Castration: Should I consider having my cat spayed?

[Mental Gridlock]

Is it considered cruel to spay a cat?

This morning my cat started acting completely differently then she normally does. She will not stop whining. She digs into the carpet with her claws and pulls herself forward to brush herself on the carpet, then does this in circles all around the living room. When I pet her she sticks her butt into the air. I think she's in heat.

She has never been to the vet before and she is about 2 years old. I'm afraid that it would be cruel or painful to the cat to have her fixed. She's an indoor cat so I don't think she will be impregnated.

 

[Moonbear]

Why would it be cruel? In addition to preventing the risk of her getting loose and getting pregnant (if she's in heat, watch her very carefully that she doesn't escape...if there's a male anywhere nearby, she'll try), it prevents them from getting uterine or ovarian cancer. Spayed pets also have a longer lifespan than unspayed pets (true for both cats and dogs).

Why has she not been to a vet before? She should be vaccinated, checked for worms, and given an overall checkup at least once a year. Take her to a vet. You can discuss with the vet in more depth the risks vs benefits of spaying when you bring her in for her shots.

 

[Jeff Ford]

Spaying is not at all cruel. Declawing is another matter, but there's nothing wrong with spaying. I also agree with Moonbear, you should take her to the vet, then probably start keeping up with yearly checkups.

 

[Astronuc]

If you are not planning to allow the cat to have kittens, spaying would be better for her as mentioned by Moonbear. We had our females spayed and males neutered. All of our cats were strays, and we do not need to add to the population of cats and dogs, since there are so many unwanted or abandoned pets, and many in urban areas are 'destroyed' if no one adopts them.

 

[heartless]

A lttile offtopic but,
How would you feel If I remove your testes?
Animals were designed to reproduce so I think you shouldn't disallow them to do that, just watch out if you really don't want her to have any kittens, but don't try to cause pain to animals. They also feel.

 

[scott1]

I think in some states you don't have to.
You should look your states laws about spaying requirments.

 

[Evo]

Heartless, the animals are given anesthesia, they don't suffer. I live in a country setting and there is a large feral cat population here. For some reason, people think that this is the place to dump their unwanted pets. I can't tell you how many cats I have taken to the local humane society to have spayed and neutered and then released. They have a special price for people, like me, that will take the time to bring these animals in. They are willing to work with feral cats, which is pretty brave. I just have to lure them into the cat carrier. They have to get the cat out of the carrier. I really admire these vets that volunteer their time for this.

 

[Pengwuino]

This is Bob Barker for the price is right, remember to have your pets spayed or neutered

 

[Mental Gridlock]

I thought that since de-clawing is cruel, doing this might also be cruel, but I guess not.

This cat I just got about a month ago; it was a needy cat who had nowhere to live so I took her in. And only a couple weeks ago actually she came out of hiding. Now we are the best of friends, but her behavior today certainly is abnormal.

One more question I though of since I just got this cat as an adult, will they still want to give her all the vaccinations that they give to kittie's? She should still get all those shots, right. There's no window of opportunity or anything that was missed right?

 

[Evo]

I thought that since de-clawing is cruel, doing this might also be cruel, but I guess not.

This cat I just got about a month ago; it was a needy cat who had nowhere to live so I took her in. And only a couple weeks ago actually she came out of hiding. Now we are the best of friends, but her behavior today certainly is abnormal.

One more question I though of since I just got this cat as an adult, will they still want to give her all the vaccinations that they give to kittie's? She should still get all those shots, right. There's no window of opportunity or anything that was missed right?

That's great that you took her in! You are correct that her behavior is from her being in heat.

The vet will most likely insist she get the required vaccinations. It's never too late to get her up to date.

 

[Mental Gridlock]

Thank you! I will set up an appointment first thing Monday morning.

I am so happy I took this cat in. I wish breeders would stop making so many new puppies and kitties for the yuppies who want to buy them for $500.00 a piece, when there are so many perfectly good animals who get destroyed because they cannot find a home. It's really sad.

 

[hypatia]

My cats are fixed, both males...and both happy and healthy.

 

[GeorginaS]

Always, always get your animals fixed if you don't have them for breeding purposes. It doesn't affect their personalities, they live longer, it doesn't hurt them. Well, okay, any surgery isn't a walk in the park. But cats, female cats. recover from that surgery with amazing speed. The clinics treat them well, it's an in-and-out one day thing. Far, far better than putting up with monthly heat and the chances of them escaping outdoors. Not only do you then have to worry about pregnancy, then you have to worry about them contracting FIV, and any number of fatal diseases. No. Treat them well. Take them to the vet. Get them fixes.

 

[Monique]

I don't agree that is doesn't change their personalities: some animals get fixed because of their personalities.

 

[Mk]

OMG DO NOT EVER try and perform unsedated live amputation on your cat! It is EXTREMELY CRUEL!

 

[Moonbear]

I don't agree that is doesn't change their personalities: some animals get fixed because of their personalities.

True, eliminating the source of those reproductive hormones can help eliminate a lot of the negative behaviors (negative in terms of being a good pet, like howling or marking). However, when an animal is spayed or neutered when older, particularly in the case of neutering males that are already showing those adult behaviors, removing the source of testosterone is not always effective at stopping the behavior. They really should be neutered while young, before they develop those adult behaviors that are not very endearing to their owners (like spraying).

OMG DO NOT EVER try and perform unsedated live amputation on your cat! It is EXTREMELY CRUEL!

