Cat Spaying and Neutering: 5 Benefits of Sterilization

Spaying or neutering a cat, technically known as sterilization, is an important part of caring for your fur baby. Whether you're thinking about it during Spay/Neuter Awareness Month in February or you're just wondering about it when you're looking to adopt a new kitten, it's worth thinking about.

Many people consider a spay/neuter as a matter of course. Others might question it. If you have a male kitten, is it worth neutering them, since you don't have to worry about kittens? What about female cats? Should you spay them even if they haven't given birth before?

There are a bunch of benefits to sterilizing your cats, so much so that TNVR (Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, Release) is a common way to handle feral cat colonies to keep them from going out of control.

What are those benefits? Are there any drawbacks? What choice is right for your fur baby?

The good news is, spaying and neutering is such a routine surgery that it's handled safely and without complications the vast majority of the time, in both young kittens (starting at 8 weeks old) and in older cats. While there's always a small risk of infection or complications, you almost never have to worry about them, let alone deal with them. Now, onto the benefits!

Benefit #1: Your Cat Won't Go into Heat or Be Aggressive

"Heat" is the common term for a biological cycle known as estrus, where animals enter the part of their reproductive cycle where they're receptive to breeding and seek out a mate. Not all animals experience this cycle (humans are a great example), but of those that do, cats can be some of the most visible.

A cat in heat is a disruptive, unruly cat. She'll yowl and cry, which is one of her signals of readiness to mate, perking up the ears of any male cats nearby. Even normally quiet cats can get very loud and noisy during this time.

More importantly, she'll start leaving bodily fluids around. Spraying urine, in particular, is part of this behavior. Since her urine carries pheromones that signal her readiness to mate, she wants to leave them around until she finds that mate, and that means spraying in places like your closets, your furniture, under the bed, and who knows where else. It's pungent, in a bad way.

Male cats don't go into heat, but they do have hormonal cycles as well. Male cats will be more prone to aggression and defensiveness, and might get into fights with other cats or be more standoffish when you try to interact with them. They can also get "into the moment" and try to mount a leg, a pillow, or whatever else seems relatively cat-shaped to their fuzzy little brains. It's awkward for everyone involved.

Since these behaviors are driven by hormones, and those hormones are produced in the organs (ovaries, uterus, and testicles) that are removed in the sterilization process, the behaviors all but disappear.

Benefit #2: Your Cat is Less Likely to Roam and Get Lost

This one is pretty closely related to the previous benefit, but it's a little more common with male cats than female cats.

When the urge hits, an intact cat will want to seek out a mate. They'll roam the house searching, but if they can't find one, they start to get frustrated and desperate.

This means they'll look for opportunities to get to places they haven't been before, in case there's a potential mate there. That might mean working their way into a room they usually ignore. It might mean finding their way into the crawlspace, in a vent, or in the walls, somehow.

More commonly, it means rocketing out the door when you open it before you even notice they're there, and getting lost in the neighborhood. Thousands of cats are lost every year because they escape and wander off, often in search of that elusive mate.

Benefit #3: You Won't Have to Deal with Spraying and Marking

I already mentioned this one, but it's important enough to mention it again. Marking, by both genders of cats, is a significant problem. Urine smell is very pungent and pervasive, and it's very hard to get rid of.

On top of that, even if you think you've gotten rid of it, cats have a very good sense of smell and can still get hints of it. Remember, they're used to tracking down these smells outside, where rain and sunlight and wind all wash it away. Something seeped into the floorboards or into the pad beneath the carpet is going to be a beacon to them.

That means when the next cycle comes around, or even just when they're having issues, they'll find that spot and mark it again. And again. And again. Intact cats are absolute menaces with their bladders, and they can render a house almost unlivable in a surprisingly short amount of time. Nobody wants to deal with that!

Benefit #4: Sterilization Reduces the Chance of Related Health Problems

Removing reproductive organs reduces the chances of those organs causing problems later. Seems obvious, right?

For example, it's exceptionally rare (as in, there have only been a couple of documented cases ever) that a neutered male cat can develop testicular cancer. Likewise, ovarian cancer and uterine cancer are all but nonexistent for spayed female cats.

On top of that, there are other health issues that are less likely in sterilized cats. Uterine infections are very rare in spayed female cats, but in intact cats, they are both much more common and life-threatening. Mammary gland tumors are also much less common in cats that have been spayed. In male cats, prostate issues are much less common in neutered cats.

These health benefits alone are a big reason why you should consider spaying/neutering your cat ASAP. We all want long, healthy lives for our fur babies, right?

