Wordy Wednesday - Neuter Day

The kittens are going back to the shelter to be neutered today. I know this makes some people sad; I hope this post will change your mind about that.

I know that going through surgery is hard, and I imagine not know what is happening makes it a bit harder, but kittens generally handle the surgery pretty well, waking up a little groggy but not showing any outward signs of really knowing what happened. Sometimes they will lick their incisions and their shaved bits, but it appears to be more of a 'this is so weird' kind of feeling more than anything else. I've had a few pick at the glue they use to close up the incisions and generally when this happens it is because there are a few extra bits of glue sticking to their skin. I know I can't ignore it when I have super glue on my skin.

I also know that there is some risk to the surgery. I have had a small number of kittens pass away while being neutered and one in particular who "died" twice (points at Twee). Every time you sedate someone there is risk but being neutered is a very important part of a housecat's life.  Without it, they are generally not very good companions, caring more about reproducing than anything else.

There has also been some discussion about the harmful long-term effects of neutering and how a cat might live a longer life if they are allowed to progress into puberty or even keep their sex hormones throughout their lives. I don't believe the current information translates to cats. I also believe that the risks of neutering young and the possible risks of disease because of the lack of hormones is minimal compared to the known risks of the diseases that a cat faces when the hormones are on board. The behavioral issues are also a serious risk to cats. So many people want to 'get rid' of their cats simply because their cats are being hormonally intact cats.

So let's change the narrative.  Neuter day is a day to celebrate. It is a right of passage that turns a kitten into a housekitten. It is the day they get their golden cat bed and makes it possible for their humans to find them so they can live a long happy life.

Gandalf would like you to know the hairballs are gone

Gandalf had a recheck appointment yesterday and he had to get a clean bill of health from the vets before they would sedate him. I brought in another stool sample and that too was negative for worms, and the exam showed signs of definite improvement.  The vet called me to talk about his progress and I explained how he was doing better each day, how he still seemed to have throat irritation which produced a cough like sound which wasn't really a cough.  She asked a few more questions and then said he still had some odd sounds in one lung, but she was comfortable clearing him for surgery, but it would be up to the vet doing the surgery.

She went on to explain he would have some compromise of his lung for quite some time and that throughout his life he might be more prone to infections.  I mentioned this to his new family and they are still very excited to adopt him.

I finally got the call at 4 pm that he had been neutered and could I come and pick him up. I ran to the shelter to get him and brought him home.  I told his new family that he is going to be good to go in a day or two. Sadly in a day or two, we are going to be in the middle of a blizzard, so there is a chance that he might not go home this weekend and if that happens he will be with us for another week.

Oh the hardships I must endure.

What I know - a look at not neutering pets

As a raw-feeding, alternative-medicine-loving cat person, I belong (or belonged in some cases) to several holistic forums for pets and for cats in specific. I have gathered a lot of very helpful information from these boards like supplements that are helpful to treat urinary crystals to herbs that are good for URI. One thing that started popping up over the last couple of years has been a discussion about NOT neutering your cats for their long term over all health.

Photo of Muta the Cat in all his glory © Liz Oliver

I have been hearing the rumors for years about how it might be better for your large breed dogs to hold off on being neutered. I was a little surprised that people were starting to make the leap from some small studies in dogs, and in most instances specific breeds of large dogs, and applying it to cats since cats are not little dogs.

Trying to find information on the benefits of not neutering or the harm caused to pets by neutering them is not easy. The JAVMA released one study about 759 Golden Retrievers. This study, while very very small, claim to show a statistical difference in neutered animals vs intact ones.  The differences are 2-10%,  I have to wonder if these statistical differences would hold up when viewing larger populations. Another study on 119 (or 305 depending on how you crunch the numbers) Rottweilers appears to show an increased longevity for intact Rotties, but the dogs were hand picked for the study, looking specifically at dogs that lived to 13 when the general population usually only makes it to nine.  The data supports the claim that female Rotties neutered after the age of 6 were "4.6 times as likely to reach 13 years of age as were Rottweilers that were spayed at a younger age"*.  Once again the data sample is very small; only 119 dogs that made it to 13. I can not find information on that study about how many were male and how many were female... nor does it tell us how many were intact and how many were neutered. Apparently the research is ongoing and they are now up to 230 dogs that lived to 13, I think it should also be noted that the study was done in regards to learning more about human longevity and health issues. I still can not find any of the original statistical data, just the reported information that they lived longer 

I can not find any such studies in cats. Lack of scientific evidence does not mean that something is or is not true, it simply means that no one is studying it. There was a pediatric neuter study done that showed there was very little statistical difference between cats that were pediatric neutered and ones that were neutered at the standard recommended time. One statistical difference is that the cats that were neutered young had longer legs. This difference holds true for dogs as well which is probably why there are more cruciate tears and hip dysplasia among larger dogs. Why longer legs? I am guessing that the removing the sex hormones from the body removes the first initial sign to the pituitary gland that the animal has reached maturity and it doesn't send the signal to the growth plates at the time that it normally would.

