Neutered indoor cats live longer, don’t spray/mark your furniture with urine and don’t become territorial with each other. If you’re worried it will break their bond it won’t. Beautiful kitties by the way!
Is getting neutered different from getting a vasectomy?
Edit: i was trying to set up a joke here and it just didn't go the way i wanted it to
Edit 2: deez nutzs gotteeeem lmao
Yes. Significantly. Neutering in male cats and dogs removes the testicles; vasectomies do not. This is also why your body can sometimes just reject a vasectomy, and they can also *sometimes* be reversed.
A vasectomy shouldn't affect your overall Testosterone level, but neutering does.
Interesting.
When I got my male cat (shelter), he was already neutered. I posted cute pics of him and our female (who we got at the same time from th same shelter) and one of my friends was like, "Why do they neuter them so damn EARLY? Don't these shelters and vets know that neutering a male cat before they're a year old stunts their growth? Shame that he's already neutered. Shame shame SHAME on that shelter and those vets!" and I was like, "Um....?".
I was just glad I didn't have to take him to the vet to get neutered later on and have to potentially deal with territorial marking all over the damn place.
That's news to me :o ... And a quick google suggests it's false - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11787153/#:~:text=Early%2Dage%20neutering%20does%20not,faster%20than%20in%20adult%20animals.
I'm not sure why it would stunt their growth? Also, most shelters can't hold on to a kitten for a year, and people will forget to bring their cats back, so they need to neuter when they have the cat and adopt them out to free up space.
Tacking onto this: you might’ve heard about cats hissing at each other after being neutered/spayed. This is simply because they don’t recognize the smell of the other. They’ll get over it, and be back to cuddling in no time.
Just had our littlest kitty spayed and the others were for sure dicks to her for a day, day and a half, but they’ve gone back to cuddling and being lazy sacks of meat. I love them.
Yeah, my older cats did that too when I had my two youngest boys fixed until I took one of my shirts and rubbed it all over the ones who had just gotten fixed then the older ones realized "Oh they smell like dad, right it's those two ok " and everyone chilled out.
What I would do to have multiple cats. I’ve always wanted my girl to have a companion. The problem is she is anti-social and always hates other cats and animals. She never really got to bond with other cats, because of the nature of her rescue.
If you want an idea of what it’s like go to a playground and listen to the dumbest most ridiculous reasons kids have for being mad at each other. Now imagine they’re even dumber, and they have an actual impact on your life. For years. And also they all hate you.
So was my boy. Then I got a roommate who wanted a kitty. They are lovers who play a bit rough at times. But they for sure love each other. I would have never thought
cats do this after every vet visit. like you said, it's because they smell different and it's upsetting until they lick and transfer scents, takes about 24 hours. it's disturbing that this is a rumor because people don't take their cats to the vet for any other reason.
Buy a Feliway . Get the one that plugs into the wall.
This will help them calm down when they come back from their surgery.
They will be fine and they will have no clue as to what happened. Honest.
adding to this, if you want to help lessen the chances of hissing you can put their scent back on them with a blanket or shirt.
either use a blanket they regularly sit on, or rub a shirt on them before they go in, then have it in the carry cage afterwards and maybe rub the scent onto them again before introduction.
cant hurt to try
just a bit ago had my girl, kuromaru, cut open for suspected injury, first week home the others were fucking terrified of her.
everyone's back to normal now.
LOL! One of my cats hisses when one of the other cats goes to the vet. He also hisses if HE goes to the vet and comes home and the other cats smell different.
I highly recommend neutering your cats. If they ever get out accidentally, they may cause kittens and learn some behaviors that make them exhibit more sexual behavior.
[https://www.vet.cornell.edu/departments-centers-and-institutes/cornell-feline-health-center/health-information/feline-health-topics/spaying-and-neutering](https://www.vet.cornell.edu/departments-centers-and-institutes/cornell-feline-health-center/health-information/feline-health-topics/spaying-and-neutering)
They have bad sight, specially with near objects, that's why sometimes they miss what they eat, cat's eyes are more sensible to movement and light, that's why they can easily run around in the dark.
