The Importance of Spaying and Neutering Cats, a Guest Post by Nancy Peterson, Cat Programs Manager for The Humane Society of the United States

As a child, every birthday and holiday I begged for a cat, but it wasn’t until I was an adult that I finally got one. I eagerly adopted four month old Shasta from a friend whose cat had kittens. Oops! My friend wasn’t planning on her cat having a litter of kittens, but didn’t get around to spaying her cat in time.

Shasta, Nancy's first cat
Photo Courtesy of HSUS

It didn’t take long to fall in love with my beautiful gray Shasta, and I often shared stories about her with my work colleague Susan, who had six cats and was a fount of kitty information. After a while, I began to suspect that Shasta was in heat, but Susan would disagree. Finally, I came in one day and announced, “Oh, my goodness. Shasta is in heat.” Susan nodded yes and smiled.

If you’ve ever lived with a cat in heat, you know it’s not fun. She’ll be calling loudly for a male cat, rolling around on the floor, and constantly rubbing against furniture or your leg. Cats have multiple heat cycles during breeding season, which is affected by geographic factors, temperature and number of daylight hours. She’ll be in heat and accept a male for three to 16 days. If she doesn’t become pregnant, she’ll keep coming into heat every two to three weeks until she mates or the amount of daylight decreases.

If I would have known then what I know now, I would have spayed Shasta before she came into heat. I certainly wasn’t planning on breeding her, but I didn’t realize that a cat could go into heat and become pregnant as young as four to five months of age. I also didn’t know that cats who are spayed before their first heat have a decreased risk of mammary tumors or that female cats who aren’t spayed could get pyometra, a potentially fatal uterine infection. Caring for a cat with pyometra can cost way more than the cost of a routine spay surgery.

Shasta cuddles in the warm laundry. 
Photo Courtesy of HSUS

When I adopted Shasta in 1974, it was common to wait until cats were six months old to spay or neuter. Nowadays, due to several advances in medicine, many animal shelters spay and neuter cats before they’re adopted, even as young as two months old or two pounds.

Neutering male cats before they can reproduce is important too. Male cats can reach puberty between four and six months of age. Living with a male cat who isn’t neutered is no picnic either. Your un-neutered male cat may try to escape the house to find a mate and spray urine. Also, once males start spraying, it’s a habit they might continue. If he’s neutered before puberty kicks in, the urge to mark territory by spraying urine is more likely to be nipped in the bud. Un-neutered male cats also have a higher chance of prostate cancer, whereas neutered male cats have a zero chance of getting testicular cancer.

In addition to helping individual cats, spaying and neutering is very important for combating cat overpopulation. According to The Humane Society of the United States, on an annual national average, 70-75 percent of cats entering animal shelters are euthanized. The reasons include lack of resources to care for cats who are too young, too old, sick, aggressive, and so on. Some heartbroken owners who don’t know that many cat behavior problems can be solved surrender their cats. Then there are community (feral and stray) cats who produce about 80 percent of the kittens born each year. Only two percent of community cats are sterilized and they are the most significant source of cat overpopulation. Check out The HSUS website to learn about and find help for community cats in your area.

So, what keeps people from spaying and neutering their cats in a timely manner? Well, they may not realize how early a cat can become pregnant, or that a cat who is nursing kittens can become pregnant as soon as two weeks after giving birth. They also may not realize that 10 percent of female cats go back into heat between the third and sixth week of pregnancy, possibly resulting in litters of different ages.

There are lots of myths surrounding spay and neuter. Some people may think that it’s best to let their female cat have at least one litter or that spaying and neutering will change their cat’s personality or make him or her fat and lazy. Not so. If anything, intact cats who reach puberty are ruled by their hormones, kind of like human teenagers, whereas spayed and neutered cats are calmer and easier to live with. Other people may put off spaying and neutering because they’re concerned about the cost of the procedures. Fortunately there are lots of high quality, low-cost spay and neuter options for pet cats.

 Shasta
Photo Courtesy of HSUS

If you’re thinking of adopting a cat or two, your local animal shelter or rescue group will be happy to introduce you to cats of all shapes, sizes, and personalities. In addition to getting a great pet who is likely already spayed or neutered, you’ll be saving a precious life.

I wish someone had clued me in on all the benefits of spaying and neutering cats before they are able to reproduce. But once I knew, you can bet my subsequent cats were spayed and neutered as soon as possible. Please be sure that you beat the heat by getting the job done earlier rather than later.