Benefit #5: It Helps Control the Population of Strays, Ferals, and Shelter Cats

This is usually the main benefit people think of for sterilizing cats. It's also one of the main arguments people use against sterilization. "Why should my kitten have a surgery if I'm going to keep them inside all the time? They won't have a chance to breed anyway!"

Well, for one thing, you don't know that. Maybe your cat gets out, or maybe you need to board them in a cat hotel while you travel. There are all sorts of reasons why you might find yourself with a pregnant cat when you didn't think you were at risk of it happening.

Beyond that, though, sterilizing cats isn't just for our household pets. There's a reason why many animal shelters provide spay and neuter services for cats they take in, and why catch-and-release programs incorporate sterilization to control feral cat colonies.

It's more humane, as well. Intact cats left to roam outside are more likely to go places they shouldn't, are easier to track for predators, and are more likely to get into fights with each other. The complications of childbirth can be severe, as well. And all of that is before you get into ecological damage from uncontrolled cat colonies. Just think: more cats means fewer birds, fewer birds means more mosquitoes, and more mosquitoes means more bites (and spreading more disease!)

What I'm saying is, there's a reason this is a common talking point.

Are There Drawbacks to Spaying and Neutering?

There are pros and cons to everything in life, and there are a few small downsides to sterilizing your cat. Keep in mind, though, that they're largely circumstantial and might not apply to your cat at all.

You won't be able to breed your cat and have kittens.

Sterilizing a cat means that the cat can't have offspring. That's really the whole point. But it does mean that if you were hoping to do something like breed your cat and hand kittens out to the family, or become a breeder, you wouldn't be able to.

Even being a cat breeder is questionable, in my view. Sure, it's good to maintain specific breeds, and to work with selective breeding organizations to try to work out the health issues inherent in various breeds. But for people who are just breeding mixed-breed cats for profit? Gross.

I can guarantee there are hundreds, if not thousands, of cats available in your area to be adopted from your local shelters. Many shelters aren't even accepting cats because there are so many of them and not enough resources to go around.

This is why I'm a firm proponent of Adopt, Don't Shop. Many of these poor cats are destined for "destruction" (which is the polite veterinary term for killing them) because there just aren't enough resources to care for them, and a life in a cage at a shelter is barely a life at all.

If your cat is already older, behavioral issues might not change.

Behavioral issues driven by hormones and instincts are common in kittens when they start to reach sexual maturity, which is why sterilizing them before that age is important. If you have them sterilized early enough, they won't develop those issues.

If the cat is older and has been intact for their life up to this point, it's harder to deal with those behaviors. Many of them are ingrained as just a thing they do, now, and that's very difficult to turn off, even if the hormones aren't driving it anymore.

While you can try to train them away from these behaviors, it's likely that there will always be something to deal with. Still, though, it's better to tone it down even if it doesn't solve things completely. Zero spraying is better than any spraying, but once every six months spraying is better than monthly spraying, right?

It could potentially lead to hormone imbalances later in life.

Reproductive organs are a key part of the hormonal system, and the body of an animal relies on hormones to function. Removing the reproductive organs does change the balance of that system.

Is it bad, or dangerous? Not really. We have millions of cats as examples of how they can live perfectly normal lives and never develop a hormonal problem. Even then, if they do, it's likely to be related to the thyroid, and thyroid issues are well understood and easily treated or controlled. Overall, it's pretty much a non-issue, but it is technically something that could happen.

There's still a tiny risk of complications.

The incidence rate for complications is very, very low. A study from 2017 found that the mortality rate was less than one in 2,000.

There can be non-fatal complications at a slightly higher rate, though. Cats with birth defects or abnormalities, for example, are at higher risk of some tissue being left in and still causing problems down the line. There can also be problems with healing that lead to UTIs later in life.

And, as with any surgery, there's the small risk of infection or complications from anesthesia. These, too, are very rare, and your vet will discuss them with you when you talk about sterilization.

One final note is about weight gain. A lot of people think cats are prone to gaining weight after being sterilized.

This is mostly a myth. Some people misidentify the primordial pouch as obesity, for example. And sometimes, a cat does get fat, but it's because of bad feeding habits. Cats will be a little less active with slightly slower metabolisms after the surgery, but that alone isn't enough to drive significant weight gain.

Should You Get Your Cat Spayed or Neutered?

Absolutely. There are very few good reasons not to, and the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. It's a routine surgery, performed daily by every good vet across the country. It's even pretty cheap, especially compared to the treatments for complications down the line in intact cats.

If you think you have a good reason not to get your cat sterilized, feel free to let me know in the comments; I'd love to have that discussion and see if I can convince you otherwise.