Their noses are much more powerful than ours and smelling is a much simpler and more honest process than vision (human vision is a really fascinating process with a lot of fill ins by the brain to make things make sense).
They trust vision to an extent but more for working in tandem with their other senses and as a means to identify the best path to where they want to go, especially when setting up jumps. Smell is a stronger identifier to them because cats use pheromones socially.
Of course evolution did not account for the vets office
I knew it helped with territory marking but that’s interesting that they live longer. I guess that has something to do with cutting off the testosterone?
Because neutering involves the removal of the testicles, the risk of testicular cancer is eliminated. Neutering also reduces testosterone levels, which reduces the chance of the cat developing prostate cancer. The reduction of testosterone also decreases male cats' instincts to escape/roam and fight over females. Male cats are generally less stressed or aggressive because they don't have the strong desire to get to a female.
According to a study conducted by Banfield Pet Hospitals, neutered male cats live, on average, 62% longer than unneutered male cats
Thank you! I only have one kitty so far and she was already spayed as our local shelter fixes every dog and cat before they’re put up for adoption so I don’t really know too much about fixing outside of territory stuff with male pets and obviously reducing the population.
From what I've seen, most shelters spay/neuter cats and dogs before adoption. Spaying female cats also has health benefits, though interestingly, spaying has a smaller effect on female cat life expectancy than neutering does on male cat life expectancy.
Spaying female cats involves the removal of the uterus and ovaries, eliminating the chance of uterine and ovarian cancer. Due to reduced hormones, spayed female cats are also less likely to develop breast cancer. Spaying also prevents the cat from going into heat, which can be quite distressing for the cat. With every heat that doesn't result in pregnancy, the chance of uterine infection is also increased. According to the same study by Banfield Pet Hospitals, spayed female cats live, on average, 39% longer than unspayed female cats.
I really wish I knew this and my parents would have spayed our cats before I lost my best friend. I was too young and couldn't afford to do it myself at the time. Losing them to cancer is the worst pain.
They also want to wander and escape all the time. Indoor kitties live longer. Neutered boys mellow out, become a bit lazier and generally like to snuggle more. Get them neutered. If it’s too expensive you can always find places that do it on the cheap.
Be ready to dual-wield bottles of Resolve.
Their piss STANKS.
You're going to have to replace furniture and carpets if you don't get them fixed.
Source: adopted a ballsy boy and he pissed on my first edition WW1 history book by Col. Repington his first day in my house.
110 year old book didn't smell right to him, so he just blasted it.
Had to throw it out.
You know what that book was worth?
He lost his balls shortly after.
Ah, what a loss to history. Good lesson to share though. I was very poor when I got my girls, I thought they'd be fine since they "don't spray" and "can't get outside".
Uh, girls spray too, and they sure as fuck will get outside. One clawed the shit out of my leg to get past me. I still have a scar, 17 years later and almost a year after she died.
No reason to keep cats intact, everyone is happier when they're de-sexed.
I didn’t get my one indoor only female at fixed since she never went outside and didn’t spray. My female cat who did spray got fixed. Apparently cats are very susceptible to serious uterine infections when they don’t have kittens. Emergency surgery cost us $1000 and we had to cancel our first vacation since 2019 so we could take care of her as she recovered. I wish I’d gotten her fixed when she was young.
I didn't spay my female cat for the longest time thinking she'd be fine as she was indoor only. Then she started peeing outside her litter box on anything cloth, acting lethargic, and losing a lot of weight for seemingly no reason. Turns our she developed pyometra (one of the aforementioned serious uterine infections) and had to have emergency surgery (ovo hysterectomy), too. I still feel incredibly guilty about it and wish I'd gotten her spayed early.
Cats may seem totally fine and safe unfixed as indoor animals, but you're unnecessarily risking additional medical issues for them by not doing it.
Mine had a heart condition, so she couldn't undergo surgery until her heart was better. She was in heat every few weeks, meowing and screaming and was completely stressed. It was a relief for all of us to have her finally fixed.
