Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Neutering Your Cat

There are a large number of homeless and feral cats in the world. This fact has begun to impress upon people the importance of neutering.

Feral cats are unaltered pets that may have been released into the wild. Some are cats that were born and never handled by people so they are wild and uncatchable. Feral cats can spread diseases to other pets because they will raid trashcans, fight and can become infected with diseases and parasites easily.

Another good reason to have your cat sterilized is because of the racket that occurs when a cat is in heat. When females are in heat they attract males who will sit outside, yowl and fight with other males all night. She will literally attract every tomcat in the neighborhood. Tomcats will also mark their territory inside and outside your house.

Intact cats are also prone to certain types of cancer. They may develop cancers of the reproductive organs. These cancers are rare in cats that are sterilized by one year of age. They may also develop contagious reproductive diseases.

Cats can be sterilized at a young age. Most humane societies will do this at eight weeks. Veterinarians agree that is best to do this at five to six months unless they are feral kittens.

Neutering is harder on females as the surgery is more invasive. If you have both male and female cats, it is often best to neuter males first and then wait until females are six months of age to spay.

These surgeries are very easy and typical, however cats are prone to infection in their incisions. This is because they tend to lick and chew at the stitches. If this is the case you may have to use a plastic surgery collar to keep your cat from licking the stitches. Females will also need to stay indoors for three to five days after the surgery.