Many cat owners do not know that cats reach their sexual maturity at a young age. Young cats can breed and give birth to other kittens which can be a happy event or an annoying one to some people. Some cat owners find it a disturbing matter to take care of one cat to find they are looking after the other four or five little kittens. So, the solution was always cats male neutering or cats’ females spaying before discovering unwanted pregnancies. Some owners find this to be so helpful for them to control their lives with their pets.
Vets have shown that cats’ bodies differentiate between an animal to another depending on the nutrition and the environment the owner can provide for his/her cats. Expectations on cats’ health are good and bad sometimes which leads us to raise an important question as a cat owner who wants to neuter or spay his/her pet: what to expect after neutering a cat? Can this affect my cat’s health?
NOTE: We want to inform our blog readers that before we publish any article, the team “Proudcatowners” does deep research based on experience and knowledge about cats and everything related to them, to guarantees reliable and precise information, satisfy the readers is our first priority.
What Neutering a Cat looks Like?
The terms neutering or spaying are applicable for both male and female cats in general. Neutering is a surgical operation held by the veterinaries where they sterilize the cat, it happens by projecting a high temperature or a boiling liquid on a cat’s sex organs to completely stop their functions. Female cats neutering is done by removing the ovaries and uterus by a small incision on the side of her left hand.
Male cats neutering is about taking out their testicles. Some vets say that neutering is healthy for cats, and it helps to control the populations of felines. Usually, spaying the cat is well done when the cat is not caterwauling because there will not be much blood and the horns of the uterine and ovaries will be drastically taken. Vets do a lot of blood tests before neutering to check that cats’ health is quite good for any surgical operation, cat’s illnesses are silent and vets are afraid sometimes to discover some tumors that can threaten the cat’s life. What to be expected after the ending of the surgery is:
- Bleeding
- Swelling
- Redness
- Walking with a hunch-back Lack of appetite after the first day
Post Neutering Home Care
When vets finish the operation of neutering, you should have to follow important instructions for your pet care. Cats generally after being brought home, they will have anesthetic effects. Vets put protective ointment in cats’ eyes in order not to dry out and to avoid possible blurriness. When you are home with your newly neutered cat, provide a warm, dark, and quiet place at least for twenty-four hours.
If there are any other pets or small children, keep them away from your neutered cat. You have to understand that aggressive behavior from your cat is expected in this period, it does need patience and a lot of care. The change in sex hormones differs from a cat to another. Vets advise not to leave the neutered cat on the first night to notice any abnormal change in behavior.
What are The Reasons after for Neutering a Cat?
Neutering cats became a new popular phenomenon in the last decades because having cats as a pet has increased more than before. For instance, nowadays there a lot of companies for cats’ food, shampoos, and medicament, it is undoubtedly getting to be like raising a child. Therefore, there are reasons why neutering is getting popular, mostly it refers to the owner’s desire not to have a lot of cats as pets.
Controlling Cats Population
What is important to do is to neuter a female cat before having unwanted pregnancies. Cats get pregnant so easily depending on the breeding timing in the year. As old cats can get pregnant easily, young cats that have only four to eight months can be pregnant as well. Some old cats can go to three pregnancies in one year as many vets have proved it. In another sense, male cats do not get pregnant, however, one male cat can do a lot of sexual interactions in one mating period to make a lot of female cats pregnant.
Controlling Cats Annoyance
Neutering a female cat will decrease their calls for mating in active sexual times. The caterwauling of one female cat can attract a lot of males to the area, this will cause a lot of fights, unwanted noises, and spraying. Vets explain that unneutered male cats will have control over territories and will attract other male cats which will cause problems.
Controlling Cats Health Problems
Both of Pyometra and mammary tumors happen with unneutered female cats. Infection diseases will go from mother cats to baby cats, therefore, many vets advise pet owners to neuter their female cats because even pregnancies are a threat to cats. Many cats have deadly abortions sometimes.