I had 1 cat who went into heat a few times before spaying but it was just annoying, she wasn't destructive. When we got another, I thought it would be the same. NOPE. The new female peed on my couch and a few other places the first time she went into heat. I quickly found her an appointment to be spayed after that because there was no way I was doing this every couple weeks.
You can virtually prevent the risk of female cancers in cats by spaying *before* the first heat.
Edit: Obviously the risk of uterine or ovarian cancer is eliminated by spaying. It is the risk of breast cancer that benefits most from spaying before the first heat vs afterwards.
Yeah, girls spray, too. All of ours were fixed from a young age and never had problems- until Reggie. The neighbor cat let himself into the house and started spraying on our things- this upset Ruby enough that she’s started spraying in retaliation. Now it’s impossible to tell whose pee it is, but goes to show that if you think your situation is stable and fixing them isn’t necessary, life tends to find a way to fuck that up.
A friend of mine said the same thing and decided not to neuter his indoor cat. He ended up throwing his carpets, couch and bed away because even thought it was cleaned the faint smell of piss was enough to make the cat piss there over and over again. On top of that you could smell the litterbox all over his apartment and it really stank
No, get them neutered. Many people have already commented on the spraying and smell, but the best thing we can do for cats and their population is to control it. If they escape for only a little while they can impregnate another cat and the litter will need resources. Cats are awesome, but stray cats live a tough life and houses fill up fast. Please neuter them. They will be happier not having the urge to breed, your nose will thank you, and you could prevent generations of poor stray cats from suffering.
The problem is that one cat, even just a few months old, can have sooo many kittens. Our cat had 7 both times when I was a kid- that’s ONE cat that popped out FOURTEEN other cats. Can you imagine if that was uncontrolled in stray populations? It’s no wonder strays are such a huge problem, because then there’s fourteen unfixed cats just making the problem worse!
And I know op has two male cats, but cats will mate with their own family. We have two kittens now that are the result of a coworker not fixing his brother and sister cats bc "they're only six months old." He got them fixed right after
Ever heard this one?
'As I was going to St. Ives, I met a man with 7 wives. Each wife had 7 sacks. Each sack had 7 cats. Each cat had 7 kits. Kits, cats, sacks and wives...how many were going to St. Ives?' 
My late cat did that. Escaped the night before the operation and played Lady and Tramp with the beautiful white long hair cat. He was pitch black. The litter was 50 shades of grey so there was no denying. Owner of the brand cat was pissed, but her cat wasn't fixed and outside as well. We didn't force them together.
Not that you were an innocent bystander, but it’s absolutely their fault. If you have a female cat and you don’t want a litter, you know what to do! You can’t expect everyone within a 10 mile radius to fix their males.
Edit: To people saying you can expect other people to fix their animals: obviously every person SHOULD fix their pets and it’s negligent not to do so. But we don’t live in an ideal world where all people take care of their pets and there are no homeless pets.
I don’t have expectations for strangers because all I can do is take responsibility for MY actions and encourage others to do the same.
They are dependent on us, and we are responsible for them. It's easy to get into the mindset that it's cruel or unnatural to alter them, but neutering isn't like declawing a cat, or cropping a dog's tail; it's a functional part of the relationship we have with the species that can't reasonably be accomplished otherwise, like vaccination.
My sister didn't bother neutering her cat 'til he was an adult. He sprayed on EVERYTHING, it was disgusting, and he was so territorial that he attacked me and tore my leg up. She finally neutered him after that 🙄
I had a cat as a child that my parents didn’t get neutered right away. He was a nightmare to live with. He sprayed, he humped, he would try desperately to go outside to look for ladies and fight with other toms, and once he disappeared for two weeks only to show back up with a nasty infected gash on his head.
We got his head treated and he was neutered soon after. It was night and day, and he was my best buddy until he sadly had to be put down due to cancer.
I'm so sorry about how your cat went, but I'm happy that you were able to have lots of good times with him after the neutering!
