Five reasons to spay or neuter your cat

At Exclusively Cats Veterinary Hospital, we are often asked why people should spay or neuter their cats. Here are some of the reasons why it is a good idea:

1.      Population control

Every year 3-4 million unwanted pets are euthanized by various animal control organizations (nearly 10,000 every day). This equals about 70% of the cats that enter shelters each year. Even more are abandoned for various reasons – to the outdoors, in abandoned houses, or dropped alongside highways, Dumpsters, in

parking lots or worse.

It is currently estimated that about 25% of pets are un-spayed. That equates over 40 million un-spayed and un-neutered cats and dogs. Seventy million dogs and cats are born every day in the US – that’s nearly 50 born every minute³!

One female cat can produce an average of 2-3 litters per year and 1-8 kittens in each litter, usually an average of 4 kittens. That equates to 2-16 kittens yearly per female cat. Some estimated figure that a pair of intact, breeding cats can produce as many as 420,000 offspring in seven years². The Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) estimates more conservatively at 32,768 kittens after 7 years, but then points out that cats are living longer, healthier lives, so could conceivably reproduce for longer, producing up to 2,097,152 offspring in 10 years. 

2.      Health

Spayed and neutered cats tend to be healthier. While there is a slight risk for weight gain following ovariohysterectomy (spay) and orchidectomy (neuter) surgeries, monitoring your cat’s diet and weight closely can help prevent this. 

Conversely, the health benefits of spaying and neutering a cat are vast. For females, the risk of cancer is decreased by 25% overall¹. If spayed before the first heat cycle, the risk decreases even more – to virtually nothing. These cancers are fatal 90% of the time in cats. In addition, spayed females have a decreased risk

Mammary Cyst in un-spayed 11 year old cat

for urinary tract infections and hormonal changes. Spaying also completely eliminates the risk of potentially fatal uterine infections (pyometra) or other complications of the uterus (read Debbie’s Story).

Male cats that are neutered tend to live 40% longer than un-neutered males.

Many people think that they must wait until 6 months of age or until their cat has had one heat cycle before having a spay surgery performed, however that is not entirely true. Younger kittens tend to bounce back more quickly and with advancements in surgical techniques, anesthesia protocols and surgical protocols, it is just as safe at 3 months as it is at 6 months. 

3.      Prevent inappropriate urination and marking

Most people know that un-neutered males will spray very stinky smelling urine to mark their territory and ward off other males. However, what many people do not know is that females that are not spayed will also mark territory with urine. They will urinate in front of males in order to attract attention, or may urinate near doors and windows as a signal to outdoor cats or in frustration that they cannot escape outside to find a mate. More information about inappropriate elimination behavior can be found in our blog article Feline Inappropriate Urination: Acting out all over the house!

4.      Prevent unwanted behaviors and side effects

Did you know that 70% of people that acquire animals end up giving them away, abandoning them or taking them to shelters? Of the 6 to 8 million pets a year that enter animal shelters, only about 10% have been spayed or neutered.³

Some of the reasons that un-altered pets are turned over to shelters include behaviors that stem from the fact that they are not spayed or neutered. The single most pressing desire of an un-altered pet is the desire to find a mate. Un-neutered males and un-spayed females will try all the tricks in their books to escape out open doors and windows. If they already go outside, they may roam farther than normal. If trapped inside, they hay howl at night or become excessively moody, aggressive, needy or simply unpredictable. Often, un-neutered males have rough, thin or otherwise poor hair coats and develop a sticky “goo” at the base of their tail called “stud tail”. Un-neutered males tend to be more aggressive and develop very odorous urine.

5.      Overall happiness – for all!

Spayed and neutered cats are more relaxed, less-single-mindedly interested in trying to get outside or frustrated at being trapped inside. Altered pets are less unpredictable, calmer and more social. They tend to get along with other pets better, too! As an added benefit, happy pets make for happy pet parents!

The cost of spaying or neutering a pet is far less than the cost of dealing with the complications of pregnancy or the cost of raising and caring for a litter of kittens. It is also far less than the cost of treating uterine infections, mammary cancer, or the cleanup involved after your cat has sprayed around the house. Never mind the frustration!

1.Data on file at IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. Westbrook, Maine USA.
2.Top 10 Reasons to Spay or Neuter Your Pets. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals website. http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/spayneuter/spay-neuter-top-ten.aspx Accessed March 25, 2013.
3. Oxford-Lafayette Humane Society http://www.oxfordpets.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61
4. Floyd, Lynya, 5 Ways to Add Years to Your Pet’s Life, http://www.familycircle.com/family-fun/pets/ways-to-add-years-to-your-pets-life/

What is a pyometra?

Zjayla

Meet Zjayla, a 4 year old female who visited the emergency room after three days of eating poorly and hiding. She started vomiting earlier in the day and her owners became concerned. She was mildly dehydrated and had a mild fever. At the ER, the doctor noted that she had a large amount of pus coming from her vulva. Without any further diagnostics, the doctor was able to tell the owners that Zjayla had a dangerous infection in her uterus called a "pyometra". She needed emergency surgery in order to save her life.

