At what age can a cat be castrated: recommendations from veterinarians

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

They say if you want to be happy, get a cat. And for the owners of these pets, this statement is as true as the fact that the earth revolves around the sun, and all the “near-cat” chores are only a joy. One of these problems, around which controversy does not subside, is the castration of an adored pet.

Reason for castration

At what age can a cat be castrated? This question is asked by all owners without exception sooner or later. There can be many reasons for committing "atrocity". In contrast to the opponents of castration, there is an authoritative opinion of zoopsychologists who believe that this procedure is necessary not only to maintain the physical, but also the psychological he alth of the cat.

Considering the psychological side of the issue, we can note the constant occurrence of stressful situations in a cat's life associated with the instinct of reproduction. Cats spend most of their time defendingterritory, which they consider their own and in which there are cats belonging to the winner. And if suddenly the battle is lost, isn't that a reason to get depressed?

In addition, physical he alth also suffers here. Cat fights can be quite brutal with serious damage through which a beloved pet can also get infectious diseases, and there is also a danger of picking up parasites.

But even if the adored Vaska or Murzik is the eternal winner, and as a winner gets the right to mate with any cats, then here too many troubles lie in wait for him, consisting in sexual infections, which are easily transmitted from sick cats along with fleas and ticks. But the main problem is, of course, the birth of a huge number of useless kittens who are doomed to death from hunger, cold, dogs and infections.

If the pet is excommunicated from walking in the yard and never leaves the apartment, then the instinct of reproduction with such a cat can play a cruel joke. Not being able to mate, the cat accumulates irritation, splashing it out on the master's furniture, doors, jambs, wallpaper, curtains. The instinct makes him mark everything that catches his eye, thus calling for a cat for mating and infuriating the owner.

Yesterday's affectionate kitten, reaching puberty, turns into a wild, irritated beast that strives to bite and scratch its benefactor, for which, at best, gets a slipper on whatever it takes. And this, again, leads to misunderstanding and stress on both sides.

Positive aspects of castration

After everything is already done, and the strongest of instincts is pacified, the cat changes dramatically in character and habits. His hormones are stabilizing, and cats are no longer interested in the pet as before.

From here, as a result, the aggressiveness acquired from chronic dissatisfaction disappears. The cat gets rid of the feeling of fear of the owner, who now and then scolded him for tricks. And the eerie smell of cat's marks that has disappeared makes the owner feel complacency and love.

Besides, the cat never ceases to pay attention to cats. In a cattery environment, this is certainly a great way out, when a sterilized cat brings cats out of a critical condition without fertilizing them.

The opinion that neutered pets live less is also erroneous. On the contrary, the life of a cat, devoid of constant tension and stress, is significantly lengthened, and this statement is supported by statistics.

There are many opinions about up to what age domestic cats can be castrated. And a little later, the most common of them will be considered.

Castration Methods

And now about castration methods, of which there are several. In Russia, the most common and cheapest method of sterilization is surgical castration, where the gonads are excised using a scalpel and anesthesia.

However, in addition to the classicmethod, there are several others that do not involve surgical intervention, which means that the negative consequences of such sterilizations will be minimized.

1. The classic method of surgery.
2. Medical castration. With this method, an implant is sewn under the skin of the animal, which slowly releases special substances into the cat's body that suppress sexual function. This procedure is not cheap, but it is absolutely safe for cat he alth.
3. Chemical castration. This method consists in the fact that certain chemical compounds are introduced into the testes that kill the glandular tissue of the testes. Dead tissue is replaced by connective tissue over time. This method is very inexpensive. But for some reason, in Russia, this simple technique, unfortunately, is almost never used.
4. Castration with radiation exposure. In this method, the testicles are placed under directed gamma rays. The method is very simple and convenient. However, it is little used, due to the fact that not every veterinary clinic has equipment for this method. Besides, such an event is not cheap. But here any complications are practically excluded. The procedure is absolutely painless, so there is no need for any type of anesthesia.

The use of non-surgical methods of castration would be the best solution for older animals that are difficult to tolerate anesthesia and the postoperative period.

Optimal age for castration

About whatage, you can castrate a cat, veterinarians do not have an unequivocal opinion. But most of them agree that the ideal time to intervene would be between 6 months and a year. In this age interval, the influence of sex hormones on the cat's body has not yet gained strength, and the genitals are already sufficiently developed for surgical excision.

Most of all, young animals tolerate pain much more easily, so the veterinary surgeon can only apply local anesthesia for the operation.

The answer to the question of at what age cats are castrated may also depend on the physical condition of the cat's body. Sick and debilitated animals must first be cured before surgery can be applied.

