Feline Vasectomy

[talkingpeanut]

Animals do not all share the same emotions and sex is not pleasurable for all. I think instincts being shared is a possible argument. Read about hyenas and ducks, for example, if you'd like more information.

I also question having a pair of animals to have sex when one is in heat. As far as I know, the female cats are quite uncomfortable when in heat, and sex is actually painful as well. It just seems like a lot to put your cats through, especially females.

 

[byron17]

Has any one heard of contraceptives for cats and dogs. I think this should be the future for population control of feral cats and dogs too.

It is already available, is it not being used everywhere today. This is what is wrong with spaying a feral cat. You have to trap them, if they have kittens that is a problem because those kittens will be by themselves for a whole day. Second, if there are complications after the spaying, you can't release them into the wild, they could die of an infection. Third, you have to make sure that the feral cat has been at least 8 hours without food, otherwise there could be complications during surgery.

The ASPCA should already be the one taking on this project. Contraceptives makes it so much easier and safer. I wish we could all start sending letters to the ASPCA telling them to keep up with the times. And they can do it to. Thousands of people give to the ASPCA $18.00 a month mainly to do something about cat and dog population problem. I am one of those. If you are just like me, make sure to mention this in your letter.

There are already contraceptive vaccines out here that have to be use only once.

 

[catpack]

The only contraceptive I am aware of for cats is used in Europe and the likes and is Progestin, which has to be given to the specific cat on either a daily or weekly basis. Can you imagine trying to dose the females of a feral colony? Those of us that have experience with such colonies know that many ferals don't eat in the presence of their caretaker. They wait until you leave and eat undercover.

Plus, this doesn't alleviate the risk of pyometra, which is fatal if left untreated or is not treated quickly enough.

 

[catpack]

As for the injectable contraceptives, they only last up to 6 months. Unless you are talking about Zeutering and that is only available for male dogs.

I also suspect that there is still the risk of pregnancy even with the use of contraceptives, as is the case with humans.

 

[donutte]

Putting animals on hormones is not necessarily safer. There is risk with humans as well, especially over a certain age. Neutering is a one-time deal and once it's done, it's done. I'm not sure why you would think that hormonal contraceptives would be the better option.

If you add in the fact that financially it would cost a LOT more to give the animals maintenance medication, it is not something that will really be doable. Most places that do high-volume neutering and spaying are working solely from donations, and doing the one-time surgery is much more affordable. Not to mention - how the heck would you constantly catch the strays to administer the contraceptives??

 

[denice]

I don't think there is a one time medication to sterilize, it's would be a medication that needs to be given regularly.  Feral cats do become trap savvy.  Routine medicating would mean routine trapping, hormones isn't something that could be given with food because of the need for exact dosing.  There will come a time when the cats simply could no longer be trapped and there is the stress of being trapped.

 

[Willowy]

You CAN lace ferals' food with medroxyprogesterone to prevent the females from getting pregnant, and it calms the boys down a bit too, but it's hard to get in the US and it's not really intended for long-term use. It doesn't need precise measuring. But if a female leaves the area and misses a few birth control laced meals, she can certainly get pregnant, so it's definitely not foolproof.

There is an injection for male cats that chemically castrates them. I know it exists because my neighbors in Japan had it done for their tomcat. They say he just got in injection directly in the testicles, and after a few weeks they had shriveled up and he looked and acted like any neutered cat. But that's the only information I have; I can't find any more info about this product anywhere! Perhaps it was experimental.

 

[catvas]

Best thread ever, thank you everyone who contributed!

I have a vasectomized cat (named Cat) and a hysterectomized cat (Elsie). They are mother and son.  The mother had had at least one previous litter, and the litter including the male I have was of at least 6 of which he was the last survivor.  She seemed quite young and was very agressive towards him, not letting him nurse, he had an infected injured eye and was starving.  He was feral, and we fed him, caught him and tended his eye.  I had never had any pets before and had no particular knowledge of cats, but since I acquired this one I did what I usually do and researched cats online.

I knew I had to get him sterilized because we hadn't particularly wanted a cat in the first place and definitely didn't want more.  I live in a neighborhood with a lot of older people who feed cats sporadically but don't usually bother with any other kind of care. This has resulted in a booming population of neglected ferals.

My boyfriend did not want to cut his new friend's balls off, a very emotional and male reaction, and I wanted to do what was best for local cats as a whole. After reading http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs/10.2460/javma.243.4.502?journalCode=javma, a study that suggests vasectomizing and hysterectomizing are much more effective than TNR at reducing feral cat populations, I was sold.

