Spaying your female cat or neutering your male cat has many important advantages. The obvious one is that your kitty won’t be contributing to the huge population of unwanted animals. However, there are several other considerations that make altering your pet a good idea.

Neutering will make male kitties much less likely to engage in traditional tomcat behaviors such as marking, roaming, and fighting. With less wandering, the chances of the feline being hit by a car. having an adverse encounter with another animal, or contracting a serious disease are greatly reduced. Testicular cancer is also less common in the fixed population, too. Some males have cryptorchid testicles which means that they did not descend into the scrotum. This can be a major risk factor for later cancer, and neutering is definitely recommended for these animals.

To neuter a male, both testicles are removed under general anesthesia, and only a day is needed for recovery. This surgery eradicates the hormone testosterone, which is the cause of the undesired behaviors.

Spaying females is recommended as it can largely decrease their chances for getting breast, ovarian and uterine cancer. Going into heat can cause complications such as pyometritis bacterial infections, spraying urine, and howling.

Spaying is a major surgery for females. Both ovaries and the uterus are removed via an abominal incision. While the sutures and incision site will require care following the surgery, females usually only need one day of hospitalization for the procedure.

If you are a pet owner, spaying or neutering your pet is the best option to ensure your pet’s continued good health and to reduce the population of unwanted cats. Only experienced breeders who are trying to improve the characteristics of a specific breed really have a need to leave animals unaltered.