Castration of a cat is carried out so that after puberty it does not shit or mark in the house. Such an operation becomes the key to the mental and physiological health of the animal.
If you suppress natural hormones with drugs, you can harm your pet. He may develop inflammatory processes, chronic diseases and tumors.
Many owners are interested in the question of how to castrate a cat at home. To do this, it is advisable to invite a veterinarian to your home and prepare a site for surgical intervention.
Where is it better to perform castration - at home or in a clinic?
If there is a need to sterilize or castrate your animal, then you need to decide where such an operation will be carried out. Carrying out the procedure at home has many advantages: there is no need to take the cat to the clinic, the animal will feel better in familiar conditions, etc.
Keeping and caring for a cat at home after surgery is also much easier.
According to comments from veterinarians, a veterinary clinic can promptly help a pet if something goes wrong during castration. During surgery, additional medications are sometimes required to bring the cat out of anesthesia. In addition, the hospital has created all the necessary conditions to prepare the animal for such a procedure and carry it out.
But the disadvantages of castration in the clinic include the fact that the cat must first be brought in and then taken home.
At what age are cats castrated?
In European countries and the USA, early castration is practiced at the age of 3 months. The main goal of such propaganda is to reduce the number of stray animals. And also for sale from nurseries of pet-class kittens, i.e. pets. In Russia, a number of nurseries also begin to spay and neuter kittens at 3-4 months. Thus, the breeder is confident that the new owner will not breed a cat that is not intended for breeding for medical or other reasons.
However, most veterinarians are against early castration (before 6 months). The fact is that at 4-6 months (depending on the breed) puberty begins. Males produce testosterone, the main sex hormone. Testosterone affects muscle growth, bone development, and the nervous system. It has a stimulating effect on protein synthesis in the liver, kidneys, and heart muscle. Physiological maturity occurs later - from 8 months to a year. At this time, the baby is growing, organs and skeleton are finally formed.
Consequences of early castration
There are good reasons why you shouldn't neuter a kitten younger than 6 months.
Castration of males, unlike sterilization of females, is a simpler operation, since it is not abdominal. But the risks associated with anesthesia are great. The difficulty is how to properly administer anesthesia to a three-month-old baby.
Advantages and disadvantages of castration at home
Many owners prefer to call a veterinarian to their home so as not to suffer from the hassle of transporting a neutered kitten, male cat, or sterilized cat. Other advantages of performing surgery at home include:
- the pet is calmer in familiar conditions;
- The price of such a procedure at home is lower than in a clinic.
The disadvantages of castration at home include:
- complications may arise during the operation, and the necessary instruments and drugs will not be at hand;
- Some cats may require additional examination before surgery or after manipulation.
The effect of castration on cat health
The animal’s behavior is not the best: restlessness, screaming, marking territory and much more, brings discomfort. Having decided to castrate his pet, a loving owner will worry about his future health. Here we will try to dot all the i’s.
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Since there has already been an impact on the animal’s gonads or their complete removal, this leads to loss of reproductive function. Be calm about your pet, because in the future this will not entail absolutely any problems for him.
After castration, the animal becomes:
- Obedient
- Balanced
- Not aggressive
Your cat will not be tormented by the desire to get closer to the cat, and for you his desire will not become a headache. Castration is the best way out of this situation.
How is castration of cats done at home?
Castration is a simple operation, but should only be performed by an experienced veterinarian. He brings all the instruments needed for surgery with him and disinfects them on the spot.
The operation begins with the administration of anesthesia. Most often, the drug is injected into a muscle or vein. When the cat falls asleep, the doctor shaves the hair on the scrotum and treats the surgical field with an antiseptic solution (5% alcohol solution of iodine, 70% alcohol, etc.). Then the skin of the scrotum is cut with a scalpel and the testes are surgically removed.
The operation lasts 30-40 minutes.
After its completion, the incision sites are treated with antiseptic powder. The doctor does not apply sutures to ensure the drainage of inflammatory exudate. After 2-3 days, the wound is covered with a scab and completely heals after a week.
Pros and cons of castration
As a rule, castration of a young cat allows the animal's owners to get rid of the following troubles:
- There is an unpleasant smell, because a neutered cat does not mark its territory.