Little did I realize how difficult it would be to accomplish this simple goal. I called all the vets I could find, and heard various iterations of the official line every time: he'll get aids, he'll get run over by a car, he'll spray.  I also got more unusual responses, such as being accused of being a Nazi for wanting to experiment on my cat, and that that's the way it's done in the US and UK, so it's obviously the right way and the only way.  All these responses came from qualified vets.

Eventually, luckily, I found one who consented to try it, though he admitted it would be his first time.  The operation was performed with no problems.  My cat is now 3 years old.  He was neutered at under 1 years of age.  He is indoor and outdoor.  He sprays outdoor but we watched him carefully during puberty and trained him not to spray indoors.  He only did once during puberty.  When a new agressive female cat (Smokey) was brought into the house he sometimes sprayed, but he knows he isn't supposed to and rarely does now.

When his mother (Elsie) got pregnant again we got her hysterectomized.  She came into our house as an indoor outdoor cat with no problems, her presence certainly did not provoke her son to spray indoors.  She was stray rather than feral and left us when the new agressive cat joined us.  She still drops in every once in a while but Smokey the new cat doesn't get along with any cats as far as we've seen and has put Elsie off.

Cat is a little bit more agressive since Smokey joined us, but his moods are easy to judge and he's still plenty friendly when he's not in fighting mode.

That's our story and I would recommend vasectomizing when there's access to outdoors and a responsible cat owner involved, especially when there is a feral or stray cat population in the area.

Thanks again for the great thread!

 

[talkingpeanut]

Best thread ever, thank you everyone who contributed!

I have a vasectomized cat (named Cat) and a hysterectomized cat (Elsie). They are mother and son.  The mother had had at least one previous litter, and the litter including the male I have was of at least 6 of which he was the last survivor.  She seemed quite young and was very agressive towards him, not letting him nurse, he had an infected injured eye and was starving.  He was feral, and we fed him, caught him and tended his eye.  I had never had any pets before and had no particular knowledge of cats, but since I acquired this one I did what I usually do and researched cats online.

I knew I had to get him sterilized because we hadn't particularly wanted a cat in the first place and definitely didn't want more.  I live in a neighborhood with a lot of older people who feed cats sporadically but don't usually bother with any other kind of care. This has resulted in a booming population of neglected ferals.

My boyfriend did not want to cut his new friend's balls off, a very emotional and male reaction, and I wanted to do what was best for local cats as a whole. After reading http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs/10.2460/javma.243.4.502?journalCode=javma, a study that suggests vasectomizing and hysterectomizing are much more effective than TNR at reducing feral cat populations, I was sold.

Little did I realize how difficult it would be to accomplish this simple goal. I called all the vets I could find, and heard various iterations of the official line every time: he'll get aids, he'll get run over by a car, he'll spray.  I also got more unusual responses, such as being accused of being a Nazi for wanting to experiment on my cat, and that that's the way it's done in the US and UK, so it's obviously the right way and the only way.  All these responses came from qualified vets.

Eventually, luckily, I found one who consented to try it, though he admitted it would be his first time.  The operation was performed with no problems.  My cat is now 3 years old.  He was neutered at under 1 years of age.  He is indoor and outdoor.  He sprays outdoor but we watched him carefully during puberty and trained him not to spray indoors.  He only did once during puberty.  When a new agressive female cat (Smokey) was brought into the house he sometimes sprayed, but he knows he isn't supposed to and rarely does now.

When his mother (Elsie) got pregnant again we got her hysterectomized.  She came into our house as an indoor outdoor cat with no problems, her presence certainly did not provoke her son to spray indoors.  She was stray rather than feral and left us when the new agressive cat joined us.  She still drops in every once in a while but Smokey the new cat doesn't get along with any cats as far as we've seen and has put Elsie off.

Cat is a little bit more agressive since Smokey joined us, but his moods are easy to judge and he's still plenty friendly when he's not in fighting mode.

That's our story and I would recommend vasectomizing when there's access to outdoors and a responsible cat owner involved, especially when there is a feral or stray cat population in the area.

Thanks again for the great thread!

Have you noticed at all whether your boy is interested in mating?

 

[catvas]

Not really, most of the cats I see around my house are males, neutered and not, patrolling territory.  The two females that are around are his mother, who will have nothing to do with him, and the new cat Smokey, who will have nothing to do with any other cat I've seen her around.  He is definitely interested in Smokey, but she gets so agressive once he's within a metre of her that I have no idea what his intentions are in approaching her.

