They say if you want to be happy, get a cat. And for the owners of these pets, this statement is the same truth as the fact that the earth revolves around the sun, and all the “near-cat” chores are only a joy. One of these problems, around which disputes do not cease, is the castration of an adored pet.
Reasons for castration
At what age can a cat be neutered? All owners, sooner or later, ask this question without exception. There can be many reasons for committing "villainy." In contrast to the opponents of castration, there is an authoritative opinion of zoopsychologists who believe that this procedure is necessary not only to maintain the physical, but also psychological health of the cat.
Considering the psychological side of the issue, we can note the constant occurrence of stressful situations in feline life associated with the instinct of reproduction. Cats spend most of their time defending a territory that they consider to be their own and on which cats belong to the winner. And if suddenly the battle is lost, is this not a reason to become depressed?
In addition, physical health suffers here. Cat fights are quite fierce with serious injuries, through which your beloved pet can also get infectious diseases, and there is also a danger of catching parasites.
But even if the adored Vaska or Murzik is the eternal winner, and on the rights of the winner gets the right to mate with any cats, then here he is faced with many troubles consisting in genital infections, which are easily transmitted from sick cats along with fleas and ticks. But the main problem is, of course, the birth of a huge number of useless kittens that are doomed to die from hunger, cold, dogs and infections.
If the pet is excommunicated from walks in the yard and never goes outside the apartment, then the breeding instinct with such a cat can play a cruel joke. Unable to mate, the cat accumulates irritation, splashing it on the master's furniture, doors, doorposts, wallpaper, curtains. Instinct makes him mark everything that catches his eye, thus calling the cat for mating and infuriating the owner.
Yesterday's affectionate kitten, reaching puberty, turns into a wild annoyed beast that strives to bite and scratch its benefactor, for which, in the best case, gets a slipper for what you have to. And this, again, leads to misunderstanding and stress on both sides.
Positive moments of castration
After everything has already been done, and the strongest of instincts is pacified, the cat changes dramatically in character and habits. Its hormonal background is stabilized, and cats cease to interest the pet as before.
From here, as a result, the aggressiveness acquired from chronic dissatisfaction disappears. The cat gets rid of a feeling of fear of the owner, who continually scolded him for tricks. And the disappeared eerie smell of Kotov’s marks disposes the owner to complacency and love.
In addition, the cat does not cease to pay attention to cats. In the conditions of nurseries, this is certainly an excellent way out of the situation when a sterilized cat takes cats out of a critical state without fertilizing them.
It is also erroneous that castrated pets live less. On the contrary, the life of a cat, devoid of constant tension and stress, is significantly lengthened, and this statement is supported by statistics.
There are many opinions on how old cats can be neutered. And a little later, the most common of them will be considered.
Castration Methods
And now about castration methods, of which there are several. In Russia, the most common and cheapest method of sterilization is surgical castration, where the genital glands are excised using a scalpel and anesthesia.
However, in addition to the classical method, there are several others that do not require surgical intervention, which means that the negative consequences of such sterilization will be minimized.
- The classic method with surgery.
- Medical castration. In this method, an implant is sutured under the skin of an animal, which slowly secretes special substances that suppress sexual function into the cat's body. This procedure is not cheap, but it is absolutely safe for feline health.
- Chemical castration. This method consists in introducing certain chemical compounds into the testes that kill the glandular tissue of the testes. Dead tissue is replaced with connective tissue over time. This method is very inexpensive. But for some reason, in Russia, this simple technique, unfortunately, is almost never used.
- Castration by radiation. With this method, the testes are placed under directional gamma rays. The method is very simple and convenient. However, it is not used much, because the equipment for this method is not in every veterinary clinic. Moreover, such an event is not cheap. But here any complications are practically excluded. The procedure is absolutely painless, so the need for all types of anesthesia disappears.
The use of non-surgical castration methods would be the best solution for age-old animals that are difficult to tolerate anesthesia and the postoperative period.
Optimum age for castration
About the age at which a cat can be neutered, veterinarians have no unequivocal opinion. But most of them agree that the period from 6 months to a year would be an ideal time for intervention. In this age period, the influence of sex hormones on the cat's body has not yet gained strength, and the genitals are already sufficiently developed for surgical excision.
In addition, young animals tolerate pain much easier, so a veterinarian surgeon has the opportunity to use only local anesthesia for surgery.
The answer to the question of at what age cats are neutered may also depend on the physical condition of the cat's body. Sick and weakened animals must first be cured, and only then apply surgical intervention.
Sterilization time may also depend on belonging to a particular breed. For example, veterinarians, answering the question at what age can a British cat be neutered, give a definite answer, which is much later than ordinary domestic cats, which is associated with the later physical development of representatives of this breed.
