The Health Benefits of Neutering or Spaying Your Cat

Neutering or spaying your cat is not only about overpopulation and reducing unwanted litters. Did you know it can also have an important impact on health and behavior? Here’s a list of just some of the benefits:

• It greatly reduces the chance of spray-marking in both males and females. Make no mistake about it — intact cats WILL spray.
• Reduced risk of cats escaping outdoors, driven by their urge to mate.

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• Cats allowed outdoors will be less likely to roam and fight.
• Roaming can lead to cats getting lost, hit by cars, or attacked by larger predators.
• There is a reduced chance of serious injury or abscesses from fighting between males competing for territory when looking for females.
• Risk of testicular cancer in males is eliminated and it reduces the chances of enlarged prostate.
• Females will not have to endure the painful and often violent mating process.

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• Spaying before the female’s first heat cycle safeguards her from developing ovarian and uterine cancer, as well as pyometra (uterine infection). It also greatly reduces the chances of developing breast cancer.
• In females, the unrelenting stress that repeated heat cycles puts on the body is eliminated.
• Reduced risk of contracting infectious diseases (such as FIV and FeLV) transmitted when cats bite during fights or when mating.
• Reduced chances of aggressive behavior toward family members and other pets in the home.
• Repeated yowling/calling behavior of females in heat is eliminated. This will also reduce the likelihood of intact males hanging outside of your house.
• Your cat’s behavior will not be driven by hormones.

Need More Information?

If you have questions or concerns about the surgery or anesthesia risks, talk with your cat’s veterinarian. Don’t wait until unwanted behavior from having an intact cat starts to be displayed. It’s recommended that cats be neutered or spayed by the age of five months. Your veterinarian will offer personalized guidance based on your cat’s health and circumstances.

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For more information on cat behavior and training, check out the books by Pam Johnson-Bennett. We’ve included links to Amazon for your convenience.