Lack of studies aside, even if we could directly correlate these differences in these specific large breed dogs to cats, and we could see these small or even medium sized statistical differences in our cats post vs pre neutering, is this a valid reason to hold off?

Help control the pet ... Have your pets spayed or neutered

We have all been told that we should be neutering our cats, but why exactly do we do this? Most people would say that we do it to prevent unwanted litters of kittens. This is very very true. Despite the message having been out there for decades we are still burdened with an overabundance of companion animals; Bob Barker has been telling the general population to neuter since the 80s, and several other TV personalities have also taken up the cause. Six to eight million animals are surrendered to shelters each year and this is by no means all of the unwanted animals. Millions roam free and are never caught.

However, unwanted offspring is not the only reason. Cats that have their hormones intact are driven by those hormones.

Intact males suffer from 'testosterone poisoning' that causes them to want to expand their territory, defend it, and to mate with any female anywhere near them. Male cats can smell a female cat in heat up to a mile away and will do what ever is necessary to get to her, including fighting other males, crossing busy roads, and cross paths with other animals that want to do your cat harm. Then there is the act of mating itself which is not loving or gentle and the fights that can ensue can cause injury.

Intact females also defend their territory with marking and spraying and fighting if they feel threatened and if you have never seen a cat in heat, count yourself lucky. Both males and females, who are being driven by their hormones, are far less affectionate and tend to be restless and driven with one goal.  My sister had three indoor only cats all of whom were intact and all three became pregnant with out a male in the home.

Image taken from page 111 of 'Woodland Romances; or, Fables and Fancies'
and found on Flikr

Once you remove the sex hormones, cats settle down and get busy with the business of being pampered little rules of their domain.

There are people who prefer their animals intact for purposes of showing or breeding, but they do not undertake this decision lightly. They know they have to work with the nature of the hormones and be ready for it. It can be done by the average cat owner, but why would you want to? For a small statistical chance that your cat might not get a particular type of cancer? I am not sure that is worth the much larger risk of the cancers and illnesses that are removed by neutering. The risk of urine / ovarian / testicular cancer and pyometra is reduced to zero since these organs are removed. Risk of mammary cancer is reduced by 80% if the cat is neutered before her first heat cycle.

It is important that we have these types of conversations. If I were a Rottie lover or an owner of a Golden or other large breed dog, I might consider living with the inconvenience of an intact dog for a few years to try to ward off some potential health issues since I think dogs are a bit easier to deal with when they are intact because of their pack mentality and their drive to please their owners. Maybe one day a conversation like this will spur someone to actually do the studies and see if maybe there is some long term health benefit to keeping a cat intact, but even if they do, you still have to weigh those benefits against the risks of other diseases, unwanted behavioral issues and the risk of littering.

It's Just One Litter

There is not a day that goes by that I am not hit in the face one way or another by the extreme over population of companion animals in this world.  Sometimes it is a really cute way, like when a kitten I am fostering paws at me for the first time.  Sometimes it is a really heart breaking way, like when a kitten I have been fighting to save dies from something that should have been preventable.

This is just in my world.  I live in one tiny corner of one tiny little town.  When I venture forth I see it everywhere.  Rescues overwhelmed with animals crying for help. People who are looking for places to place a stray or their own cat that they have to give up for what ever reason where they will have a chance to find a home.

Every day, actually to be brutally honest every eight seconds, a companion animal loses its life simply because there was no where for it to go.

Warning, image kept intentionally small - but I think everyone should see this.  Everyone should know.

I saw this image on Facebook a while back.  If I let myself dwell on it for any length of time my eyes start to leak.  I don't see broken unadoptable animals here, I see all of the foster kittens I've taken care of.  Before the shelter had a foster program, kittens too small to be adopted were routinely euthanized.  Many shelters still do.  Most open admission shelters have to euthanize regularly to keep themselves from warehousing animals or being financially drained and put out of business.  "No Kill" shelters are not funded or staffed well enough to take on the onslaught that open admission shelters have to deal with.

