bad owner ,but she never EVER had been to a vet,she was never ill,so had no need of one .(I am a great believer in if it ain`t broke don`t fix it.)She was a very happy and loving cat and died in her sleep,in her own bed in her own home.what better way for her to go?and i guess for her to live to 23 she could not have been badly treated could she?

Answer 8

I understand your thinking but your reasoning is a bit flawed. The reason to have your female cat fixed is because if she is not permitted to mate she will remain in a state of estrous much too Long. Being in heat puts a lot of stress on her. Nature is pressuring her to reproduce, yet she cannot.

She is also sending out chemical signals to every non-neutered male cat in the area, stressing them as well.

I strongly recommend neutering any animal that is not specifically kept for breeding purposes.

.

Answer 9

hi well all my girls were spayed as babies but they go out so they needed to be, my boys are al done as well, i can see your point, u sound like a responsable owner who keeps her indoors so your not contributing to over population which is good, i think if you feel the best thing is to keep her in tact then thats best for u and your little girl, i once read an article about desexing cats by spaying and newtering, and apparently u can get girl cats sterilised so they can still be girly cats but without the bother of coming into season this is less cruel and distressing for the cats because they still keep there overies and know they are girlys.

Answer 10

The reality of the situation is something down the line is going to take your cat out. If you have her spayed to prevent ovarian cancer she may get some other type of cancer. If she is happy and safe there is no need to spay her.

Answer 11

um. 2+2=4 and 2+3=5