I have a question

I've heard mny times how many consider that neuttering and spayng is good.In what way?I mean,cat's have been living for milenias without that and have breeded without a problem.Afterall if we consider cats like humas as many i think do,then isn't it like castrating a human.Which i never heard is really an enjoyable experience.
I belive that this whole neutering and spayng thing is made o keep owners happy and safe and not necesarelly to keep the cat safe.I feel that we do it more for us not for the cats.Then again i may be wrong and of course i'm opened to all opinios and want to learn more.
I undersant vacciness and taking care of her in that way,but castration is maybe a bit more to the human factor.
I guess it's more of a question o cats really need to be castrated?

Its very important to spay or neuter. There are a lot of cats without homes that aren't finidng the nutrients they need on the streets. Plus spaying helps keep your girls from getting all kinds of health problems.

Un-neutered toms are at a higher risk for testicular cancer for one, not to mention the fighting, which can kill them, or the breeding which (along with fighting) exposes them to a rather large number of often fatal diseases.

Un-spayed females are very uncomfortable when in heat, they are also at risk for pyometra, a higher risk of mammary cancer, and mastitis, serious to fatal injuries from breeding and fighting, and a huge number of often fatal diseases.

Not to mention the cat popluation would explode to even worse proprtions.

With the overwhelming number of stray and homeless cats in the shelters, spaying and nuetering is the best way to control the population. Unless you plan on breeding or studing your cat (or dog) I reccomend they are spayed/nuetered. Spaying a female can have health benefits, they can avoid mammory cancer and alot of other pregnancy related ailments. It will also help us (owners) because we don't have to pull our hair out when the cat is whining all day because she's in heat. Nuetering a male can add years to their life because they are no longer fighting/competing for females. It also keeps the males from spraying/ marking their turf (if done at a young age). I'm sure you'll get a lot more input here in just a sec

Un-spayed females are very uncomfortable when in heat, they are also at risk for pyometra, a higher risk of mammary cancer, and mastitis, serious to fatal injuries from breeding and fighting, and a huge number of often fatal diseases.

Click to expand...

Yeah i imagined that it was health related.But still i know many people who habe cats and nevr spayed or neutered tham and their doing just fine.

Not getting them spayed doesnt guarentee health problems it just increases the chances. We had a golden retriever who we never had spayed and she ended up getting uterian cancer and almost died. After that I swore to myself that ever animal that I own male or female would be altered.

How do you feel about the many, many animals stuck living in shelters or out in the street because they don't have a home? Also, how do you feel knowing that many are euthanized every day?

Hi Marin!

If I remember from one of your other threads, you are from Romania. Cat welfare is probably looked at a little differently there than it is in other parts of the world. Spay/Neuter probably isn't as common in your country. While yes, some cats do lead long lives without spay and neuter, studies have shown that they lead happier, healthier lives with the spay/neuter. There is a higher incidence of certain diseases in animals that have not been fixed. It also helps to control the cat overpopulation. I will do a search to see if I can find more info for you.

Here is a link to a website that will give you more information on Spay and Neuter.

http://www.savesamoa.org/html/spay_neuter.html#Why

Karen, you forgot the link!

Originally Posted by Arlyn

Karen, you forgot the link!

Click to expand...

Thanks! It's there now!

Originally Posted by AbbysMom

Hi Marin!

While yes, some cats do lead long lives without spay and neuter, studies have shown that they lead happier, healthier lives with the spay/neuter. It also helps to control the cat overpopulation. I will do a search to see if I can find more info for you.

Click to expand...

Not that I'm advocating not spaying or neutering, but how do we know they are happier that way? They can't tell us that, regardless of who studied what.

I personally think it's too bad that we don't "fix" humans the way we fix animals - so we could do something about the human overpopulation.

Originally Posted by squirtle

How do you feel about the many, many animals stuck living in shelters or out in the street because they don't have a home? Also, how do you feel knowing that many are euthanized every day?

Click to expand...

Well i was afraid someone might say that.It is indeed a shame that this hapens.But you know what the prob is;people also drive them away and abuse them.So it's naturall their afraid and stay way of human presence.Dogs are not in teh same stituation.They get more atention.In my country almoust every apartment block has these sorta 'comunity dogs',sometomes more than one.But do you ever see cats arund?No
THEY JUST DRIVE THEM AWAY!
Seriosly,i'm pretty ashamed of that.It's kinda a vicios circle.Humns drive them away and then we expect to take care of them
Oh well...

Originally Posted by Misty8723

Not that I'm advocating not spaying or neutering, but how do we know they are happier that way? They can't tell us that, regardless of who studied what.

I personally think it's too bad that we don't "fix" humans the way we fix animals - so we could do something about the human overpopulation.

Click to expand...

They are less territorial and anxious when not mating. They can be a cat instead of acting on the urge to mate.

As for your comment on humans, I think that's a topic for "In My Opinion"

Originally Posted by Marin

Well i was afraid someone might say that.It is indeed a shame that this hapens.But you know what the prob is;people also drive them away and abuse them.So it's naturall their afraid and stay way of human presence.Dogs are not in teh same stituation.They get more atention.In my country almoust every apartment block has these sorta 'comunity dogs',sometomes more than one.But do you ever see cats arund?No
THEY JUST DRIVE THEM AWAY!
Seriosly,i'm pretty ashamed of that.It's kinda a vicios circle.Humns drive them away and then we expect to take care of them

Oh well...