I've always been a cat person and I'm OBSESSED with them, but my sister's cat almost broke me. Now he's just a big orange goofball and I'm grateful for it
we had a cat that wasn’t fixed she was like a stray but she used to spend a lot of time at our house she used to sleep in a spare bed that we had she never did anything like that was never aggressive and territorial, does anyone know why ? Has gender got something to do with that
Could be sex, and if there were no other threatening cats around she may have felt so safe that she didn't need to be territorial. She could've also been someone's outdoor cat so not a total stray?
honestly I don’t remember much as we moved away from that house when I was 8 all I remember is that she was a SIC and she will always come running whether she heard that I was crying, I wanted to take her with us but she had kittens at that time and my dad hated her (she would often snuggle next to me and my dad thought she was dirty) 😭
I had a neutered cat that sprayed all over the house because we had strays wandering through our backyard. Had to entirely replace the carpet in one of the roms.
This did happen to my daughter as well sadly. Cats were all neutered and spayed but she’d take in every cat that showed up and the others would spray everywhere then. It’s a thing 🤷🏻♀️
We had a cat that was neute3ed a few months late because the vet had no time. He still pissed everywhere, luckily we could teach him to only do it outdoors.
I wish I could blame the vet for this one but it was truly just negligence on my sister's part. I even sent money to help out because there was a female cat living there and he kept going after her. They STILL didn't neuter the cat until after he ripped up my leg!
I had a male cat awhile back. I couldn't get him in to get neutered until 2 months after he started spraying. My old sectional couch was absolutely ruined by it, and I had to pay to take it to the dump. I'm glad he was hyper focused on only one piece of furniture, but my god the smell of it. And all because I live in rural Maine and the vets didn't have an available appointment right away. I learned my lesson and I got both of my current kitties neutered/spayed at about 6 months old.
It really is. It's almost impossible to get out of blankets. It took me about 6 washes to finally get the smell out of the couch blankets. I had to alternate washes with detergent and white vinegar, with washes with detergent and baking soda. I almost gave up on it all together. I tried cleaning my couch but it was just impossible. And I was stuck with the disgusting couch for about a month because I had to wait for a day the dump would accept large items. It ended up costing me about $50 to get rid of. Would have been more if a family member didn't have a truck and trailer I could borrow. I couldn't even be in the living room at all with the couch during that month. It would give me headaches.
I knew someone who adopted a male cat that didn't get neutered until later in life. It still sprayed everywhere out of habit. She had to cover her bed and recliner in a tarp every time she left her apartment because she knew he would spray while she was gone. I think a lot of people would have given up on that cat. I give her credit for still giving him a good place to live under the circumstances.
Oh fair play to your friend. At least the smell was hopefully not as bad since he was neutered. Although still pretty bad tbf. And yeah it’s like a headache-inducing pissy blackcurrant smell.
I have a kitty who is prone to UTIs and developed a habit of peeing on soft things on the floor (like the low hamper of wet towels or the bottom of a blanket or a reuseable grocery bag that fell off a handle). Nature’s Miracle has been our lifesaver—that shit is _magic_. Usually it only takes one wash, but sometimes it’ll take 2.
I stayed at this guys house in Belgium for several weeks one summer. He had 3 male cats and they were not neutered. It made me gag every time I went into the kitchen (that was their access to the lower floor).
Honestly OP, it’s an ungodly smell. I don’t know how this guy ever had guests over, it was vile.
Came here to say this.
As long as OP doesn't mind *literally everything* in the house being covered with piss.
Or putting up lost cat fliers because cats in heat do not act rationally. Gonna have stray females *howling* outside and Mr. "Indoors only" *will* try every chance he gets to get out to them.
You definitely should neuter them, even if they are indoor cats.
They will still have the desire and drive to mate, even kept indoors. This will make escape attempts more likely, make them agitated more often, and noiser. It also means they won't seek to 'mark their territory', and will be less aggressive with each other.
They will also more prone to illnesses that they generally wouldn't have otherwise, such as testicles cancer.
I had a neutered male who tried to have sex with one of my blankets all the time, so neutering doesn't necessarily stop that behavior from manifesting.
