Save lives – neuter and spay

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It’s getting to that time of year again that UK feline rescues dread….Kitten season. Although, in the UK there’s no specific time of year that cats seem to procreate, there is a time of year more kittens are produced.

The situation is at an all time state of emergency, with rescues having to turn people away or ask them to wait a matter of months before they’re able to help by taking cats in. And sometimes people aren’t prepared to wait that long, meaning cats are rehomed via less than safe routes.

What is overlooked a lot of the time is the health aspects of leaving a cat entire. So here’s a small bullet point breakdown with reasons why you should definitely consider neutering and spaying your cat as beneficial to them:

Females

  • The first one has to be your female not getting “caught out.” Cats have been known to come into season as young as four months, which is becoming increasingly common. The mating process for a female cat is FAR from pleasant, and carrying kittens when a female is no more than a kitten herself can put severe strain on her body.
  • A hormonally linked health issue females can develop are skin conditions related to imbalance.
  • Psychologically, females are known to suffer phantom pregnancies in most species. This is prevented by spaying.
  • Spayed females have less chance of developing breast cancer and tumours in that area.
  • They also have a smaller risk of any reproductive system area developing a tumour.
  • The risk is less for mammary cancer and mammary tumours.
  • Mothering or cats that have mothered run the risk of developing mastitis; which is potentially fatal.
  • Female cats that are spayed have no chance of developing the possibly life threatening condition called pyometra.

 OK, so let’s get down to the brass tack health benefits for:

Males

  • There’s absolutely no chance a neutered male can get testicular cancer, or tumours.
  • Neutering reduces greatly the chance of prostatic disease.
  • It also makes the risk of issues such as prostate enlargement , cysts or infections in that area considerably less.
  • Serious hernias are less likely to occur in toms that have “had the op.”
  • Toms that are no longer entire are less likely to mate, which means they’re less likely to develop infections or disorders of the prepuce. (the area covering a toms penis.)

I’m going to finish this blog with a diagram; a cat pyramid. The poster was designed by humane animal welfare organisation to illustrate the immense impact allowing a female to have just  two litters in a year on the feline population. As I said at the beginning of the blog, population control is not the only reason to neuter and spay….but for me, it’s a damn good one.

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http://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/news/your-say/letters/it-s-so-important-to-neuter-your-cats-1-6373628