Controlling Pets Problems
Male cats always have the issue of running away without returning in addition to spraying at home. Cat owners neuter their cats to get rid of spraying and cats’ aggression because of sexual desires. Many pet owners face the problem of cats running, neutering can limit cats running that happens because of mating purposes.
Expectations after Neutering a Cat
There are a lot of owners who keep asking questions about what to expect after neutering a cat. As we have clarified in a previous part that neutering is a surgery where to remove male and female sex organs, especially, for male cats, testosterone manages male cat’s sexual attitude, aggressive behavior, and territory scent marking. These are some points of what to expect:
- When the neutering happens, both male and female cats will not have any remarkable strong sexual desires for mating.
- The function of neutering is to cut outbreeding and lower unpleased sexual behavior. Some cats’ owners will notice a lack of roaming.
- Another thing to expect to change is the lack of fights and aggression between male cats in the period of mating, sometimes these fights cause bites and scratches that can develop to infectious illnesses as feline leukemia.
- Neutering decreases territory scent marking, but it does not eliminate it because it is not related only to sexual behavior, vets indicate it as a self-defense tool for cats to be less stressed.
- Some behavioral changes can be immediate after neutering, yet others can take weeks depending on the age of the cat.
- There is what to expect as a change of weight. However, some cats can keep the same weight with less energy. It is okay to find your cat getting lazier after neutering because sex hormones encourage cats to be hyperactive and always in sexual heat.
- Expect to have nice calm nights because neutering will make cats less likely to fight and yawl.
- A lot of cats’ owners will be in relief because neutering will prevent cats from running away because of mating causes.
- Neutering a cat can change its behavior, it may improve it but it does not completely affect the personality of the cat. Some cats are hyperactive, and other cats are quite calm, neutering a cat will not change your cat to be calmer or a bit active.
Spaying a Cat
Many cats’ owners think that it is not necessary to spay a female cat because it was declared in previous times to neuter only male cats. Vets say that in the past spaying a female cat was optional, it was allowed for them to have at least one or two kittens.
However, spaying a female cat nowadays became a necessity because it may attract un-neutered male cats. The cat should have spaying before reaching sexual maturity because of “the call”. Every two or three weeks, female cats do the call because of their sexual desires. A lot of owners complain about how annoying the call can be. Vets say that they can give medicament to control female cats’ sexual desires, but it is not enough.
These medicaments can have dangerous effects on the health of the cat. Therefore, a lot of cat owners are advised to do a definite solution that is spaying to stop female cats roaming. Spaying is useful to eliminate unwanted pregnancies and unexpected sexual behavior, some pregnancies have a dangerous effect on female cats’ especially young ones.
Can Cats have Health Issues after Neutering?
Vets reclaim that there are no real health issues after neutering a cat, it may be true to say that positively neutering is good for cats’ health.
Avoiding Pets Illnesses
Before your cat reaches its sexual maturity, it should have spaying to eliminate the danger of ovarian cancer that comes to a lot to female cats. It also diminishes the high percentages of cat’s cervical cancer and mammary cancer. Spaying puts down the hormones which develop those types of cancer tumors. There is the risk of passing infections from cats to humans because of the cat’s random mating partners.
Some cats have aggressive behavior in the mating period, it can cause bites and scratch full of dangerous germs and viruses. Vets say that cats’ leukemia and AIDS are popular because cat owners do not know usually with whom their cats have coupled with, some cats can have really bad sexual transitive diseases. Spaying and neutering stop female contracting with other male cats that might have incurable and deadly illnesses.
Danger of Roaming
Cats’ sexual mating cycle can be dangerous for male cats and female cats. Female cats can push to have an urgent quick mating operation. Cats run away always once they have their drive of hormones and mating instincts. This rush can project cats for the risk of accidents, injuries, and death because of aggression. Neutering will prevent a lot of those problems because it will decrease sex hormones in cats. The cat will be calmer and will stay home a lot in mating times.