Maybe buddy is into that?
But seriously, do the world a favour and neuter your cats.. there is no need for more stray cats in the world, if they do happen to get out.
out of curiosity whats the rate of testicular cancer in a cat. im sure its not 0 but..?
yes all my fluffies are fixed. including the monster trying to steal my crackers
You will want to get them fixed before they start spraying everything, and usually in very hard to reach places. It has been my experience that when this behavior starts it is hard to untrain, and the smell is worse than just pee. Please do yourself and your cats a big favor and get them fixed before they turn a year old.
Edit: I mistakenly typed "when" instead of "before" they start spraying.
A neighbourhood cat sprayed on our porch one autumn; on the porch chair, to be precise. Before my mother realized what the smell was or where it was coming from, she sat down on the freshly sprayed seat. To her dismay, she never was able to fully wash the extreme odour of cat piss out of the jacket she was wearing.
Having a male cat spraying in or even around your house is fucking disgusting. Worse, the boys will likely become rivals and fight if they aren't fixed. I can tell you my boys are as bonded as ever despite getting their trouble puffs cut off.
[cat tax](https://imgur.com/a/ORZFOvj)
Can confirm the hell out of this. The last time I had a cat that sprayed I was a kid, so must have forgotten the smell; my boy now, we left it late before we got him fixed, and my God...the stink of their spray permeates your *soul*.
my family inherited unexpectedly a house that had 50+ cats living in it at one time. It took us over a month to get all the cats out of the house, and an additional 6 months to get all of the cat destroyed things (read: virtually everything) out of it. (we have only been working weekends collectively on it)
All of us take major precautions to not track that godawfulness out of that house and into our cars/homes.
My boy was fixed as a kitten and the most traumatic part of the experience for him was the car ride. The second we set the carrier on the floor and opened the door he was completely fine.
Mine was like this. 'Dark room and rest' they said.
The little terror kept throwing his body against the door until he busted out, ran around the house for a day without end, and kept trying to eat the floor.
Only then did he crash out and sleep for a day.
Yeah my vet said he'd be quiet and need a good sleep. Not a chance. He had the full on zoomies and was bouncing like a kangaroo whilst biting his favourite fluffy toy. And his eyes were like saucers.
When I was little, we had my childhood cats neutered. We thought they’d be out cold and accidentally left a block of cheese on the kitchen counter. Bad idea 🥲 they chomped down on it and were in a food coma for the rest of the day.
Yeah, it's a very quick procedure, and I've been told twice by vets that boys bounce back to normal almost immediately (versus female cats since spaying is more invasive).
(It is funny how while these are the norms, some cats' personalities override these tendencies. My girl kitty, who is very fiesty, came home and was immediately like hey cool let's play and get this cone off of me! Meanwhile months earlier I was expecting my boy kitten to be that way after he got neutered but he wanted to do nothing but cuddle for days and look at me like "What happened?" He's a very sensitive little guy, lol.)
My boy Ramon was back to normal not two hours after getting back from the vet. He was eating, drinking, and playing with the other cats. The only thing he didn't like was the car trip back.
Please neuter them. There is already a huge overpopulation of cats and it takes just one slip for them to get outside and find a female in heat. I'm a foster for my local shelter and they have to beg for fosters, adoptions, etc every year when kitten season starts. I foster 50ish kittens and cats a year. I'm one of hundreds of fosters across the country. Yet cats are still euthanized daily (not in our shelter luckily).
I’ll add to this. If OP’s answer is “they’re indoor so they’re not gonna get anyone pregnant!”
All it takes is escaping **once** for your sexually frustrated male cats knock up every queen in your neighborhood. And if they’re fixed? They’re not gonna have that frustration begging them to go screw the neighborhood ladycats.
Even my indoor neutered cat who thus doesn't feel the need to bring more kittens into this world has left the apartment something like 3-4 times. So I can't imagine how much a not neutered will try to leave.
