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Spaying or Neutering Your Kitten

Spaying Your Cat

Spaying offers several advantages. The most important benefits are health related. It has been proven that as the female cat gets older, there is a significant incidence of breast cancer and uterine infections if she has not been spayed.

Spaying before she has any heat cycles will virtually eliminate the chances of developing breast cancer. If you do not plan to breed your cat, we strongly recommend that she be spayed before her first heat period. This can be done as early as 4 to 6 months of age.

The female’s heat periods result in about 2-3 weeks of difficult behavior. This can be quite frustrating for many owners to managing: your cat will become very vocal and will exhibit a great deal of crying and affection towards you. Male cats are attracted from blocks away and, in fact, seem to come out of the woodwork. They seem to go over, around, and through many doors to get to the cat in heat. Your cat will have a heat period about every 2-3 weeks until she is bred.

Spaying is the removal of the uterus and the ovaries. Therefore, heat periods no longer occur. In many cases, despite your best efforts, the female will become pregnant; spaying prevents unplanned litters of kittens.

Neutering Your Cat:

Neutering offers several advantages. Male cats go through a significant personality change when they mature. They become very possessive of their territory and mark it with their urine to ward off other cats. The tomcat’s urine develops a very strong odor that will be almost impossible to remove from your house. They also try to constantly enlarge and protect their territory, which means one fight after another. Fighting results in severe infections and abscesses and often engenders rage in your neighbors. Additionally, intact male cats are attracted from blocks away to female cats in heat and are very persistent about getting outside.

We strongly urge you to have your cat neutered before six months of age. If he should begin to spray his urine before that time, he should be neutered immediately. The longer he sprays or fights, the less likely neutering is to stop it.