What is Feline Spaying and Neutering?

Unless you intend to breed cats for the show, there is no reason cat owners should not spay female cats or neuter male cats. Spaying and neutering not only reduces the risk of senior cats developing diseases such as kidney disease or cancer but also helps reduce the unwanted pet population. Every year thousands of homeless cats must be put to sleep at animal shelters because irresponsible owners neglected to have their cats spayed or neutered. Both procedures are simple, minimally invasive surgeries involving your American Fork veterinarian removing a male cat’s testicles or a female cat’s reproductive organs. Cats remain overnight at our animal hospital following the spay or neuter procedure and can be picked up the next morning by owners.

Benefits of Neutering Your Male Cat

Male kittens can be safely neutered at 3 to 5 months of age as long as they are healthy and disease free. In addition to making male cats incapable of impregnating intact female cats, male cat neutering also:

• Reduces the risk of aging cats suffering prostate problems, testicular cancer, and urinary tract infections
• Suppresses the urge for male cats to spray indoors (“mark” their territory)
• Can help male cats stop “roaming” too far from home (especially problematic when unspayed female cats are in heat)
• Decreases aggressive behaviors common to unneutered male cats (fighting with other cats, scratching, biting)

Benefits of Spaying Your Female Cat

Spaying female kittens between 4 to 5 months old (before their reproductive organs have fully matured) prevent older female cats from developing mammary cancer, a disease fatal to cats. In addition, removing the uterus also eliminates the risk of pyometra, another serious disease affecting female cats when pus collects in their uterus.

Other advantages to feline spaying include:

• Prevents uterine infections (frequently affects unspayed female cats)
• Eliminates the heat cycle (unspayed cats may go into heat every four days, yowl constantly and urinate in the home)
• Reduces aggressive behaviors similar to unneutered male cats

Although spaying and neutering may not get rid of all your cat’s behavioral problems, sterilizing cats will not cause them to gain weight. Instead, weight gain in cats is attributed to the same thing that makes humans gain weight–eating too much and not getting enough exercise to burn off excess calories.

Contact Our Trusted Veterinarian in American Fork Today!

If you have questions about spaying or neutering your cat or would like to schedule an appointment, please contact our veterinarian in American Fork today at 801-692-1563.