A Healthier Cat
Nothing quite better than having a healthy cat. The best part f spaying or neutering a cat is the prevention of health problems. Ovarian cysts, uterine infections, and cancer are not a reason to worry about your cat’s health anymore. Your cat may have confusion at the beginning of neutering days, but it is okay to have time with it.
Obese Cats
Generally speaking, cats can become obese after spaying. Vets have shown that unsprayed cats have specific strengths and a good appetite. Cats that have not been spayed can burn their fats because of the energy mating can require. Spayed cats do not burn any more fats as they used to be before mating. This can be controlled by medicament and a good animal diet.
Can Male Cats Change after Neutering?
Vets showed that the behavior of the cat will change after neutering. However, it does not always change to be a negative fact. Many cats’ owners take this step of neutering to fix unpleased behaviors of their male cats, especially if they are hosting many males cats r they have a couple of male and female cats. Neutering will make cats calmer, yet it will not change their personalities.
Cats’ owners may face some problems with their cats after finishing the surgery of neutering facing pains after the diminishing of Anesthesia. After the surgery, cats may have a loss of appetite and lethargy. Some vets warn their clients to expect sometimes aggression because of hormones change. Male cats will stay long for mating, but it will decrease where it can be controlled because neutering permits better control of cat sexual behaviors. It also changes the unbearable mating urine odor and balances it. Male cats will change to be cleaner than before and also become better self-groomers.
Most Asked Questions
How do I prepare my cat for neutering?
Preparing your cat for neutering is not a difficult task, you usually have to follow the instructions of veterinaries. Most of them recommend giving it food before a certain hour a day. You can avoid giving her water the night of the neutering. Cats with bad behavior can be locked for two or three days before the neutering to calm down. Some vets advise also to avoid mating periods for the cat to be neutered.
How long does it take for a cat to recover from being neutered?
Cats can recover from 24 hours to 48 hours depending on the body and the gender of the cat. It has to recover first from anesthesia, adjust the pain after waking up, and then it will be able to walk and do activities. Some cats can go out directly after the surgery, others stay in the vet hospital if they had any side effects.
Do cats get depressed after being neutered?
Many vets still wonder about this possibility. Neutering has shown its effectiveness on changing cats’ behavior which is the main cause of it after all. This neutering stops the function of sex hormones which have an important role in balancing cat’s moods and energy. Humans get nutrition also, and it showed that it causes sometimes chronic depression. For cats, it can be a situational depression in the post period of neutering only.
Do cats become more affectionate after neutering?
Cats become affectionate to their owners and other animals after being neutered. The main reason for neutering is to fix some behavioral issues that are related to sexual instincts. Most spayed cats change to be calmer after the surgery and start looking for attention from their owners. Some vets state that many owners can build a trust bond between them and their cats in this period.
Will my kitten’s personality change after spaying?
No, it does not change the personality of the cat. The purpose of spaying a cat is to eliminate unpleasant behaviors related to sex. So, many cats will be calmer after being neutered, but it does not necessarily affect their personalities.
Conclusion
Neutering was always expected to be a bad operation. However, neutering a cat is a very healthy operation to control many unpleasant situations. Neutering a cat prevents owners to deal with unwanted pregnancies and to manage overpopulation of felines.
Also, neutering permits cats to be well protected against many famous cancers and bad infectious illnesses. Cats’ owners complain from the aggressiveness of male cats in periods of mating, and also the annoying call of female cats for mating. Vets see that neutering is important to deal with the dangerous effects of cat pregnancies, many cats can have deadly abortions. Therefore, cats’ owners consider it as an important task after adopting a cat.
Neutering has to be done before the sexual maturity of the cat, this sexual maturity can start from four months up to eight months. Cat’s owners see it be the best thing to do because taking care of one cat is already expensive and demanding. After neutering your cat, just be patient and give it good nutrition to even if it will have permanent appetite loss and lethargy. Give it good care after neutering surgery and enjoy your life with your cat then!