 

[catvas]

He's very sociable but always gets rejected by the two females I've seen him with, so I don't know if he's looking for sex or snuggles or what.

 

[nibblerandco]

My boy goes in for a snuggle with one of the queens and lately it often turns into a half-asleep hump. I think snuggles and sex run together in his mind. He's not serious about it though unless they're on heat. He is a very affectionate cat: cuddling seems to be his raison d'etre. (He's almost 3 years old, and still no spraying. I was worried he would in response to seeing a strange cat on the fence, but he didn't, just got twitchy and slunk around for a bit.)

 

[catvas]

Ours isn't very friendly generally, he's not aggressive unless he's out fighting other males, but he's not overly affectionate either.  He likes hanging out with us sometimes indoors, but usually won't come to us when he's outside.  He's very trusting of us inside though, and I'm reassured that he doesn't go up to strangers outdoors because I'd be afraid for his safety.

I was really interested to read about your experience with indoor only vasectomy and hysterectomy.  We figured we'd try it on ours and figure out if we could train him not to spray indoors when we came to that point, and it's been pretty straightforward.  There's so little info about this available.  All that's recommended for spraying males is to neuter them, which seems extreme and should be a last resort IMO, depending on the overall situation of course.  We went for the V and H because there are so many ferals around and ours spend most of their time outdoors, so I'm hoping they will help keep the population down a bit.  Not that there's been any studies done on this that I can find.

So many unanswered questions about cats and cat behaviour, it's amazing to me considering how long we've been cohabiting.

 

[talkingpeanut]

Ours isn't very friendly generally, he's not aggressive unless he's out fighting other males, but he's not overly affectionate either.  He likes hanging out with us sometimes indoors, but usually won't come to us when he's outside.  He's very trusting of us inside though, and I'm reassured that he doesn't go up to strangers outdoors because I'd be afraid for his safety.

I was really interested to read about your experience with indoor only vasectomy and hysterectomy.  We figured we'd try it on ours and figure out if we could train him not to spray indoors when we came to that point, and it's been pretty straightforward.  There's so little info about this available.  All that's recommended for spraying males is to neuter them, which seems extreme and should be a last resort IMO, depending on the overall situation of course.  We went for the V and H because there are so many ferals around and ours spend most of their time outdoors, so I'm hoping they will help keep the population down a bit.  Not that there's been any studies done on this that I can find.

So many unanswered questions about cats and cat behaviour, it's amazing to me considering how long we've been cohabiting.

Do you mean that you're hoping that other cats will mate with your sterilized cats instead of successfully procreating?

 

[catvas]

Ideally, yes. But this is one of the many things I've been unable to find a straight answer about.  It seems generally accepted that a female will go out of head once she mates, but I can't find any specific info on HOW LONG after she mates she goes out of heat. One of the best (and one of the only good) documentaries about cats I've come across is


and in it the female mates with many males, so it seems to me one vasectomized individual wouldn't make a difference, you'd need at least a few in the same area to get the females out of heat before they accept the advances of an unsterilised male. Still, if he's going to be outside he might as well be discouraging other males and not producing kittens.  We have no problem with his behaviour anyway.

 

[Willowy]

Do you mean that you're hoping that other cats will mate with your sterilized cats instead of successfully procreating?

I think I read a study somewhere that said that having vasectomized toms around is an excellent method of population control. Because female cats are induced ovulators, if bred by a vasectomized male they'll come out of heat and not look for another tom. I don't think there are similar benefits for sterilizing a female like that though. Toms will always go looking for another female to mate with, plus she'll be vulnerable to STDs.

 

[talkingpeanut]

I think I read a study somewhere that said that having vasectomized toms around is an excellent method of population control. Because female cats are induced ovulators, if bred by a vasectomized male they'll come out of heat and not look for another tom. I don't think there are similar benefits for sterilizing a female like that though. Toms will always go looking for another female to mate with, plus she'll be vulnerable to STDs.

I have heard of that in feral populations and I think it's an excellent solution.

I don't know that I agree with exposing one's pets to all of the health risks of interacting with strays, especially in such an intimate way. Also, I wouldn't feel comfortable with my female being mated.