Click to expand...

Most of us have not experienced what you do on a daily basis in regard to cat welfare and have difficulty in understanding. I'm sorry you feel ashamed of this. It sounds to me like you are trying to take an active part in your cat's well being and trying to get answers to any questions you have. It looks like you are trying to break the vicious cycle you see and I applaud you for that.

Most of us have not experienced what you do on a daily basis in regard to cat welfare and have difficulty in understanding. I'm sorry you feel ashamed of this. It sounds to me like you are trying to take an active part in your cat's well being and trying to get answers to any questions you have. It looks like you are trying to break the vicious cycle you see and I applaud you for that.

Click to expand...

Thank you.I don't mean to brag,but i try.I have already 2 cat 'comunities' that i try to feed every day.They live near me so i do the best i can to fed them.One day a cat was so hungry it just ran to me meowing to give her something.I'm telling you,people just don't care about cat's as much as dogs.At least here...damn

I think what many people do not realize is that cats are not tiny people with fur who don't speak english. Many people want their cat to have the experience of being a mother. Or they're afraid that their tom will feel like "less of a male" without his.. organs. The truth is, the cats do not think like humans do. They don't feel bad for not having kittens or being able to breed. They don't have an ego or a self image in that respect. When they wake up after neutering surgery, they don't feel like something has been taken from them. They are animals. The psychology is completely different.

Many people before me have explained the medical advantages to neutering, so I won't go into that.

I dare say that here in the US, also, most people don't regard cats as highly as dogs. For example, where it is illegal to run over a dog and leave it dying in the road, it is not illegal in the case of cats. Cats also are not required to be registered with the government and certify that their rabies vaccinations are up to date.

This is all the more reason to alter cats. "Overlooked" cats run wild, reproducing and reproducing until there are thousands of cats resulting from one stray female. All those thousands of cats are homeless, uncared for and overlooked.

You might say, if we alter our cats, obviously we care about them at least would not want to lose that "investment," and would not let them get lost or go stray. However let's say an unaltered kitty does get loose from their home or yard, and mates. Even if that kitty returns home, his or her babies are out there, stray, left to mate and reproduce themselves.

So altering is a way to break this cycle of overlooked cats who don't have anyone to feed them or love them, or even to know they exist.

And like others here have mentioned, it does not harm cats medically or psychologically. It actually has positive health benefits long term.

Marin, Hi. It is the same in Sarajevo - there are colonies of cats but people think of them as vermin. My five are all ex street cats that I have rescued and neutered. And most people believe neutering is 'cruel' and 'unnatural'. Every now and then the city organises a cull to shoot stray cats, when the population gets too big, there are no shelters or welfare organisations. So I understand where you are coming from. But if one starts to come to the house regularly I try occasionally to trap a tomcat and get it neutered, I have seen too many kittens abandoned to want more brought into the world. We have a feral cat who has lived in the garden for 11 years - I trapped and neutered him last year and this is now the first year that he has not come back with fight marks and abscesses. So he is happier for being neutered. And it is not as if the cats miss their 'parts' - unlike a castrated human they do not know any different. I was lucky to find a vet here who would work with me on neutering strays and ferals for a low price - maybe you can find one in Romania and help to make a lot of cats happier, and fewer left to struggle on the streets. Good luck and thanks for thinking about this difficult question.

Originally Posted by eupnea

I think what many people do not realize is that cats are not tiny people with fur who don't speak english. Many people want their cat to have the experience of being a mother. Or they're afraid that their tom will feel like "less of a male" without his.. organs. The truth is, the cats do not think like humans do. They don't feel bad for not having kittens or being able to breed. They don't have an ego or a self image in that respect. When they wake up after neutering surgery, they don't feel like something has been taken from them. They are animals. The psychology is completely different.

Many people before me have explained the medical advantages to neutering, so I won't go into that.

Click to expand...

This is very true. Cats are not "little humans," they are cats. They think like cats. The wya it's been explained to me, it's easier on the animals to have them altered, because it removes urges that they can't act on. When Gizmo was in heat, all she did was meow and pose suggestively. She wasn't the same Gizmo that she was when she wasn't in heat. Aside from that, the meowing was just insane! So we got her spayed and now she's got a more even temperment and doesn't spend all of her time trying to get pregnant.
My little Shih Tzu dog, Little Man, would get friendly with anything that held still long enough. And what do you do when a dog does that? You tell them no and make them stop. It would be kinda like smacking a man every time he thought about a certain part of thier anatomy. It's frustrating for them. Once we had LM netuered, he quit doing that and now I don't have to put him in his crate when we have company.
Also, most unneutered tom cats spray urine on things. It smells AWFUL and it's very hard to remove. This makes unneutered cats very unsuitable as house pets. They also want to fight instead of coexist nicely with each other, and will try to get outside, especially if there are females outside.
And it appears you already have seen the overpopulation problem, so there's no need to comment on that. And everyone else has covered the health effects.

Amber