Fixing Your Cat
If you don't want to be responsible for adding to the number of cats in the world you need to get your cat fixed. Unless you have a pure bred cat and are a professional breeder, the fairest thing is to have your cat 'fixed'. Of course your cat is adorable but by letting her have one set of kittens you will have to put up with the caterwauling of a cat in heat. Not to mention that if you start with one cat and each cat from each litter has kittens the accumulated total of cats you will be responsible for bringing into the world in 6 years is about 36,000! That's a lot of cats, and cats can continue to have kittens for more years than that!
Health Benefits For Your Cat
Fixing your cat helps to prevent health problems such as mammary cancers and uterine infections in female cats and prevents your male cat from getting into territorial fights with other cats and coming home injured. And of course it stops them both getting run over by cars when roaming the streets looking for a mate.
Benefits To You
By fixing your cat you won't have your female cat going into heat and howling and screeching and trying to get out to the waiting toms outside. She also won't display marking behavior like spraying urine around your house. Your tom won't be spraying and marking territory in your house either and you won't have to pay expensive vet bills to fix him up when he gets into fights with other cats.
When To Spay
The experts say that the best time to spay your cat is before she first goes into heat at around 6 months old. Of course, if you have already let your cat go into heat and have a set of kittens, you can still have her spayed at anytime, preferably when she isn't in a heat cycle.
When To Neuter
Tom kittens should ideally be neutered somewhere between 5 1/2 and 9 months before they reach puberty and mature. However like females you can still have them fixed at any time, and then they will be less aggressive and less territorial.
What Do They Do?
For a female cat, the operation takes out the uterus and the ovaries and although a routine operation, it is still an operation. It will take about 2 weeks or so for the wound to completely heal. For a male cat the operation is very simple and just requires the testicles to be removed. Again this is a routine procedure and your cat will probably be up and about again in a few days.
Cost
Costs vary according to the veterinarian, who often have available payment plans, and low cost clinics in most areas charge around $100. Of course if you have pet insurance, you may find that having your cat fixed comes under your policy.
Spay Day
To help promote the neutering and spaying of animals, there is an International Spay Day on the last Tuesday in February every year. This initiative promoted by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) helped organize over 600 Spay Day events in 49 states in 2010.
Remember, by not having your cat fixed you are probably adding to the over 4 million pets in the United States that are euthanized every year because they have been abandoned.