7 Reasons Why To Spay or Neuter Your Cat + Cats for Adoption

Millie (Pets Without Partners Animal Rescue)

Spraying or neutering your cat, also known as desexing, has quite a few benefits – for your cat, for you, and for our society we all live in that cares for cats we domesticated long time ago.

A responsible cat owner spays and neuters their cats. There can be reasons why some people still don’t desex cats. A modern society is where cats don’t reproduce more kittens than we already have in shelters, rescues, and all over public forums.

If your circumstances stopping you from getting your cat spayed or neutered, let us know what the issue is and we will try to help – there is always a solution, millions do that. Check out 7 reasons why to spay or neuter your cat. Add your reason in comments. Share your new knowledge on this topic with fellow cat owners. Spray and neuter your cats.

What Is Spraying and Neutering?

Jessie (Save Our Strays)

Both spaying and neutering is about, so called, “desexing” a cat. The aim of both is to stop a cat from giving birth to kittens. If you are not in a position to care for all the litters of kittens your female cat will produce every several months, or, in case you have a male cat, you don’t want others to have that burden, desexing is the right way to go.

Spraying relates to female cats. Neutering – to male cats. Spraying is removing a female cat’s ovaries and uterus. Neutering is removing a male cat’s testicles. For spaying or neutering your cat stays at a veterinary clinic only for a short period of time. Usually you see your cat the next day after the surgery. Trust your veterinarian and they will do the rest.

A rather simple and widely performed surgery, it will improve your cat’s behaviour, will save your time and money on cat health down the track, and will not add to the army of unwanted kittens (that grow up to adult cats, as you know). It will also help our community not to kill cats due to accidental kitten births. One Australian shelter has to kill about 20 cats and kittens every day due to lack of space and not ability to find those cats a home. Don’t be part of that killing, even indirectly. Spray and neuter your cat. See the general benefits below.

Reasons Why To Spray or Neuter a Cat

1. Longer Life

Minx (Save Our Strays)

A spayed female cat lives a longer and healthier life. Spaying is a prevention to uterine infections and breast cancer, which if occurred is lethal in 90% of cats. Spaying can be done once a cat reaches 4 months. Some veterinarians suggest it can be done once a cat reaches 1kg of weight. Have your female cat spayed before her first heat.

2. Health Benefits

Kenzie (RSPCA QLD)

A neutering male cat does not add to unwanted kitten litters. Your cat is a man. It will be a gentleman if he will treat female cats as ladies – who don’t really want or need to care for a bunch of kittens every few months!

Neutering prevents testicular cancer in male cats. No testicles – no cancer, it’s simple. Cat owners who had or has cats with cancer will tell you it’s not what you want your cat to have. It drains you emotionally and financially, not even talking about your poor beloved kitty. Don’t want your brave fur man suffer and die from testicular cancer? Neuter your cat.

Non-spayed felines can develop a deadly condition – pyometra. If not spotted in time, you will lose your cat. With one of my first cats, I had not idea about that, and almost lost her. Trust me, you will not be able to see whether you cat “just got fat as may be you feed it too much” or something is wrong. I was not aware of pyometra and I’m glad you have me know to tell about that. Have your female cat spayed and you will not need to worry about missing her to a stupid health issue.

3. Save Your Nerves and House from Being Urinated

Laykin (Save-A-Dog Scheme)

Non-spayed females go into “heat” (or estrus), which means they demand a tom cat. This happens in spring and fall. During that breeding season female cats usually go into heat four to five days every 3 weeks. Heat period shows a change in cat behaviour – loud yowling, elevating the end of the back, rolling on the floor, urinating more frequently and sometimes over the house. If you want to sleep at night and not having a headache of a kitty demanding a tom cat’s attention, if you want to keep your house urine-free – have your female cat spayed.

Did you know that cats can get pregnant during the first heat, and they can have kittens from different tom cats at the same time? If you want free time for yourself, then having litters of kittens one after another will not help with that. Kittens will need veterinary attention in terms of vaccinations, which results into paying money for that. Food, litter, cleaning litter trays, finding new owners for a bunch of kittens every time your cat gives birth (you don’t want them to be killed in a shelter, do you?) – that will be your reality if you keep your cat non-spayed. The right choice that will save you time, money, and will keep your house urine-free – is to spay you kitty. If you think your indoor cat is safe, ask those whose cat escaped during the breeding season. Just ask your veterinarian and you will have a joyful time with your cat with no worries at all!

4. Behaviour Issues Gone

Trinity (Save-A-Dog Scheme)

Neutered male cats are so much well behaved than non-neutered males. They don’t spay the house on the territory basis when the breeding season comes. Neutered males are more focus on their humans giving all the affection to them. Neutering your cat will help to avoid aggression issues. To have your house stress-free, neuter your cat.

5. Myths About Kids Education

Panther (Save Our Strays)

Every time you need to explain a miracle of birth to a child, would you go and do everything to give birth to the next child in your family? Or would you be a modern family and use books, videos and internet for that? (And kids nowadays learn fast without a need of a “real life” example, don’t they?) I believe you get the point – your cat does not need to produce kittens so you can explain your child the miracle of birth. I’m sure you can do better than that. If you want to show how animals give birth, go to a Royal Melbourne Show or a similar event, to a local farm, where they will not only show to kids how it happens, but will also keep you “after-birth” stress free – no need to care for a bunch of kittens that will quite soon grow up into big cats. Be smart with your time and money – have your cat spayed! You will get more time for your kids and for yourself. Otherwise, be honest to the end and take your kids to a shelter killing room where they will see how the miracle of life, that others wanted to show to their kids, ends up.

6. Will Your Cat Get Fat If Desexed?

Cleo (Animal Rehoming Tablelands)

It is another old myth. Cats get fat due to overfeeding. Give your cat toys and tools to exercise, feed quality food, feed the right and just enough amount of food. This will keep your cat fit. Spraying and neutering will not make your cat fat. You will, if not managing a cat routing correctly.

7. Don’t Add to the Pile of Sh*t We, Humans, Already Created

Miss Marple (Purrfect Match Cat Adoptions)

There are millions of awesome cats and kittens sitting in shelters and cat rescues, awaiting for their forever homes. Many of them, it can be 20 per day per shelter, will not see the next day tonight. They will be killed as heaps more cats and kittens will come the next day, and it will be just no space, no time, no right people to allow every cat to make it to the next day. Do you want to see our society healthy and humane, so everyone can proudly call themselves a human again? You can easily do that. And you need to do that just once. Just spay or neuter your cat and that will stop unplanned and unwanted litters of kittens coming into shelters and cat rescues. We all want free joyful time instead of crying and having our hearts bleeding of what we do as a society – killing cats due to somebody has not done a very little easy bit – spaying and neutering their cat. Be a savor, not a killer – spay and neuter your cat! Just ask your veterinarian and that will make a huge difference in our world.

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Tagged cancer, desexing, education, fat, health, killing, neutering, overpopulation, resource, shelter, spay, spaying, testicular cancer