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Wondering if you should get your cat spayed or neutered? Or maybe you’ve heard different opinions on when you can spay a cat? While there are several myths out there, the truth is spay and neuter benefits you and your cat in so many ways.
Click on one of the spay and neuter myths below to reveal the facts.
Fact: In the lineage of every homeless cat is an unaltered housecat. Even indoor cats escape, find a mate and reproduce. Plus, having your cat spayed or neutered makes them a much better roommate!
Fact: Feline weight gain is most often due to feeding habits. Spayed/neutered cats do require fewer calories than unaltered cats — sometimes up to 25% less — due to their lower metabolic rate. Controlling portions and ensuring enough exercise can help a fixed cat maintain a healthy weight.
Fact: Research shows no change in a feline’s personality or level of playfulness following a spay/neuter. In fact, spay/neuter can often lead to happier cats, since the drive (and stress) to find a mate is gone.
Fact: Most cats reach sexual maturity and gain the ability to procreate by 6 months of age, some as young as 4 months. So when can you spay a kitten? Veterinarians safely perform spay/neuter in cats as young as 8 weeks.
Fact: It’s common for us to attribute human feelings and psychologies to animals, especially companion animals. But a sense of inadequacy or loss of sexual identity is just not the case in cats. Research shows no reason to believe fixed cats are aware of their physical change.
Fact: A cat’s drive to reproduce is fueled only by her instinct to breed, not by an emotional or psychological need. Instead, consider adopting a kitten. Cats are communal animals and many readily raise orphans as their own.
Fact: Evidence shows the opposite to be true. Females never allowed to have a litter or a heat cycle prior to being spayed are often healthier than their unspayed cohorts. Veterinarians promote spaying before the first heat cycle and as young as 8 weeks.
Fact: Even purebreds and designer breeds find their way into homeless cat communities and shelters. In fact, about 1 in every 4 pets in a shelter is purebred or a designer breed.
Fact: In the lineage of every homeless cat is an unaltered housecat. Even indoor cats escape, find a mate and reproduce. Plus, having your cat spayed or neutered makes them a much better roommate!
Fact: Feline weight gain is most often due to feeding habits. Spayed/neutered cats do require fewer calories than unaltered cats — sometimes up to 25% less — due to their lower metabolic rate. Controlling portions and ensuring enough exercise can help a fixed cat maintain a healthy weight.
Fact: Research shows no change in a feline’s personality or level of playfulness following a spay/neuter. In fact, spay/neuter can often lead to happier cats, since the drive (and stress) to find a mate is gone.
Fact: Most cats reach sexual maturity and gain the ability to procreate by 6 months of age, some as young as 4 months. So when can you spay a kitten? Veterinarians safely perform spay/neuter in cats as young as 8 weeks.
Fact: It’s common for us to attribute human feelings and psychologies to animals, especially companion animals. But a sense of inadequacy or loss of sexual identity is just not the case in cats. Research shows no reason to believe fixed cats are aware of their physical change.
Fact: A cat’s drive to reproduce is fueled only by her instinct to breed, not by an emotional or psychological need. Instead, consider adopting a kitten. Cats are communal animals and many readily raise orphans as their own.
Fact: Evidence shows the opposite to be true. Females never allowed to have a litter or a heat cycle prior to being spayed are often healthier than their unspayed cohorts. Veterinarians promote spaying before the first heat cycle and as young as 8 weeks.
Fact: Even purebreds and designer breeds find their way into homeless cat communities and shelters. In fact, about 1 in every 4 pets in a shelter is purebred or a designer breed.