The time of sterilization may also depend on belonging to a certain breed. For example, veterinarians, answering the question at what age can a British cat be castrated, give an unequivocal answer, which is much later than ordinary domestic cats, which is associated with the later physical development of representatives of this breed.

Early sterilization

Sometimes early sterilization is used for a period of two months. It is believed that at this age the regenerative abilities of the body are maximum and castration to the biological node will be appropriate. Here, the application of a ligature and a clamp is not used, and the knot is formed by the cord itself, which is formed by the vessels and vas deferens.

The opinion of Western veterinarians about theage, you can castrate a cat - at the earliest stages of development.

Due to the youth of the animal, the walls of the organs have sufficient softness, so this method is quite applicable, while minimizing the pain effect, the risk of internal bleeding and other complications. After the operation, the kitten returns to normal very quickly.

Early sterilization is often used in catteries when it is necessary to remove kittens from selection for various reasons. The disadvantage of castration in the early stages is that it can lead to a slow development of the animal's body, since the muscles develop faster if there is a sufficient level of sex hormones in the blood. But worse is that sometimes there can be pathologies of muscle tissues, problems with joints and heart.

Late sterilization

It often happens that a cat gets into the family as an adult. And the owners have a number of natural questions. At what age can a cat be castrated at a later age? How will this affect the he alth of the animal? Up to what age can a regular cat and a purebred be castrated?

To late sterilization include all cases after the animal reaches the age of two. The positive aspects of castration at such a time can only be attributed to the convenience of the operation itself for the surgeon, because "everything is visible." There are, of course, cases when such intervention is necessary for medical reasons. For example, oncological disease of the genitourinary organs.

Negative Consequenceslate castration

If we talk about late castration, then there are, of course, a lot of negative points:

1. An organism that has reached adulthood has already developed under the influence of sex hormones. Therefore, castration may not rid the owners of the bad habits of the cat (tags, damage to furniture, etc.), which are already quite entrenched.
2. Later-term neutering will not eliminate the risk of cancer.
3. The rigidity of adult tissues complicates the operation. Hence, there may be complications in the form of bleeding when the knot is relaxed after ligation.
4. The age-related decrease in metabolic rate will worsen after castration, as the activity of the cat will fall even more, which will inevitably lead to obesity (the activity of castrates drops by 25%).
5. Late sterilization increases the risk of kidney stones.
6. The use of general anesthesia is poorly tolerated by older animals. Local anesthesia is often not possible due to the risk of pain shock. With age, the pain threshold decreases markedly.
7. The postoperative period is more difficult to tolerate with age. Recovery is much slower than in a young animal and there are more complications.

So, from the foregoing, we can conclude that the danger of late castration far exceeds the disadvantages of early. Therefore, it is better to attend to the sterilization of the pet in time.

Features of castration of cats of different breeds

Sometimes there is a slight difference in the age at which you can castrate a yard cat and a thoroughbred. Belonging to a certain breed amends the approach to the sterilization of the animal.

If we talk about the age at which a Scottish cat can be castrated, one drawback of the breed must be taken into account. This is the jaw twist or misalignment that some kittens are born with. Such animals are immediately removed from selection by early castration.

About the age at which a British cat can be castrated, there is an opinion that not earlier than reaching a representative of this breed of eight months of age. This is due to the fact that the British have a later sexual development.

Persian cats are castrated even later - at the age of one for the same reason. Early sterilization can lead to complications and other bad consequences described above.

Maintenance of sterilized cats

The first thing the owner should take care of after the castration of the cat is the right diet. As mentioned earlier, the animal's mobility is significantly reduced, as are metabolic processes, so you need to buy special food for sterilized cats.

In such feeds, not only the content of minerals, in particular magnesium and phosphorus, is reduced, but also the overall nutritional level is much lower than in conventional feed, which will not allow the animal to gain excess weight and prevent the development of urolithiasis, to which neuters are more predisposed than normal cats.

When using natural feeding, it is necessary to give preference to beef without bones and fat, which before feedingpre-freeze for a day and finely chop, but not into minced meat; poultry meat is served to the cat in a boiled form, but without bones, skin and fat; boiled liver (beef and poultry), chicken gizzards, beef heart.

Castrates should not be given pork, lamb, dairy products, smoked meats, raw poultry, sweets, fish in any form due to the increased content of phosphorus and magnesium in it.

Water for neutered cats should always be in a bowl, and this must be strictly monitored. Especially if the animal eats dry food.

When keeping a neutered pet, it is necessary to take into account its passivity and make it move more through games and walks, preferably on a leash or under the supervision of the owner (a castrato devoid of aggression may not be able to stand up for himself in the conditions of the streets).

The life of a castrated cat in no way changes for the worse, it is not devoid of colors, but it becomes much calmer. And love, care and responsible attitude to the pet will make it of high quality and interesting.