A decision to keep a pet an owner imposes on themselves certain responsibilities. From that day on the pet’s life entirely depends on the owner, who controls all its aspects. Cat neutering is a safe way to help your pet adapt to the life in a family. Making such a decision, you need protect the interests of your four-legged friend that are based on its physiology, without thinking on your own benefits.
The opponents of this procedure believe that neutering is inhumane and criminal. They see it as a manifestation of human selfishness and talk about the unnatural intervention in nature leading to the disability of defenseless creatures. But facts remain facts, and it doesn’t matter whether we acknowledge them or not. Neutering pros and cons make a series of arguments and counter-arguments that can help owners to make a decision.
Contents
- 1 1. Neutering domestic cat is senseless and selfish, because it doesn’t have any contacts with females
- 2 2. Neutered cat is disabled because it is deprived of sexual “pleasure”
- 3 3. Neutered cat becomes miserable, because it has no gender. It can’t protect its territory, gets chased by the competitors and is ignored by its former mating partners
- 4 4. Neutering is pure cruelty and violence. Nobody asks the cat if it wants to lose its “manhood”
- 5 5. Neutered cats have shorter life expectancy
- 6 6. Neutered cats may get sick with urolithiasis
- 7 7. Neutered cat will become overweight lazybones
1. Neutering domestic cat is senseless and selfish, because it doesn’t have any contacts with females
Propagable domestic cat living in an apartment and having no possibility to satisfy its basic needs follows the instincts. It leaves marks so that female cats could theoretically find it, leaves scratches on the walls and furniture to release the sexual tension. Your once affectionate kitten turns into an angry and incredulous cat: endless bites, scratches, and hiss on any occasion. The owner constantly punishes the pet only exacerbating the situation. After neutering the cat’s behavior changes due to hormonal stabilization: no claims on female attention and no aggression, the cat looks absolutely satisfied.
Owners also become less nervous: now the cat is pleasant to communicate with, the furniture out of danger, the disgusting smell disappeared. Cat gets enough attention and affection, lives happily and carefree. It has lost the sense of uncertainty and fear, which appears when the cat is punished or gets a reproach.
The cat can leave marks for some period after neutering, as the level of sex hormones decreases gradually. After a couple of months (and sometimes much faster) the tendency to mark the territory disappears, provided that the litter is on the wrong place – we are talking about sexually conditioned marks, not about attempts to draw the attention of the owner.
2. Neutered cat is disabled because it is deprived of sexual “pleasure”
Male cats mate with females not for pleasure, but just following their instincts. Neutering is a way to help the animal to get rid of unsatisfied need to reproduce. Now the pet can choose whether to mate or not. If the cat really wants mating for pleasure, it will continue doing that with females. Males neutered after their first sexual experience remember the process of coupling. That is why in case they really want it they can mate physically. Such “Casanovas” live in nurseries, meeting the needs of female cats, but not fertilizing them.
3. Neutered cat becomes miserable, because it has no gender. It can’t protect its territory, gets chased by the competitors and is ignored by its former mating partners
Zoo-psychologists support the idea of mandatory neutering of cats and are against free walking Propagable animals. Sexually mature cats spend all their lives in fights over territory and females inhabiting it. Losing one or more females or territory loss is the deepest stress for your pet. Besides fighting isn’t very beneficial as well: there are risks of traumas, stress, of contracting infectious diseases and parasites. Pairing with stray cats is even more dangerous, because if the mating partner is sick, your cat will surely get infected with STDs, parasites, and infections. Of course, all that can be treated. And what about dozens of stray kittens dying of hunger and disease? Is the “social status” of the pet really worth it? Yes, after neutering the cat is likely to become ignored by females, but for the most cat does it really matter? Obviously not: your happy cat will chase birds and play with sunbeams, having no interest in fighting with neighbor cats.
4. Neutering is pure cruelty and violence. Nobody asks the cat if it wants to lose its “manhood”
People tend to dream about children, enjoy children presence in their lives, and make plans. Animals don’t have any plans, all they have is “now”, no thoughts about the past and future. Cat’s behavior after neutering supports the point of view that it is not concerned a lot about the “loss”. No trace of stress: good appetite, playfulness, sociability, motivation, great reaction to external stimuli. If the cat was sorry about no possibility to fertilize a female that would certainly be clear out of its behavior. Animals are just not capable of such complex reasoning.
5. Neutered cats have shorter life expectancy
Neutering prolongs life and improves its quality. Why not? There is no more stress, no fights, the probability of catching an infection, no irritation of the owner. The cat becomes hormonally stable: its adrenal, pituitary and endocrine glands produce enough hormones for a healthy life.
The negative consequences are possible, but it’s not the surgery, but people who are to blame. If the procedure was performed under general anesthesia without having examined the animal before, the anesthesia may accelerate the development of existing chronic disease. Neutering a cat at home by an amateur is equally dangerous with possible infections and inflammation, debilitating pet.
In propagable animals the hormone level often may be too high, working out it “reserve” to enable the cat fertilize as many females as possible. Such a “plan” is thoroughly thought by the far-sighted nature: the cat can die tomorrow in a fight or caught by infection, so it needs a lot of hormones now. Hence the enormous surplus of hormones reduces life expectancy.
6. Neutered cats may get sick with urolithiasis
Urolithiasis is a metabolic disorder. Minerals that are normally excreted in the urine remain in the body and crystallize. The reason for this may be heredity, poor nutrition and other factors, but definitely not the neutering procedure.
7. Neutered cat will become overweight lazybones
After neutering the cat does become calmer: it no longer needs to fight with rivals, screaming all night, calling females and patrolling its territory endlessly. Less movement means lower energy consumption: that’s why the neutered cat diet must be balanced, and the portions should be reduced by 10-20%. Activity not related to sex claims won’t disappear – a playful cat will remain so.
