by Christine G.

Created on: March 09, 2009   Last Updated: April 04, 2011

A poster in the waiting room of a veterinary clinic shows a basket of five adorable kittens, with the message PICK ONE AND KISS THE OTHERS GOOD-BYE. Smaller print explains that an overwhelming majority of kittens are euthanized or abandoned to face an unpleasant death.

Mother Nature designed cats to be part of the food chain. A healthy female who is adequately nourished and unthreatened by predators can have as many as three litters of offspring in a single year. If all of them survived to reproduce, it would not be long before our planet was buried in kitty litter. Do the math. Even one small litter of three kittens per year is too much.

"So?" you may ask. "My cat is male, and he will never have kittens."

The owner of a prospective feline father has no legal responsibility, but perhaps he has a moral one. Without contact with intact males, female cats do not have kittens.

Neutering is beneficial to both cat and owner. If it is done before puberty, your guests are less likely to be subjected to the spectacle of Kittycuddles trying to make love to a pop bottle or a lady's leg. Your neutered cat will be less aggressive and less likely to wander far and wide, possibly failing to return. If he makes it home, an adventuring tomcat is likely to be wounded from his battles. Cauliflower ears, bloody gashes, and infections are unpleasant to look at and may lead to hefty vet bills.

Despite your best efforts, virtually every cat slips out sooner or later, especially a horny male who has caught a whiff of a female in heat.  Even if your cat never makes it out the door, he will be easier to live with if he is neutered. Intact males mark their territory by spraying urine. This is hard on furniture, and the smell is not exactly aromatherapy.

You may have reservations about mutilating your sweet kitty. Maybe it just doesn't seem natural to deprive him of a healthy sex life. Fact is, he is a cat, not a human being.  He will never read Penthouse or Playboy.  He will never be traumatized by the feeling that other cats are laughing at him for his lack of potency. He will never feel nostalgic about his lost potential for fatherhood, any more than he will miss being the target of attacks by sexually competitive toms.

If you have an intact male cat, or are considering getting one, surf to the sites below and get the facts about neutering. The procedure is so minimal that no stitches are required.  Complications are less frequent than rumor would indicate. It may give you a pain in the wallet, but this is a one-shot intervention that will probably pay for itself many times over.

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=563

http://www.pethealth101.com/reproduction/neutering.s html
http://www.animalhealthcare.ca/contents/content.asp? id=4

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