Is Neutering "Right?"

I'm having second thoughts and feeling really guilty
All my girl cats are fixed, they were when I adopted them, and I know it extends their life, but what about boys?
My newest cat is male, found him in an alley, and he hasn't sprayed anywhere or even tried to mess with the girls. His vet appointment is tomorrow to be neutered and I feel like it's wrong, like he knows.

Am I crazy? Have any of you felt guilty about doing this?

It's the responsible thing to do and I've heard it has health benefits just like it does for females.

Also, if he ever got out of the house he could mate and produced unwanted kittens and/or catch a disease.

Nope, never had a second thought about doing it. It extends their lives. No chance of testicular cancer. They don't fight as much, which means they don't have the medical bills associated with those injuries and abscesses. Not having the desire to roam means less chance of escape, getting hit by a car, attacked by other animals, or getting lost because of roaming to find a female cat in heat. Not to mention that although kitty may not be spraying yet, getting him neutered before he starts almost guarantees that he won't start, which saves cleaning time, lots of money, and lots and lots of frustration. And of course, the whole cat overpopulation thing which seems pretty obvious.

I honestly can only see positives coming out of a very non-invasive procedure. I can tell you that my Trent doesn't know that he's missing a thing.

He will start spraying if he is not fixed.
I have cat beds that I can not even use after washing so many times from a male that was not even mine.
He will also start bothering your girls even no they are fixed.

Ok I feel better Honestly them escaping is never a factor to me, I live on the 4th floor and they don't even like going into the hallway.

The spraying thing was worrying me but I felt kind of like that was a selfish reason to get him fixed if there weren't enough health benefits otherwise.

It's just been so stressful for him the last month or so being abandoned by whoever had him, then me taking him in and having to give him all these meds from being sick, then introducing him to my cats (after he was better of course) and now having to drag him back out for something else to happen to him, I just hope he doesn't hate me after this lol He's so affectionate to me and the girls now it would break my heart if he changed.

Thank you all for the info and feedback!

It is absolutely the right thing to do.

Having your male cat neutered will reduce the risks of testicular cancer, it will lessen his desire to "escape" and go roaming looking for girl cats, he will be less likely to get into fights, and it will reduce the chances that he will spray.

And trust me... they do not lose any of their boyish charm. My Lokk is an 18lb monster who still gets into trouble but always gives me that boys will be boys look.

Oh and on your concern about affection... I swear they become more affectionate after neutering. At least that is how my boys were.

Don't feel guilty at all!

Being fixed does not change their personalities, I have 5 males and everyone of them I had done. They are calmer which makes them more affectionate. In time he will definitely start spraying. Its the right thing to do for both you and him.

An acquaintance of mine had 1 unneutered male and 2 spayed female cats. Her husband wouldn't allow the male to be neutered due to reasons beyond me. When the male hit full maturity, he decided that he hated one of the females and tried very hard to kill her. They put the female in the basement to separate them and she lived out her life down there with very limited interaction with the family. That's no life for a cat, when the simple solution was to have the male neutered.

It calms them down.

I know with dogs there are pros and cons to each. With neutering several cancers are reduced, mainly those of the reproductive organs, you reduce the risk of spraying (but not all un-neutered males spray), in females you don't have heats and in males if there is an intact female around you don't have a cat trying to get out. I know in dogs neutering can increase the chances of some cancers as well (although they are less common cancers than those associated with leaving a dog intact) and can lead to some other medical problems. BUT this is dogs, I have no clue about cats as I've never looked into it. Many of these problems are connected with EARLY neutering which is why many dogs owners wait until their male dog is about 2 years old to neuter and it still gives the benefits/reduced risks PLUS reduces the risk of intact related cancers because they generally don't show up until the dog is older, so neutering a 2 still reduces those (females have many medical problems associated with being intact that occur when thy are young so it's still best to spay females before their first heat).

Many people say that neutering causes obesity. IMO this is not true but it CAN slow down a cat's metabolism so the owner, being the smart human she is should notice and decrease the amount of food so that the cat stays at a healthy weight.

All my pets will be neutered young, for cats I ant to because of possible spraying (talking entirely about males, I plan to own male animals) and for both dogs and cats because I simply do not trust that my pet will never get away and get another animal pregnant and to me that would be the worst thing I could let happen when it comes to animals as a whole.

I would most certainly go ahead with the neuter.

There are all the health benifits and behavior benifits that everyone mentioned. To ease your mind about the surgeory it is much shorter & easier than a spay. When my boys came home (the same day), they were running & playing like normal. Much to my dismay because they really aren't supposed to run & jump for at least 24 hours. I have only seen 1 male cat have a difficult time with a neutuer. They seem to bounch right back.

Well I brought him home and he's doing good so far, still purring and being affectionate to me, and I thought he'd hate me

Thanks for all the support!
I have one last question - I KNOW we should always follow vet instructions. The paper says no food tonight for Vito, but he won't rest, he keeps searching all the normal places I keep food bowls (which I've hidden). I think it has something to do with him being abandoned and having to find food outside (I went through something like this when I had a dog that got out for 2 days and forever after acted like she was starving lol).
Is there a reason why I can't give him a few bites of food so he will relax and sleep, or have you all strictly followed the instructions?

Anesthetic tends to upset their tummies.
Though my girls were allowed to eat 1/4 of their normal dinner the same night after they were fixed, and back to normal meals the day following per vet instructions.

It is just a precaution as vomitting can seriously stress the system.

Now the vet that spayed my newest girl said to give a few laps of water first and wait 30 minutes, if no vomitting, then feed a couple of tablespoons of food and return to normal feeding the day following.

I've had cats throw up when I haven't followed instructions. Better safe than sorry.

The reason vets say NO FOOD after a certain time is because food in the stomach during surgery can come up and potentially be inhaled--cause pneumonia or death.

Follow the vet's instructions. This is not something you want to screw around with.

Neutering is the right thing to do With cats, the vets I've had leave the .. ummm ... pouch, so the illusion is still there

I am glad you got him neutered - it is a 10min procedure in the UK and my vets dont even use a full GA anymore, it is just a sedation - the last 2 boys I have had done (4 and 5mo) were just as hyper afterwards as before, in fact, Oscar was more destructive!! it is also interesting about eating in the US, as we dont have any restrictions over here, the cats are actually fed while still at the vets, Tiger came home with an open bag of biscuits as they had opened it for him (they get a small bag of food after neutering), and Rolo had 2 pouches despite 11 teeth removed and extra GA due to the time it took.

He will be much happier and healthier now