What Is a Good Age to Neuter a Cat?
Having your cat neutered at an early age is advantageous for many reasons, unless you intend to professionally show and breed your cat. Early-age neutering is the most effective way to eliminate unexpected pregnancies and reduce the overpopulation of unwanted pets. An adult intact male cat will spray urine, smelling up the house. His elevated testosterone levels sometimes cause unexpected aggression resulting in bites and scratches. Recent thinking has changed about a good age to neuter a cat.
Benefits
Neuter your cat between 8 and 16 weeks to prevent unexpected pregnancies that can occur when waiting until the traditional 5 to 7 months. Research shows no additional health risks later in life associated with early-age neutering. In fact, neutering before the first heat cycle almost eliminates your cat's risk of certain diseases such as breast cancer, mastitis, uterine infections, reproductive tract cancers, and ovarian cysts. In addition, younger cats seem to recover from surgery much faster than older cats do. You will not need to worry about your neutered cat marking his territory with urine, wandering, howling to get out, crying, and pacing back and forth.
History
Waiting until your cat reached 5 to 7 months of age was widely accepted as the correct age for neutering by veterinary health professionals. Because cats reach puberty between 6 and 12 months of age, some were able to breed before neutering, adding to the overpopulation of cats. Because of the suggested neutering age, animal shelters required those adopting very young pets to provide proof of prepayment of neutering. Unfortunately, less than 50 percent followed through, ultimately adding to the shelter population of unwanted cats.
Misconceptions
Many people believe that they should allow their cat to parent at least one litter of kittens before neutering to settle down. The truth is that neutered cats are calmer and happier members of the family. Because neutered pets are less likely to wander and fight, their risk of acquiring Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) is less than that of intact pets.
Theories/Speculation
Parents may want their children to learn about birth from a family pet having a litter while the children watch. Even if you find homes for all of your kittens, it may prevent a homeless shelter cat from finding a home. Fill out an application at your local shelter to foster a pregnant pet instead. This will allow your children to experience birth and parenting without contributing to the millions of unwanted pets euthanized each year.
Function
Neutering involves surgically sterilizing a pet by an operation. Some veterinarians do the surgery on an outpatient basis, others keep the pet overnight. Male cats are neutered by having their testicles removed. While the operation for a female is actually called spaying, many people use the term neutering to refer to both procedures. The surgery for a female involves an incision in the abdomen to remove the ovaries and uterus.
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