by Israel Martinez

Created on: March 01, 2009   Last Updated: March 10, 2009

My cat is not spayed, and I do not intend to spay her. I am not convinced it is in her best interests. The mindless "spay your cat" mantra is annoying. Yes, I know all about the stray cat population, and efforts to keep it under control. My cat will be living in an apartment on the eleventh floor. Unless, she jumps out the window, takes the elevator, or manages bolt out the door and down eleven flights and negotiate the front door, she is not escaping to breed. All the stats in favor of spaying assume a stray cat that is running the streets! Sure the house cat has a longer life expectancy! Sure a cat can't get ovarian cancer if the ovaries been removed! Once the danger of breeding and the outdoors has been removed there is no reason spaying is necessary.

My concern is that the removal of an animal's reproductive system is not a minor matter, just as it is not with humans. This is not anthropomorphizing. The reproductive system is a major regulator of the health of an organism. Ask any human unfortunate enough to have had a hysterectomy. This is why the surgery is no longer treated as casually as it once was. Men with low testosterone are also at higher risk for heart disease and other health risks. (DeNoon) The article links it to metabolic syndrome, as in low metabolism, and yes, a neutered cat does get fat and lazy. There is no reason to believe an animal is significantly different than we are. My in-laws have a golden retriever they got from a breeder that developed hip displasia. They asked advice from a vet relative about it and he asked, "You didn't get him fixed did you?" Unfortunately, it was too late, they had. If retaining sex organs can help in a case like this one, then how many other weaknesses does it mitigate, prevent? The best reason for neutering a male cat is that it will spray. This is one of the reasons I chose a female.

Mindless spaying is not a good idea. Waiting until a cat is sexually mature may at least ensure that it is at least finished growing and developing. All this is just common sense. A common sense I see lacking in the strenuous insistence that all cats be spayed. As for cats in heat, I survived coming of age in the oversexed 1980s with a lot less sex than I would've preferred. The cats fuss a little, but just as I wouldn't have snapped off my cojones, I think the cat'll be fine. "Low Testosterone, Early Death?" Higher Death Risk in Men With Lower Testosterone Levels By Daniel J. DeNoon WebMD Health News Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

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