- The animal does not experience spring surges of hormones: it does not scream, does not ask to see the cat, etc.
- The animal becomes non-aggressive.
- Statistics show that castrated cats live 1.2-2 years longer than non-castrated cats.
Attention! Castration helps prevent the development of diseases such as prostatitis and tumors that affect cats over 5 years of age.
Among the disadvantages of castration, one can highlight the danger associated with the administration of anesthesia. Also, the cat is deprived of its basic instinct, and the postoperative period is quite difficult. Inflammation of the sutures and bleeding may also occur, and tests will have to be taken before surgery. During anesthesia and surgery, the cat must be absolutely healthy.
After castration, having lost their male instinct, cats begin to eat a lot and gain weight. The weight of a castrated cat sometimes reaches 12 kg, so veterinarians recommend feeding your pet with special canned food marked “for castrated cats.” There should be no restrictions on drinking, otherwise the likelihood of developing urolithiasis increases several times.
Young cats most often tolerate surgery well.
About proper preparation of the room
Before calling a doctor to your home, the room must be prepared. Other pets should be given to someone else for a while. Children and other family members should not be present at home on this day.
It is necessary to remove carpets from the room, carry out wet cleaning, ventilate and provide high-quality lighting. A bedding should be laid on the floor, onto which the cat will then be transferred after surgery.
Measure seven times: for or against?
The veterinary community worldwide recommends sterilization for all non-breeding domestic animals (male and female).
If the cat is not a super champion of a rare breed, castration will help the owner emerge victorious from the battle with the vagaries of nature: the pet will become much calmer and friendlier, will stay at home more often, cats in heat will no longer be interesting to him, and property will not suffer from marks and scratches.
And this is not the only case when it is better to castrate a cat. There are clear indications and absolute contraindications for sterilization.
The effect of the operation will also depend on the age chosen by the surgeon for castration of the cat. If the cat is an adult, then some sexual behavior will not disappear on its own.
Sex hormones are produced mainly in the testes, and, according to as yet unverified data, in small quantities in other glands. Therefore, removal of the testicles (testicles) makes it possible to almost completely block sexual behavior.
NOTE! If the cat has already begun to mark, after castration his urine will become less saturated with pheromones, but the marks themselves may remain.
Not for the sake of whim - for health
Since the operation affects the holy of holies of the male individual, doubts may arise whether to castrate the cat or not.
There are cases when surgery is inevitable, no matter how much the male half of the family and the pet itself resist it, no matter how significant the opinion of religion.
To preserve the life and health of your beloved cat, you will have to negotiate with your doctor about castration and sacrifice the cat’s right to reproduce.
Something else interesting: How and what to feed a cat after sterilization
The reason for such a sacrifice may be:
- Congenital pathologies and disorders associated with the number of chromosomes (normally, a cat has 19). Most often we are talking about different forms of hermaphroditism (a combination of characteristics of both sexes in one organism);
- Cryptorchidism is the underdevelopment or absence of one or both testes. Avoiding surgery can lead to the degeneration of underdeveloped tissue into a tumor or the development of an inflammatory process;
- Serious injuries and consequences of acquired diseases that are incompatible with the normal sexual function of the male. Failure to occur or pain will cause more suffering to the cat than surgery;
- Endocrine and behavioral disorders that require correction of testosterone levels or lead to sexual dysfunction in cats. In both cases, surgery is indicated.
Contraindications for surgery
If the cat does not mark, behaves quietly, and does not get into fights over cats, then he does not need any surgical intervention.
The operation is contraindicated if:
- The cat is old, has serious problems with the heart, nervous system or kidneys;
- The pet is over 3 years old, healthy, but does not exhibit problem behavior due to the lack of any contact with relatives and the outside world;
- The cat's body is weakened by infection, exhaustion or other reasons. This is a case when it is impossible to castrate a cat temporarily.
Optimal time
To avoid male marking and territorial behavior, the kitten can be neutered as soon as both testes have descended into the scrotum and are accessible to the surgeon.
This happens no earlier than 4 months, but no later than 1 year and often close to the autumn-spring rut.