Huh? What?! You're just talking absolute nonsense there. Nothing is performed unsedated...and, actually, not even with just sedation, but with full anesthesia! The standard procedure also involves giving an analgesic while the animal is under anesthesia so that the analgesic is already effective as soon as the animal starts waking up.

 

[Math Is Hard]

I wish I had firmer statistics on this, but the low numbers say that about 3-4 million unwanted cats and dogs are euthanized in shelters each year. The high numbers say it's around 15 million. I urge any pet owner reading this who might have reservations about spaying/neutering their animal to please consider this.

More pet overpulation statistics:
http://www.hsus.org/pets/issues_affecting_our_pets/pet_overpopulation_and_ownership_statistics/hsus_pet_overpopulation_estimates.html

Myths and facts about spaying and neutering:
http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/myths_and_facts_about_spaying_and_neutering.html

 

[Monique]

Huh? What?! You're just talking absolute nonsense there. Nothing is performed unsedated...and, actually, not even with just sedation, but with full anesthesia!

For pets maybe, but do you know how they neuter male piglets? They hang them upside down and amputate their testes, unsedated, they put on some medication to stop the wound from infecting and let them run loose again. Maybe things are done differently in the US, but here in the Netherlands that is how things are done: it costs too much money to anesthesize them and it takes too much time. They could just not neuter them, but then the meat becomes less tender and the male pigs become harder to handle. A good reason to stop eating pork.Ah, here it is written out exactly as I just said: http://www.swabe.org/ast.htm

In spite of the EC directive and the support of the Dutch government for its abolition, the castration of pigs in the traditional manner continues unabated. The procedure is performed entirely without anaesthetic. The piglets are held up in the air by their hind legs and the scrotum is sliced open to expose the testicles which are then pulled out and swiftly removed using a scalpel. Still held upside down, a diluted iodine solution is splashed on their behinds to sterilize the wound. If one is witness to piglet castration, it is clear from the animals' deafening screams that it causes them great distress and pain - it has been established that this pain can continue for around five days after the actual castration has occurred (De Waal 1987: 82).

 

[Monique]

So I was actually curious to know whether pigs in the US are anesthetized during castration.

 

[daveb]

So I was actually curious to know whether pigs in the US are anesthetized during castration.

If they are pets I imagine the answer is yes. However, feed animals are generally not protected by many of the laws against animal cruelty that apply to non-feed animals.

 

[Math Is Hard]

So I was actually curious to know whether pigs in the US are anesthetized during castration.

From what I have read, unanesthetized castration is pretty much routine procedure here in hog-farming.

There was a story on the news related to this subject that I heard not to long ago. Take a look at this:
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/13932676.htm

A teacher who castrated a live pig in front of her high school class is the target of protests by animal rights activists throughout the country.

Charles Parker, assistant state Future Farmers of America adviser at the California Department of Education, said anesthesia is not normally used during pig castrations, which are done to calm male animals, prevent them from breeding and improve meat quality.

I apologize for veering off-topic, but I thought Monique might want to see this article.

 

[DaveC426913]

A lttile offtopic but,
How would you feel If I remove your testes?
Animals were designed to reproduce so I think you shouldn't disallow them to do that, just watch out if you really don't want her to have any kittens, but don't try to cause pain to animals. They also feel.

Yes well... animals were also originally designed to make a living on their own without the virtual complete care from birth to death by human civilization.

But that simply isn't the case anymore, now is it?

Adopting whole species as pets, and then only doing a half-assed job of looking after their well-being is irresponsible and naive.

 

[Moonbear]

So I was actually curious to know whether pigs in the US are anesthetized during castration.

Yeah, I had to look into that myself. I know more about sheep and cattle than pig farming. It seems the standard in the US is to permit it to be done without anesthesia if the piglets are younger than 7 days old, but anesthesia is required if they are older than that. Non-surgical methods are recommended though, such as banding.

 

[Averagesupernova]

I've personally castrated pigs before. They were a fair bit older than 7 days. The preferred method to cut a pig is to get it on its side with feet pointing away from you. One knee is on the rump and the other on the neck. Your hands hold the top front and back legs together. The feet against the floor/bench are just loose. The other person does the actual cutting. Slice - Slice and they pop out. Grab them and pull out. NO cutting is done from this point on. The cords break fairly easily. The reason the preferred method is on the side is so that if there is a rupture in flesh, technically called a hernia of some sort, it will be noticeable immediately. When a pig is held up-side-down and cut a rupture can go unnoticed.

Monique, you may want to stop eating meat entirely because ALL castration is done without anesthesia for feed animals.

 

[Math Is Hard]

This is why I had cous-cous for my Easter dinner.

 

[Monique]

Monique, you may want to stop eating meat entirely because ALL castration is done without anesthesia for feed animals.

I've stopped eating meat a few years ago. Exactly what other feed animals are routinely castrated? I thought it was an issue mainly with pigs.

 

[Moonbear]

I've stopped eating meat a few years ago. Exactly what other feed animals are routinely castrated? I thought it was an issue mainly with pigs.

Most males are castrated if they're being used for feed. Only the breeding stock would be kept intact. Steer are castrated cattle; you'd be nuts to have a bunch of intact bulls running around a farm - just a few for breeding is enough of a handful, and many farms just bring in bulls to breed their cows or use artificial insemination so that only those who are equipped to handle the bulls are doing so.

For cattle and sheep, I know they pretty routinely use the banding method because it's quick and doesn't require the experience that surgical methods require, and there's less risk of any infection.