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What Is It?

Neutering is for males, while spaying is for females, but both terms mean to have your animals “fixed”. This surgical procedure to “neuter” or “spay” an animal is to prevent unintended pregnancies and improve their general health and welfare.

Castration, also referred to as "neutering," is the removal of the testicles from a male animal. The act of "spaying" is removing the ovaries or the uterus and ovaries from a female animal. The medical word for it is ovariectomy or ovariohysterectomy.

When Should I Neuter My Cat?

The optimal time to neuter your kitten is at four to six months old, as this is before they start to become sexually mature, assuming there are no medical reasons not to. Many vets will not perform the surgery before 6 months, but some will at the earliest is 4 months; just call your local vet and ask.

Why is it Important to Neuter My Cat?

In just 5 years, a single unneutered cat can be responsible for 20,000 descendants. Cats can start to be sexually active at about 4 months of age and carry up to 5 litters every year, each containing 5–6 kittens. Every year, a great deal of shelters struggle to take in kittens. If you can, adopt from shelters where there are countless kitty’s looking for a home, but there are other advantages of neutering your cat.

Advantages of Neutering: Why Should I Neuter My Cat?

Health

Unneutered cats will experience far greater physical stress during the breeding season than neutered cats. Due to hormonal changes, increased activity, and restlessness. As well as the possibility of getting out and getting pregnant, the process of caring for kittens can be stressful for the cat especially if you do not plan to keep them. Considering how many animals are homeless and in shelters, it is best to prevent unplanned kittens then to deal with the consequences later.

Female cats that have not been spayed are more likely to develop malignancies of the ovaries, uterus, and mammary glands as they age as well as pyometra, which is an infection of the womb. Females are more likely to catch serious, life-threatening illnesses, such as feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), which can be transmitted when a male cat bites a female cat's neck during mating and releases infected saliva.

Male cats who have not been neutered are more inclined to engage in cat fights, which increases their chance of catching the same deadly diseases as female cats. Increased fighting may raise their risk of suffering severe physical harm.

Illnesses Passed Down from Mother to Kittens

If the mother cat is ill, she can transmit her illnesses to them. These conditions could include but not limited to the following:

Cat flu - this can cause severe eye damage, blindness, or even death in newborn kittens due to secondary infections brought on by the flu.

Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) - an illness that affects the immune system and can have long-term detrimental effects on a cat's health, and the worst part is that this illness is an incurable condition.

Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) - Similar to human leukemia, FeLV greatly raises the risk of anemia, immunosuppression, and malignancy in cats. FeLV infection kills 80–90% of felines within 3–4 years after diagnosis.

Feline infectious enteritis (FIE) - this is a serious gastroenteritis that frequently results in mortality in infected kittens. FIE-infected pregnant cats can pass the infection to their unborn kittens, who will suffer lifelong brain damage.

Behaviour

Female cats who have not been spayed are more prone to venture outside in search of partners during breeding season. Males who have not been neutered are also more inclined to leave the house and wander farther than usual. For both sexes, this could potentially put them in danger such as going through more busy roads and other risks that they would often avoid.

Unneutered cats' hormonal changes during the breeding season may result in increased restlessness, general stress and arousal, a diminished capacity for relaxation, and maybe even altered behavior toward humans.

Unneutered cats may have a higher chance of wanting to spray both inside and outside, and if you have ever smelled a cat spray, that is not something you want inside your home as the smell does not go away.

If your cat is accustomed to going outside but you keep them inside during their breeding season to prevent unwanted kittens, this could seriously impair their welfare and result in a cat that is anxious to leave the house and is stressed, frustrated, and unhappy.

Environmental

Females are more likely to aggressively hunt and disturb wildlife if they have kittens to care for.

Unneutered females can also be loud and attract unneutered males, which can be quite upsetting and stressful for other neighborhood cats as well as an annoyance to yourself and nearby residents.

How Much Does It Cost?

Although neutering female cats is typically slightly more expensive and invasive than neutering male cats. The younger you have your cat neutered the cheaper, safer, and less stressful it is for your cat.

If you adopt a cat from a shelter, they should already have been neutered; the adoption fee will cover this cost.

Just remember that this is a onetime cost that will benefit you and your cat in the long-run and should not be overlooked. There are some financial assistances is available as well that you can look into.

Depending on the country and city you are in your costs will differ, your neutering costs can be anywhere from $50-150+. The best plan is call around to 3-5 different vets and ask for pricing.

Extra Tips

You can also get a deal if you combine your visit with multiple things such as a checkup, vaccine, microchip implant, and neutering services for a bulk deal. As every time you go into your vet there is a standard checkup fee, so try and combine multiple things in one to avoid the extra fees, save yourself time, and more importantly, save your pet from the stress of going to the vet.