 

[catvas]

Can you be more specific about what health risks of interacting with strays you're talking about? The ones that I know of are FIV, leukemia, and rabies.  I have no good study-based information on the rates of these diseases in my area, local cat charities practising TNR do not have this information (surprisingly), but I might ask some vets and see if they have a better idea.

But for rabies, according to Wikipedia, There have been no indigenous cases reported since 1903. In 2009, four people received rabies vaccination therapy after being bitten by an imported kitten, although subsequent examination of the kitten yielded a negative result for rabies.

For FIV, according to catchat, A fourteen year study by Maureen Hutchison B.Sc, BVMS, MRCVS (veterinary adviser to the Cat Action Trust) found that FIV-positive cats are more likely to die by being killed in road accidents or to be alive and well into their twilight years than they are to die from any FIV related condition. FIV in the stray cat population has certainly fuelled much of the unfounded fear surrounding the virus. It is mainly un-neutered toms, fighting over food, females or territory, who pick up and spread the virus. The stray cat has no-one to look after them, and their lifestyle means they are more likely to pick up other infections, which without treatment can escalate. When one of these gets captured and taken to a vet, suffering from any number of secondary infections, it is often too late. It is the nature of a vet's work, that they will see many more ill cats than healthy ones, when in fact, there are very many more healthy FIV cats than ill ones - they just don't need to see the vet. Indeed, many pet cats will already be FIV positive, but their owners are unaware of it due to the cat being perfectly healthy!

My cats live a feral lifestyle a lot of the time, but I see the male daily, and would take him to the vet for any medical problems, as I have before. The female has pretty much left the household since Smokey (female who I suspect has been spayed) joined us.  I believe she has returned to the feral colony, so hysterectomy is the better choice for her. Hysterectomised females 'waste' intact males' time and effort, so they mate with fewer fertile females and father fewer kittens.

I found no info at all on Feline Leukaemia in my area.

I don't really think your feeling comfortable should come into a rational choice.  I'm trying to find out what's objectively best and do that.

 

[Willowy]

Feline leukemia would be my biggest concern. It's much more virulent than FIV and kills them faster. And the vaccine isn't as effective as some. Plus I've seen females get badly injured in the mating process, so it's just not something I'd choose for a female.

There are other STDs too. I have never really looked into it, because I don't deal with intact cats, but I know there are a lot of things breeders have to look out for.

 

[talkingpeanut]

Can you be more specific about what health risks of interacting with strays you're talking about? The ones that I know of are FIV, leukemia, and rabies.  I have no good study-based information on the rates of these diseases in my area, local cat charities practising TNR do not have this information (surprisingly), but I might ask some vets and see if they have a better idea.
But for rabies, according to Wikipedia, There have been no indigenous cases reported since 1903. In 2009, four people received rabies vaccination therapy after being bitten by an imported kitten, although subsequent examination of the kitten yielded a negative result for rabies.
For FIV, according to catchat, A fourteen year study by Maureen Hutchison B.Sc, BVMS, MRCVS (veterinary adviser to the Cat Action Trust) found that FIV-positive cats are more likely to die by being killed in road accidents or to be alive and well into their twilight years than they are to die from any FIV related condition. FIV in the stray cat population has certainly fuelled much of the unfounded fear surrounding the virus. It is mainly un-neutered toms, fighting over food, females or territory, who pick up and spread the virus. The stray cat has no-one to look after them, and their lifestyle means they are more likely to pick up other infections, which without treatment can escalate. When one of these gets captured and taken to a vet, suffering from any number of secondary infections, it is often too late. It is the nature of a vet's work, that they will see many more ill cats than healthy ones, when in fact, there are very many more healthy FIV cats than ill ones - they just don't need to see the vet. Indeed, many pet cats will already be FIV positive, but their owners are unaware of it due to the cat being perfectly healthy!
My cats live a feral lifestyle a lot of the time, but I see the male daily, and would take him to the vet for any medical problems, as I have before. The female has pretty much left the household since Smokey (female who I suspect has been spayed) joined us.  I believe she has returned to the feral colony, so hysterectomy is the better choice for her. Hysterectomised females 'waste' intact males' time and effort, so they mate with fewer fertile females and father fewer kittens.
I found no info at all on Feline Leukaemia in my area.
I don't really think your feeling comfortable should come into a rational choice.  I'm trying to find out what's objectively best and do that.

I guess what I'm getting at is that I think this is still a quality of life issue. Even though it's wonderful that you are preventing more unwanted kittens from being born, your cat is still going through aggressive mating with feral tomcats. Your male will still fight other intact males.