Most owners rightly choose to neuter (spay or castrate) their cats both for the health of the cat and to prevent unwanted litters of kittens. Benefits of neutering include:
- Preventing female cats coming into season, the risk of unwanted pregnancies and the need to find good homes for unexpected kittens.
- Preventing behaviours associated with reproduction in both male and female cats, which can be difficult to cope with.
- Reducing the risk of mammary cancer and uterine infections in female cats.
- Reducing roaming and fighting (and the injury and disease which can be a consequence) in male cats.
Neutering is strongly recommended for all kittens. Ideally this should be done at around 4 months of age before they become sexually mature. They recover from the surgery remarkably quickly and there are no significant detrimental effects from neutering at this age.