This is a great article on neutering and
explains my feelings about spay/neuter and responsible breeding very well. I have edited
the article due to length.
After the article I have included a list of veterinary
references for early spay/neuter. NOTE: This addition is by the site owner and not part of
the copyrighted article below.
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Note: "Moggy" , a term used frequently in this
article, is the UK term for a random-bred cat (alley-cat, mutt-cat, mongrel, etc.).
I am sure that readers involved in cat welfare are dismayed
at excuses for not neutering. This is a too-frequently encountered attitude which hinders
cat welfare work. The current overpopulation problem is already disgraceful and to add
further kittens to this situation is irresponsible.
Firstly, the bleak figures and facts well-known to
rescuers.
- More than 1000 healthy, friendly cats and kittens are
destroyed daily in Britain simply because they exceed the number of available homes.
A visit to a vet engaged in destroying a succession of such cats and kittens is a sobering
experience. In some areas, an estimated 80% of healthy kittens are destroyed.
- A single female can be responsible for 25,000
kittens in 5 years, 420,000 over 7 years. U.S. studies show that 36-60% of unneutered pet
cats stray within 3 years; often in search of mates or uncontested territory.
- Numerous people take on kittens because they feel
emotionally blackmailed by a friend's kittens "needing homes" then decide that
they do not want the responsibility of pet ownership. The majority of such kittens do not
end up in good, permanant homes.
- US shelter studies show that up to 50% of adopters either
failed to have cats neutered or allowed them to have a litter prior to neutering
(deliberately, accidentally or "for the children to see the miracle of birth")
despite neuter/spay contracts.
- Many refuse-to-neuter owners believe that cat
rescue groups will automatically take their unhomed kittens. Rescue groups are innundated
and there simply aren't enough spaces in shelters and foster homes to go round. Even when
owners insist they find good homes for the offspring there is a limit to the number of
family, friends and colleagues on whom kittens can be offloaded.
- Unneutered "naturally breeding" cats are
at greater risk of FeLV and FIV infection. Both are spread by bites including the mating
tom's neck grip bite which can break skin. Neutering reduces the likelihood of fighting
and eliminates mating, greatly reducing the risk of FeLV/FIV. There is no vaccine against
FIV. Far from ensuring the vigour of the species, natural breeding ensures that deadly
viruses become widespread.
- In addition to transmissible disease, unneutered females
are at an increased risk of cystic ovaries, pyometra, mammary tumours, calcium depletion
and may die during or as a result of kittening.
As regards the lack of "vilification" of pedigree breeders a pedigree breeder
makes her/himself accountable for each life s/he causes to happen. This does not just mean
finding homes for kittens - it includes extensive health care for kittens before homing,
guarenteeing their continuing health and freedom from genetic problems, a willingness to
accept back a kitten if the homing is unsuccessful and, when a deformed kitten is born,
making the decision to euthanize it. How many moggy breeders guarantee the same? How many
moggy offspring go to new homes vaccinated and with the guarantee of continued health?
Even when money changes hands for a moggy kitten, few moggy breeders take their
responsibilities as far as to replace a kitten if it develops hereditary problems.
Contrary to popular belief, pedigree breeders rarely make a profit, most barely cover
their own costs.
More to the point, a responsible professional breeder
insists on spay/neuter contracts or early neutering to ensure against proliferation of
possibly unwanted, unplaceable offspring. This is not to prevent the buyer from
"cutting in on the breeder's business", but is part of the accountability the
breeder feels towards the animals s/he has produced and a responsibility to the cat
population as a whole. Most pedigree breeders do not want the females they sell/home to
end up worn out through continued breeding, nor do they want the males to sire countless
litters, on any available female, regardless of the supply of homes for the offspring.
They also retire (i.e. spay) breeding queens well before continued reproduction poses a
health risk to the cat and similarly, studs are neutered and retired once they have
ensured a healthy new generation. Cats which have passed on deleterious genes are also
retired to ensure that the genes are spread no further - how many moggy breeders can claim
the same? In fact, how many moggy breeders are aware of (or even care about) the genetic
health of their own cats and the offspring even in a "controlled" breeding
program?
What of concerns that genetic health of the species
risks being damaged due to the growing number of "breed" type cats and pedigree
breeding continuing this trend? The domestic cat is not a species controlled by natural
selection. A big difference between responsible pedigree breeders and moggy breeders is
that the former "come clean" about health problems (which is why we hear so much
about them) while very few moggy breeders will say "there is a problem with
hereditary heart disease in Fluffy's offspring, will everyone please ensure that they do
not breed from any of his/her offspring?".
A controlled breeding program is one where the ancestry
and genetics of both parents are known and where those carrying serious hereditary
defects, even if they don't exhibit the defect themselves, are not bred. The efforts of
moggy breeders ensures that they are a renewable resource, easy to obtain and disposable
when a kitten loses its appeal. Many products of "controlled moggy breeding" end
up in animal shelters.
Some veterinary references on early spay/neuter.
- Aronsohn MG, Faggella AM. Surgical techniques for
neutering 6-to-14-week-old kittens. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Assoc Vol;
53-55, 1993.
- Chalifoux A, Niemi G, Fanjoy P, Pukay B. Early
spay-neutering of dogs and cats (letter). Canadian Veterinary Journal Vol 22; 381, 1981.
- Faggella AM, Aronsohn MG. Anesthetic techniques for
neutering 6-to-14-week-old kittens. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Assoc Vol;
56-62, 1993.
- Hosgood G. Anesthesia and surgical considerations in
Hoskins JD (ed) Veterinary Pediatrics - dogs and cats from birth to six months,
Philadelphia, WB Saunders Co., p. 561, 1995.
- Lieberman LL. Advantages of early spaying and neutering
(letter). Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Assoc Vol 181(5);420, 1982.
- Lieberman LL. A case for neutering pups and kittens at
two months of age. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Assoc Vol 191(5);518-521,
1987.
- Root MV, Johnston SD, Johnston GR, Olson PN. The effect
of prepuberal and postpuberal gonadectomy on penile extrusion and urethral diameter in the
domestic cat. Veterinary Radiology & Ultrasound Vol 37(5);363-366, 1996.
- Stubbs WP, Bloomberg MS. Implications of early neutering
in the dog and cat. Seminars in Veterinary Medicine and Surgery (Small Animal) Vol
10(1);8-12, 1995.
- Stubbs WP, Salmeri KR, Bloomberg MS. Early neutering of
the dog and cat in Bonagura JD, Kirk RW (eds) Kirk's Current Veterinary Therapy XII Small
Animal Practice, Philadelphia, WB Saunders Co., p. 1037, 1995.
- Theran P. Early-age neutering of dogs and cats. Journal
of the American Veterinary Medical Assoc Vol 202(6);914-917, 1993.
- Stubbs WP, Bloomberg MS, Scruggs SL, Shille VM, Lane TJ.
Effects of prepuberal gonadectomy on physical and behavioral development in cats. J Am Vet
Med Assoc 209(11): 1864-1871, 1996