Feline
heat offers the best protection from these
diseases.
It is highly cost-effective. The cost of your
pet's spay/neuter surgery is a lot less than
the cost of having and caring for a litter.
It also beats the cost of treatment when
your un-neutered tom escapes and gets
into fights with the neighbourhood stray!
Spaying and neutering your pet is good for
the community. Stray animals pose a real
problem in many parts of the country. They
can prey on wildlife, cause car accidents,
damage the local fauna and frighten
children.
effective in stopping urine spraying and
also reduces the strong, unpleasant odour
of male cat urine.
Intact male cats tend to be poor groomers,
causing them to become matted and scruffy-
looking. On the other hand, neutered
male cats tend to pay more attention to
themselves and keep themselves clean.
Neutering does not make cats fat and lazy,
or change their personality, and they do
not hunt or play any less than un-neutered
males. Contrary to previously held
theories, castration is also not a significant
contributing factor in the development of
urinary tract infections in cats, particularly
one called "Feline Lower Urinary Tract
Disease" (FLUTD). Many factors seem to
contribute to these urinary tract infections
rather than a single one.
Female cats that are spayed CANNOT get
uterine cancers; their risk of mammary
(breast) cancer is reduced by 25 percent;
and they are less prone to urinary tract
infections and hormonal changes.
Your spayed female would not go into heat.
While cycles can vary, female felines usually
go into heat four to five days every three
weeks during breeding season. In an effort
to advertise for mates, they will yowl and
urinate more frequently-sometimes all over
the house!
Spaying helps prevent uterine infections
and breast cancer, which is fatal in
about 50 percent of dogs and 90 percent
of cats. Spaying your pet before her first
Spaying and neutering packs a powerful
punch in reducing the number of animals
on the streets.
Finally, there are some very solid
environmental and humane reasons for
neutering male cats. Allowing a tomcat to
mate at will contributes to the existing pet
population problems. An average cat has
1–8 kittens per litter, and 2–3 litters per year.
During her productive life, one female cat
could have more than 100 kittens. A single
pair of cats and their kittens can produce
as many as 4,20,000 kittens in just 7 years.
This overburdens human society which
must ultimately euthanise those animals for
which no homes can be found.
* Director, Dr. Thakurs Pet
Hospital, Nashik. M.V. Sc,
Secretary FCI and Chief
Veterinarian.