All of the Fake Reasons Not to Neuter Your Cat
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The reasons behind choosing to neuter or not neuter your male cat is an argument that makes valid points to defend their beliefs from both sides of the coin. However, the bottom line is looking out for the overall welfare of the cat’s health. Human guardians of a male cat should already have a good idea of what really is best for their feline friend, regardless of what public opinion has to say about it. People who are opposed to having their cats neutered have given off a number of reasons why they don’t believe in the practice. Whether or not you choose to take those reasons at face value is up to you. Before a final decision is made about your cat’s fate, weigh out the pros and cons first.
Obesity Issues
It is believed once a cat is spayed or neutered that the animal will gain an excessive amount of weight as he will become too lazy to do much of anything. While it is true that cats do indeed gain weight after sterilization, how much weight your cat actually accumulates depends on you. While it is agreed a neutered cat will have the sexual libido part of him removed and he will seem less active in that regard, the idea he suddenly becomes a lazy cat that doesn’t wish to do anything has no real scientific ground to stand on. It plainly boils down to ensuring he is fed with high-quality cat food, plus regular exercise through consistent playtime, which serves as your ticket to keeping your cat healthy and moving, which greatly reduces the risk of him gaining too much weight. This is simple enough math that doesn’t just apply to cats, but all walks of life, including humans. Neutered or not, keeping the cat stimulated with a good diet and plenty of exercises, is a good recipe to ensure it stays healthy.
Personality Issues
While there is a chance of a cat’s personality changing after it’s been spayed or neutered, this is not a bad thing. Especially among male cats, the aggressiveness that comes with the emasculation is no longer a factor in his hormonal responses when in the presence of other cats. The testosterone that resides within male cats, when left unchecked, has the potential to make your cat a real troublemaker you may not have bargained for. The instinctual territorial spraying, even while still inside the house, will be an issue. There is also the strong possibility of his yowling, which is part of his natural instinct as an unfixed cat. You can’t blame him for this as this is in his nature. He wants to run around and sow his wild oats. While his attitude may have nothing to do with you directly, it has everything to do with him simply being a cat. While he remains unfixed, the combination of aggression and anxiety will have a negative impact on your cat’s quality of life. This will also have an impact on how he behaves around you. While he remains unfixed, he will be more interested in mating with another cat than spending quality time with you, or anybody else in your family for that matter. If you are okay with a less friendly, more aggressive male cat in your presence, then forego the neutering procedure and hope for the best. However, one of the biggest reasons why the humane society is pulling their hair out due to the overpopulation of cats is due to frustrated cat owners who kick their unneutered male cats out of the house because they can no longer put up with his behavior. Now out of the house, unfixed male cats will run off and do what nature has designed them to do, which is mate and reproduce.
Indoor Male Cats Don’t Need Neutering
Although this seems like a logical enough argument to make as the odds of your male cat mating with a female cat is unlikely, there are a number of factors to take into consideration. For starters, unneutered male cats will continue to have that need to breed as that is simply part of their genetic makeup. Even as he gets older, the urge will always be there. Believe it or not, even as an indoor cat that has not once stepped outside since bringing him into your home, the urge to escape when there is a female cat in heat nearby. While your cat may not have any intentions to abandon you, he will have every intention to find a female and mate once he senses one in heat is nearby. Even while your male cat is indoors, the in-heat female cat outside that may be across the street or living next door is something he can sense as easily as you smelling burnt popcorn in the microwave. It’s impossible to ignore it. With these factors in mind, the danger of that one time he slips out will be greater while he remains unneutered as opposed to becoming neutered. While you may be careful enough to make sure he doesn’t get out, what about potential visitors? Furthermore, even while indoors, even if the male cat is the only one in the house, the urge to engage in sexual activity and mark territory will always be there and he will do it. In this regard, it’s not the cat’s fault when he does this as this is in his nature. Intact male cats will do the feline equivalent of masturbation, which is relieving their genitals by licking and spraying. Unneutered male cats who lick their genitals tend to do so excessively, which makes them more prone to medical issues, including dermatology-related diseases, as well as urinary tract infection (UTI). When neutered, especially at an age young enough where he doesn’t experience emasculation, the danger of him spraying in your house to mark territory will be eliminated. He will also not be so anxious to lick his genitals as a means of sexual stress relief as the urge to do so won’t be there. Also, a neutered male cat will become less interested in bolting outside to meet up with a female cat in heat as he will have very little desire to have anything to do with her other than mere curiosity.