Zjayla arrived at Exclusively Cats Veterinary Hospital as a transfer patient for surgery. She had been given some fluids to rehydrate her and an antibiotic to start treatment for the infection. Once at our hospital, she had an IV catheter placed and after some pre-surgical bloodwork, she was prepped for surgery.

Patients with this type of infection can be very fragile and unstable. One of the reasons that we recommend spaying cats is that we hope that the spay surgery can be performed when the cat is young and healthy so that the surgery is safer, the incision smaller and the recovery quicker. While Zjayla was under anesthesia, her blood pressure dropped dramatically, despite the presurgical medications given to help stabilize her, and a healthy dose of pain medications. We had to quickly administer additional supportive fluids to help support

The bacteria growing on this culture plate are from Zjayla's infection

her blood pressure. Fortunately, she responded well to the additional medication and her blood pressure returned to normal. The rest of her surgery was fairly "routine" for an emergency surgery. Dr. Bailey carefully removed the infected uterus, making sure that no pus or bacteria entered the abdomen, and closed the incision. Because she was older, and because of the complicated surgery, Zjayla's incision was larger than it would have been if she was just being spayed. This cute little girl recovered well from surgery and was able to go home the next day. We did have to administer a tube feeding of a high calorie diet by placing her under anesthesia for a short period, placing a tube down her esophagus into her stomach and squirting a small meal into her stomach. She had not eaten in over 4 days, and needed the nutrition to kick-start her recovery. She went home with some strong antibiotics and recovered quickly.

Her owners felt terrible. They thought that since she was such a shy cat, they were saving her from being traumatized by not bringing her in to a veterinary hospital have a spay surgery done. However, in the end, she was more traumatized by her serious illness and emergency surgery than she would have been by the spay surgery. Many people don't realize that a pyometra or serious uterine infection can be a consequence of having a female cat that is un-spayed and un-bred.

Incidentally, Zjayla had also been urinating around the house off and on for several years. This probably coincided with her heat cycles. It takes about 6 weeks after a spay surgery for the hormones to stop circulating in the body, so we will have to wait a little longer to see if this behavior resolves. At her appointment for her suture removal, her owners reported that she was doing great! She was active and happy and much more chatty than she had been in the past.  Fortunately for Zjayla, this story has a happy ending!

Case Report: Debbie - why it is recommended to spay your cat when she's young

**Note: Pictures of surgery below - Beware to the squeamish!**

Debbie, pre-surgery

Debbie is a 2 year old stray female who arrived at Elizabeth Lake Animal Rescue to look for a home. She appeared to be pregnant on November 5^th. She was active, friendly and had a good appetite. Pregnancy lasts about 63 days in a cat, and cats begin to show pregnancy at about 5 weeks along, so the decision was made to wait for the kittens. On December 2, concern arose that she was not yet showing signs of delivering the kittens, so she was brought to our hospital for an exam.

Pre-surgical radiograph

Usually, ultrasound can detect kittens after two weeks of pregnancy, and the heartbeat can be seen on ultrasound after day 24. Debbie’s X-ray showed no indication of fetal skeletons – only large fluid-filled areas that obscured normal anatomy. Ultrasound also showed no sign of kittens – just large chambers of fluid.

Post-surgical radiograph

Feline female reproductive anatomy

This situation can quickly become an emergency if the fluid in the uterus is contaminated with bacteria (called a pyometra), so Debbie was taken to surgery to spay her. Unlike a normal spay surgery patient, Debbie was considered to be a critical case – she had to be checked for systemic infection, changes to her kidney and liver function, or other signs of poor health. Outwardly, she seemed to feel well. Although Dr. Bailey anticipated the surgery would go well, we had to be ready for the patient to quickly change from stable to crash status due to her delicate condition. Emergency drugs were kept at the ready, but her blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen levels remained stable. Sometimes in these cases, the fluid in the uterus is just a clear fluid with no cells or infection, in which case the problem is called a “hydrometra”. In Debbie’s case, she had something called a “hydrometrocolpos” which is fluid built up in both the branching uterus and in the vaginal canal. Dr. Bailey had to remove more of her reproductive tract than usual, because her vaginal canal was swollen with fluid to the size of her bladder, and if it had been left intact, it would have filled up again and been at risk for infection, due to abnormal anatomy (probably a congenital defect).

Normally, a spay incision requires about 2-3 sutures because the uterus is very small. In Debbie’s case, her three-pound uterus was so large that her surgical incision ran the length of her belly.

Financially speaking, a spay surgery usually runs about $200 whereas the kind of intensive-care surgery that Debbie had usually runs $800-1500, depending on the length of surgery and the number of complications that arise.

On the left, Debbie's uterus. On the right, a normal uterus

After a normal spay surgery, a cat will generally be spry, and want to eat almost before she can stand. In Debbie’s case, she required hospitalization on IV fluids overnight, and was not interested in eating after surgery.

Fortunately, she did very well overnight and was able to be released from the hospital. She is doing well at the rescue group, Elizabeth Lake Animal Rescue, and once she has her sutures out, she will likely be ready to look for her forever home!