Does Spaying The Male, Leave Him Masculine Enough To Deter Other Males From Visiting

[shazzgal]

I have 3 female cats who have not been desexed and 1 male cat. We kept the male so the other neighbourhood males don't come a visiting. Only problem is my male is a typical male. I was hoping to get the females desexed in time but $$ ran short. Where I live desexing starts at the equivalent of 3 days wages so its not a priority. Anyhow. My male cat has been busy lately and im thinking it might be time to visit the credit card for a loan to pay for some surgery, before all the kittens start arriving again. My question is, if I desex my females and not the male will he go elsewhere. He is 8mths and has had a lot of action with the ladies. If I desex him and not the ladies, will his maleness keep away the other males from the neighbourhood, or should I be looking at getting all 3 females and him done at the same time. I know it is better to desex all of them, but for me that is just short of 1 months wages and is the same amount as my rent for the month. Any thoughts wold be appreciated

 

[Kieka]

If you can tell us where you are based someone might know of a low cost clinic in your area to help reduce that cost. I know where I am you can get spays/neuters for as low as $45 if you know where to look.

As to your specific question, neutered males can be just as territorial as unnuetered males. But one eight month old male will have a hard time fighting off every potential mate. I had a neutered male who was a big time fighter; he'd even go after dogs who came to close to our house. He was in fights on a regular basis with the injuries to show for it. However, despite his best effort we would see other cats around our house from time to time. That was an adult, experienced, large cat and while he would take care of trespasser he couldn't be everywhere all the time.

It isn't "maleness" that keeps away other cats; it being territorial. Both males and female will fight for what is there if they feel threatened. Some do have more of a territorial drive then others but it has nothing to do with gender or being spayed/neutered. It's just them. Unspayed females will accept males in their territory for mating purposes, while unneutered males will fight to gain access to females. If your females are spayed they will not attract males and are likely to become more territorial. My spayed female hates other cats just as much as my males do; I've seen her taunt other cats and lure them over for my boys to take care of (she's too little to fight herself).

As to wandering, your male will go after females other than your three as long as he is unnuetered. Which means he is just as likely to go away from the home literally chasing tail as to stay at home protecting the ones he already has. It doesn't matter if your females are spayed or not; he will be driven to mate as often as possible.

In my opinion, your best bet is to get the females spayed first if you have to prioritize. Mainly because they will have kittens and you will have even more cats to care for sooner. If your male is neutered it would only take a moment for another male to catch one of the females. It is also important to take care of your male though because he runs a high risk of injury. Injuries do mean vet bills; my aforementioned male cost me nearly $1,000 a year in vet bills related to his fighting and I didn't take him in every single time he got hurt, just the times he wasn't healing or they were in spots that I couldn't risk.

 

[Willowy]

Spay the females first, so you don't end up with 15 more cats. Raising that many kittens will cost way more than spaying! A female in heat will ALWAYS find an intact male to get her pregnant.

But he really ought to be neutered soon, as if he's intact it's more likely he'll end up getting injured in a fight with the other toms, and that will certainly cost more than neutering.

 

[Norachan]

Having a small group of spayed and neutered cats that you provide with food and shelter will usually keep other cats away. Cats are territorial and don't like other animals coming into their space. I've actually found that it's the female cats that patrol the territory, the male cats are more laid back. And, if the males aren't fixed, they tend to wander much further than the girls do, so aren't at home to chase off intruders.

Please let us know which city/state you live in so we can help you find a low cost clinic. Cats reproduce so quickly, you could easily have 30 by the end of the year.

 

[cheesycats]

Is there a way you can keep your cats inside? Neuter the male and keep all four inside and just spay the females when financially able to.
If you are in the US (which of course you may not be) there are plenttyy of places to receive spay and neuter help even to other cats outside for little to no money.
Also keeping your cats inside will protect them from becoming pregnant or getting into fights (or getting hit by cars, parasites, etc) which may lead to an even bigger expense (a life threatening injury which means $$$$ or 20 more cats for you to take care of which also means $$$$ in supplies) then the simple cost of just fixing them.

 

[Katie M]

When you say that your male has been busy lately, do you mean mating-wise? If so, a spay-abort would be a good idea.

 

[shazzgal]

Thanks everybody. For those that asked, im in Fiji. We used have very cheap spaying until last year. The shelter has increased costs to help cover the gas but all the rest is free. They charge the equivalent to about $50 Australian per animal but that is still 3 days pay in Fiji wages. Not good. Ill aim to get the girls done first, well at least 2 of them and another dog ( 1 have 4 female dogs as well,where I live seems to create females in preference to males). I have already done 2 cats and 1 dog, so I need to start on with the rest.

 

[Willowy]

Dogs are easier; you can lock them up when they're in heat, as it's more obvious and only happens twice a year. Cats are a lot harder because they can get pregnant almost any time, because they're induced ovulators. Plus they can sneak out a lot easier .

It's too bad they raised the prices. Do you think there's any animal rescue groups in the area that might be able to help?

 

[Caspers Human]

Yes.

 

[danteshuman]

Our well I'm almost ready to call him a reformed feral instead of his ussual semi-feral tittle. He was neutered around 5 years though we found him hungry and begging at ?5? or ?6? or ?12? months old. He was small and hungry so he got food outside and became a garage cat. Over time he became an indoor/outdoor cat. He is 9 now.

When he was neutered he stopped getting into fights EVERY single night though he has been scrapping a bit with a new female cat interloper lately. He was injured in one of his many fights before neutering him. Since being neutered he is a bit calmer and it help calm him down enough to see that humans were good for cuddles (after watching my 2 neutered boys get loved on.) He now demands nightly cuddles from his owner but still will not sleep all night inside or use a litter box unless he is forced to.

In your case, if you tell us your location we might be able to help you find low cost spay/neuter programs (or you can google it.) About the cats coming in on his territory, there is nothing you can do to keep them away until you spay your female cats. After that, there is a lot you can do to help keep feral/stray cats out of your yard. You might try googling trap/neuter/release programs in your area. It is the best way to contain feral cat problems.

How to Keep Unwanted Cats out of Your Yard

 

[Kieka]

I wasn't able to find anything cheaper in Fiji, sorry. I know the local animal control/shelter asks for donations and it looks like they did a traveling spay/neuter clinic at some point. Since they ask for donations that may have a scholarship type thing or you could ask if you could donate time to help in exchange for spay/neuters.

 

[Norachan]

Since they ask for donations that may have a scholarship type thing or you could ask if you could donate time to help in exchange for spay/neuters.

That's a good idea. Some shelters will spay or neuter pets cheaply if you volunteer there for a couple of hours a week. It wouldn't hurt to ask.