Early sterilization
Sometimes early sterilization is applied for a period of two months. It is believed that at this age the regenerative abilities of the body are maximum and castration to a biological node will be appropriate. Here, the imposition of the ligature and clamp is not used, and the node is formed by the cord itself, which is formed by the vessels and ducts of the vas deferens.
The opinion of Western veterinarians about the age at which a cat can be neutered is at the earliest stages of development.
Due to the youth of the animal, the walls of the organs have sufficient softness, therefore this method is quite applicable, while minimizing the pain effect, the risk of internal bleeding and other complications. After the operation, the kitten quickly returns to normal.
Early sterilization is often used in nurseries when it is necessary to remove kittens from breeding for various reasons. The disadvantage of castration in the early stages is that this can lead to a delayed development of the animal's body, as the muscles develop faster if there is an adequate level of sex hormones in the blood. But the worse is that sometimes there may be pathologies of muscle tissue, problems with joints and heart.
Late sterilization
It often happens that a cat enters the family as an adult. And the owners have a number of natural questions. At what age can a cat be neutered at a late age? How will this affect the health of the animal? How old can a normal cat and thoroughbred be castrated?
Late sterilization includes all cases after the animals have reached the age of two. The positive aspects of castration at this time can be attributed only to the convenience of the operation for the surgeon, because "everything is visible." Of course, there are cases when such an intervention is necessary for medical reasons. For example, an oncological disease of the genitourinary organs.
Negative effects of late castration
If we talk about late castration, then there are, of course, a lot of negative points:
- An organism that has reached adulthood has already developed under the influence of sex hormones. Therefore, castration may not save the owners from the cat’s bad habits (tags, furniture damage, etc.), which have already become quite entrenched.
- Late-term castration will not relieve the animal of the risk of cancer.
- The rigidity of adult tissue complicates the operation. Hence there may be complications in the form of bleeding when the node is relaxed after ligature is applied.
- The age-related decrease in metabolic rate will worsen after castration, as the cat’s activity will drop even more, which will inevitably lead to obesity (the activity of castrates falls by 25%).
- Late sterilization increases the risk of urolithiasis.
- The use of general anesthesia is poorly tolerated by older animals. Local anesthesia is often impossible, due to the risk of pain shock. With age, the pain threshold decreases markedly.
- The postoperative period is harder to tolerate with age. Recovery is much slower than a young animal and there are more complications.
So, from the foregoing, we can conclude that the danger of late castration far exceeds the disadvantages of early castration. Therefore, it is better to attend to pet sterilization on time .
Features of castration of cats of different breeds
Sometimes there is a slight difference in the age at which you can castrate a domestic cat and a thoroughbred. Belonging to a particular breed amends the approach to sterilizing an animal.
If we talk about how old it is possible to castrate a Scottish cat, it is necessary to take into account one drawback of the breed. This is a twist of the jaw or an imbalance with which some kittens are born. Such animals are immediately removed from selection by early castration.
About the age at which a British cat can be neutered, there is an opinion that no earlier than the representative of this breed is eight months old. This is due to the fact that the British have later sexual development.
Persian cats are neutered even later - at the age of one year for the same reason. Early sterilization can lead to the complications and other bad consequences described above.
The content of sterilized cats
The first thing the owner should take care of after castration of the cat is the correct diet. As mentioned earlier, the animal's mobility is significantly reduced, as are metabolic processes, so you need to buy special food for sterilized cats.
In such feeds, not only the content of minerals, in particular magnesium and phosphorus, is reduced, but the overall nutritional level is much lower than in ordinary feed, which will not allow the animal to gain excess weight, and will prevent the development of urolithiasis, to which castrates are more prone to ordinary cats .
When using natural feeding, it is necessary to give preference to beef without bones and fat, which is pre-frozen for 24 hours and finely chopped, but not minced; poultry meat is served to the cat in boiled form, but without bones, skin and fat; boiled liver (beef and poultry), chicken stomachs, beef heart.
Castrats should not be given pork, lamb, dairy products, smoked meats, raw poultry, sweets, fish in any form due to the increased content of phosphorus and magnesium in it.
Water for sterilized cats should always be in a bowl, and you must strictly monitor this. Especially if the animal eats dry food.
When keeping a castrated pet, it is necessary to take into account its passivity and make it move more through games and walks, preferably on a leash or under the supervision of the owner (a castrate deprived of aggression may not be able to fend for itself in street conditions).
The life of a castrated cat in no way changes for the worse, it is not without colors, but it becomes much calmer. And love, care and a responsible attitude to the pet will make it quality and interesting.