Why?  Well there are the stray, feral, and unowned cats reproducing, but often it is because people insist that their kitty should reproduce.  Their kitty is unique, special, loving, sweet, kind, loyal... beautiful.  Their kitty deserves just one litter.

No.  They don't.

Nor do they want one.  Cats are not like humans who ache to have kids, cats are ruled by the hormones that course through their body thanks to their ovaries or their testies and as a result that is all they want or thinking of it other terms, they are slaves to their hormones.  They *must* procreate.  If you have ever seen a cat in heat, you know she is not comfortable.  Have you ever seen a cat mating?  Think there is anything enjoyable in that?  The penis of an intact male has barbs on it to rip the lining of the uterus of the cat.

Then there is the fact that there is a darn good chance that your kitty's kittens are going to be nothing like your kitty.  Unless you have pure bred cats on both sides of the equation, than you are playing a genetic Russian Roulette. So many factors go into each individual cat, and litters can run the whole gambit of colors and personalities.  Even with pure bred cats, you are not guaranteed the personality you might want.

Just one litter means that you are "littering" and adding to the over population of the world.  The excuse I hear all the time: "But I will find homes for them!!" yes, but those are homes that could be adopting cats already IN the world.. Just one litter often means that three to five more cats die.

Just one litter means a harder life for your cat.  Being pregnant drains the body's resources and leaves them vulnerable to health issues.   Issues that are transitory like upper respiratory infections and more serious issues that are more likely to occur down the road like mammary cancer.

You want to see witness the miracle of birth?  Head over to YouTube, you can find anything and pretty much everything there.  Want to be a part of it, volunteer for your local shelter, chances are they will be more than happy to let you foster so you can be a part of the solution and not part of the problem.

You may only see the cuteness and the joy when you think of just one litter.
What I see is all the kitties that didn't get a chance.

What I know - Being neutered is a good thing

Spending time on the internet in the world of cats and dogs (and any other animal that is routinely neutered) you come to realize there is a lot of people who like to joke about the animals being upset at the lack of sex organs...

I have to tell you, every time I see something like this I cringe.. I just want to stand up and yell - do you have ANY idea what you are doing??

Yes, it fun to anthropomorphize animals, and this in particular is so easy. Who can't imagine what it might be like to wake up and find ourselves altered and our reaction to the situation..

But really all you are doing is adding fuel to the fear that having animals altered is bad for them in some way. People actually fear how their pets will react to being altered. They think male cats and dogs care about 'being a man' and will miss their testicles once they are gone. They fear that that the pets will be traumatized some how by it all. So they don't do it. (as seen in the show My Cat from Hell, season 3 episode 6 with Khrys and Michael)

We know what happens when you leave animals intact. They breed like.. well like animals. and if you do keep them inside so they can't get in contact with another intact animal, well they still act like hormone driven animals and less like pets. The spraying, the marking with claws, the restlessness, the wandering, the defensiveness... (yes, there are people who keep intact animals for reasons of their own choosing and put up with these side effects, but I am talking about the general public and the general feelings about this)

Hormones are incredibly powerful things. Males are driven to mark and defend their territory and seek out females. Females also defend their territory to protect the resources for rearing offspring. Heat cycles are uncomfortable, and cause pets to act much like teenagers hopped up on hormones, but with out any moral center to guide them...

I so wish we could change the conversation. Instead of anthropomorphizingthese animals into being upset that they have been neutered, why can't they be thrilled? no more fights, no more scraping to defend territory. no more time trolling for babes or going into heat.. they get to relax, settle down, and enjoy the finer things in life like a warm bed and a full meal and not be distracted by procreation.

Please, let us change this conversation. Tell everyone you know that a neutered animal is a happy animal. That they do not regret or lament the lack of sex organs nor the overwhelming and uncontrollable urges that come with them. Let us look at this as a right of passage. An assent into "manhood" or "womanhood" if you will. All cultures have their rights of passage for children becoming members of society.. lets make this one a good thing for the pets..

(and while I'm talking about neutering, please note I did not say spay/neuter or the new designer term of speuter. While the general public calls a female operation is called a spayed and a male surgery is called 'neutered' it is just the politically correct way of saying castrated - for the exact same reasons as above. People just do not like the term. "Neuter" is actually a gender neutral term for removing sex organs and works perfectly in both instances.)

A Video for Spay Maine

I like it! :)