Not Fair to Deprive a Cat’s Right to Mate/Reproduce
Unless you’re breeding cats for a living, keep in mind there are already way too many unwanted cats as it is. Too many are running around feral, both adults and kittens, who may never know what a loving home feels like. Furthermore, feral cats have become a real problem that has literally turned the overpopulation of unwanted cats even worse. Animal shelters and pet foster homes are overwhelmed with the care of cats that have no home to call their own. While it is respectable that you like the idea your cat has the freedom to do as he wishes, including mating with another cat, the concept becomes less respectable when you and your cat are adding to a problem that never should be there, to begin with. What is a more serious crime between the deprivation of a cat’s right to reproduce as opposed to entire litters of kittens put to death because there aren’t enough homes to put them in? When euthanizing a cat was first thought of, its purpose was to provide a humane method to end a dying cat’s suffering that became too sick or injured to continue. With millions of perfectly healthy cats and kittens being euthanized for the sole reason of being more of them than homes available to take them in, this becomes a real tragedy. When looking at the matter from that point of view, this should be more than enough reason to favor neutering your cat as opposed to leaving him unneutered.
Dangerous Procedure
Spaying and neutering cats are the most routine procedures veterinarians perform. It’s a safe enough surgical process that has the cat move around within a matter of hours after surgery. Within a few days, the cat is fully recovered. It is extremely rare for a cat to experience post-surgery complications. After the cat has been either spayed or neutered, pain medication is prescribed, but some cat owners have noticed sometimes there’s no need for it as their cat hasn’t displayed any sign of post-surgery discomfort whatsoever. Furthermore, unfixed male cats, especially when they’re still in the kitten stage, do face the possibility of their testicles not descending from the abdomen into the scrotum. This particular medical condition is known as cryptorchidism. When this happens, prostate cancer and testicular cancer become very likely. These two conditions happen quite often among unneutered male cats. On average, the lifespan of a neutered cat is considerably longer than an unneutered male cat, even if it’s kept indoors all his life.
Too Expensive
There are clinics that offer the spaying and neutering of cats either at very low cost, or even free of charge. With the crisis of overpopulation as it is among cats, veterinarians and local animal shelters are willing to do their part to ensure you do your part. Furthermore, what is most expensive in the long run? By having your cat neutered, you eliminate the dangers of a number of cancer-causing ailments that can threaten your cat’s life. Furthermore, an unneutered cat has an increased chance of contracting a urinary tract infection (UTI), which has proven to be a very costly medical issue to contend with. It also vastly decreases the quality of life for your cat. By neutering your cat, you are protecting him from a number of medical issues that can be easily avoided.
A Story to Tell
Knowing these two different people personally, one housed a male cat whom he was adamant to leave unneutered. The other, his neighbor, had a pair of cats whom she neutered the moment they were old enough to have the procedure done. This is an event that has the root of the story begin October 2010. The person who had the cat whom he refused to neuter for all the reasons listed below in this article did present a sound enough argument that justified his position. His story is he wanted his cat to stay as “a man” as he was a firm believer that all that is natural should be left alone, no matter the circumstance. He loved his cat and treated him like royalty. His neighbor, who had two male cats, got them from the same litter the gentleman did. So, in this story, there are three male cats, all from the same litter, who are homed with two different people.
The woman who brought in the two male cats into her home had them neutered the first chance she got. She still has them today and both are perfectly happy healthy indoor cats. As for the gentleman with his lone male cat whom he chose not to neuter, had to be put down when he was four years old due to medical complications where it was deemed to be the humane thing to do. In the fourth year, the man came home one day to find his cat laying in the middle of the floor in a manner he knew was unusual. When trying to get the attention of his cat, there was no response. When he tried to move him, he was lethargic. Immediately, the man brought his cat to an animal hospital that wasn’t located far from the neighborhood.
It was discovered due to the excessive licking the male cat did to his genitals played a contributing factor to developing a urinary tract infection (UTI). The condition advanced far enough where it was starting to break the cat down, both physically and psychologically. After nearly a week to try and bring his male cat back to his normal self, it was learned this was a losing battle. It was then the man had to make the tough decision to euthanize his male cat so that he no longer had to suffer the process of a slow, dying death that was already imminent. One lesson this man did learn while his cat was at the vet is unneutered male cats when kept indoors, will do whatever they can to relieve the sexual urge to mate by licking his genital area as a means of relief. This is because nature has it where cats have the urge to merge with one another. Even while indoor life may be all a cat knows, the desire to go out looking for any mate will always be there. When such satisfaction can’t be met in a manner the male cat desires most, he will compensate through the feline equivalent of masturbation. In the case of the man and his cat, the price for that compensation was the cat’s life.
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