“Precious” is a purebred, registered male kitten, who was owned by a professional woman.
Her breeder, who did not practice early spay/neuter (a.k.a. altering) regularly reminded the new owner to have the boy “fixed”. The new owner always promised but never seemed to have the time.
Precious is now, at the tender age of nine months, living as a cat clinic because his owner can no longer care for him. Why? Because as Precious grew older and being unneutered, he started doing what comes naturally to males. He dashed out the door, looking for a breeding partner, and got hit by a car. His life hung in the balance for a while.His tail had to be amputated, he is incontinent, and his bladder has to be manually emptied every day.
Precious could have been the typical house-cat, safe and secure and not looking for breeding partners IF his new owner found the time to have him neutered. Better still, IF his breeder practiced early neuter/spay and had him sterilized before he left her cattery. Precious would never have endured the pain and discomfort.
His breeder now practices early neuter/spay, a lesson learned the hard way. There are many “Precious” kitten owners out there that put off making that very important date with the vet.
There are female “Precious” kittens that have been accidentally mated in their first heat, and at the tender age of six months or so, had a litter. The kittens from these unwanted litters are now also with new owners. Some new owners might be responsible and have them neutered/spayed in time. Others won’t.
And so the vicious circle carries on, resulting in thousands on unplanned kittens ending up in shelters and facing death.
Early spay/neutering procedures have been performed since the early 1900’s and there are some excellent study reports.
Here are some benefits:
- Preventing unwanted litters
- Preventing roaming males,
- Spaying will protect the female cat against mammary cancer and uterine infections.
- Neutering males will reduce the risk of testicular cancer and enlargement of the prostate and related infections.
One of the most common reasons for people abandoning their cats is because the cat starts to spray urine around the house. This is a natural instinct for an unaltered cat to do…both male and female. Once this starts, it isn’t easy to stop, even after altering, and the cat has to be re-homed, or put down.
Altered cats are much more affectionate and better companions. Critics’ view that altered cats are less active and eat more are unfounded. As a matter of fact, altered cats are indeed larger and healthier as they do not lose condition when calling or driven to mate.
It was found that having entire litters spayed/neutered together, kittens were less stressed and coped with recuperation very well. The breeder is there to take care of them and can recognize any adverse signs immediately, seeking veterinary care in time.
Any operation has it’s risks. Even though early spaying and neutering are considered safe, many breeders feel that IF something should go wrong during the operation, the loss of the kitten would be the heartache, pain and loss to the breeder, not the customer.
Breeders practicing early spay/neuter work very close with their vet and they have established an honorable and trustworthy relationship.
RESPONSIBLE BREEDERS PRACTICE EARLY SPAY/NEUTER!