Your doctor will help you determine at what age your pet will be ready for surgery.
BY THE WAY! Clinics quite often organize discount promotions for castration, especially at the end of winter. Before the period of March songs under the windows.
Since the tolerance to anesthesia and muscle relaxants is different for all cats, it is better to entrust both the choice of method and the selection of drugs according to age to a professional.
How to properly prepare a cat for the procedure?
A cat can be castrated from 7 months of age. During this period, the animal reaches puberty, but the body is not yet fully formed.
The optimal age for such an operation is 1 year.
Before subjecting your pet to this procedure, it must be taken to a veterinary clinic for examination and testing.
10 days before the operation, the cat is treated against worms, and 2-3 days - against ticks, fleas and other parasites. After this, wash it using special detergents for animals. 10 hours before surgery, the pet is not fed and is allowed to drink only a small amount of water.
The cat must be vaccinated. Vaccination protects him from many dangerous infectious diseases and prevents the development of complications after surgery.
Rules of care
After castration, the rehabilitation period lasts for 48 hours, and owners must follow these tips:
- During the day after surgery and 12 hours before it, the animal should not be fed. After anesthesia, the animal may vomit, the cat refuses food or water. In this case, the kitten will have to be fed from a pipette or syringe, giving it liquid food in small quantities on the second day after castration.
It is better to carry out the operation at home, so it will be easier for the pet to bear the stress
- In the next 8-10 hours after waking up from anesthesia, the cat may behave strangely, try to run away or crawl into a remote corner of the house. Owners must keep an eye on the animal, otherwise it may hide and suffer from exhaustion, festering stitches, etc.
- The cat is placed in a visible place, with an absorbent diaper placed under it: after the operation, uncontrolled work of the bladder and intestines is possible.
Advice! You should not place the operated cat on high sofas or beds so that he does not fall. The fact is that for another 48 hours the animal has poor coordination of movements.
To summarize, it is worth saying that veterinarians approve of castration at the early recommended age. Neutering helps reduce a kitten's aggressiveness, hormonal surges, and desire to mark everything and everywhere. The cat will also live several years longer, delighting its owners. If the animal is young and healthy, then there are no contraindications for castration. Castration at an older age is carried out if the importance of such an operation justifies the risks.
Why castrate an adult cat?
An adult non-neutered cat can “get” everyone in the household with its behavior
A non-castrated adult cat, having already experienced the joys of intimate life, will not give peace to anyone in the house, demanding a cat. Read more in the material: “Why cats are neutered: pros and cons, reviews from owners.”
He will leave terrible smelling marks everywhere, tear up furniture, show aggression towards his owners and strive to be free with all his might, and will not calm down until he gets his way - and after a short time everything will repeat itself.
What is special about castration of an adult cat?
During an operation to castrate an adult cat
Castration of an adult cat is no different from castration of a kitten under one year old: the testicles are removed in the same way through a small incision in the scrotum.
But many owners of adult cats decide with great caution to visit a veterinarian about this. Firstly, it seems to them that they are inflicting indelible moral trauma on their pet, depriving it of the opportunity to reproduce. Secondly, it is believed that the age limit for castration of an adult cat is 7 years .
However, in practice, veterinarians often castrate animals over 7 years of age and perform other, more complex operations on them, and mostly everything goes well. And attributing moral torment to cats has no basis.
Castration of cats over 7 years of age is sometimes prescribed for medical reasons: tumors, prostatitis, hormonal disorders, serious trauma to the genital organs.
Bengal seven year old cat. He gave excellent offspring, but according to doctors, he had to be castrated.
Older stud cats who have already made their contribution to the breed and are no longer involved in matings are also castrated. It is better to make such a decision together with the club management and a veterinarian you know.
Experience of mass castration and sterilization of stray animals
Volunteer practice in many cities shows that there should be no serious consequences after castration.
After all, it is mainly adult, sexually mature animals that are castrated, limiting the increase in the street population. Many veterinarians associated with volunteers primarily engage in castration and sterilization, as they say, on-line. All cats and cats operated by them successfully recover from anesthesia and either return to their usual environment or are sent to foster care with subsequent placement.