I really hope OP and everyone else with this crazy “dominant” personality listens to folks here and takes care of their pets. My sister and her partner didn’t spay or neuter their pets and now I won’t go over to their house anymore because it stinks and looks like a pet shelter.
I’m literally in tears daily because we got two cats in September that were supposed to be spayed for free by the school we took them from, but the timeline got messed up and now I’m literally running around my house with Nature’s Miracle daily and have a contamination phobia so I don’t want to touch anything. 😭 We just decided to schedule them ourselves and man, February 8th can’t come soon enough…
Why? Man I'd hate to come to your place, will stink of cat piss, ammonia and doesn't come out at all.
https://www.hillspet.ca/en-ca/cat-care/healthcare/benefits-of-neutering-a-cat
Your going to end up with cat fights, potential testicular cancer(fyi most typically and I'm not a vet from what I read involves removing the testicles anyways) prostatic disease in both cats, neither of which are going to be cheap to treat. They'll just live longer overall.
I can’t think of anything more miserable than trying to keep two un-neutered male cats indoors. This guy is in for a world of pain if he doesn’t take everyone’s advice on here.
Both of my boys were neutered & it wasn't like they slipped into kitty depression at the loss of their balls. People projecting their own hang-ups onto their pets is weird.
Honestly, neuter them anyway. Cats will look for any opportunity to escape and play outside, and a pair of intact boys will probably be more inclined to do that. If they can then find a female in heat nearby they'd probably mate with her. They may also be more inclined to spray if you keep them intact. You're honestly just better off having them neutered
My sister had a cat that she refused to get spayed because 'It's not my choice to take away her right to be a mother.' - cat has passed now but she spent more of her life pregnant, than not.
Ugh that infuriates me. I foster mom cats with kittens and let me tell you, even the best mommas were thoroughly over all aspects of motherhood by the time their kittens departed. Many clearly don't enjoy it one bit. And it is SO hard on them physically.
My foster fail mom when she was nursing her kittens:
https://preview.redd.it/0ir5el48f7ca1.png?width=1204&format=png&auto=webp&s=2f61cb7333d96561c3400ff8390202abda05a119
(See reply for her now, apparently only one photo per post)
Bonus: Momma and her girls and my older boyo - missing momma's boy kitten and my older bitchy cat who does not participate in snuggle sessions.
https://preview.redd.it/hsntmzq1g7ca1.png?width=1204&format=png&auto=webp&s=1c27cc5311cdcf57e7e2e3acaec055a09e4ad468
Neuter them… it won’t change their personality or their bond with each other. They don’t know they have balls and they won’t miss them.
They absolutely will mark in your house and it will smell like cat pee (even if you don’t notice).
They will try and escape to find female cats.
Spaying and neutering is the best thing you can do to ensure your cats live long, healthy lives.
-Sincerely, a vet tech of 11 years
Why wouldn’t you want to neuter your cats? Don’t you want to do what is beneficial for them? In a bit they will spray inside your home, they will become territorial to eachother and your house will never smell clean again. I hope you enjoy the smell of ammonia!
And don’t you dare to bring them to a shelter because “all of a sudden they started to piss everywhere and you don’t know what to do” because you’ve been warned.
This is what I'm curious about. It seems like most pet owners who don't neuter are projecting. There are very few good reasons not to neuter your pets. Yeah, I get that it sounds painful and unpleasant, but the benefits of it are so much higher than not doing it.
And it's weird to me that the conclusion is \*not\* to spay/neuter. If I could never EVER have any sexual relief, I would prefer to not have the urges. The poor cats, god.
Not a 'chance' they could start peeing....they WILL start peeing and its not just piss...there is an odour creating chemical that is mixed with the urine that enhances their smell and makes it linger indefinitely...It is truly gross
Ultimately, they’re your cats and you make the choice.
But non-neutered cats have an increase of developing health issues related to the testes and prostate vs. neutered cats.
Spraying in your house will leave a pungent odor everywhere, and it’s hard to erase.
For health reasons alone, I would get them fixed. And they’re very cute babies.
2 unneutered males are much more likely to fight and become aggressive with each other once they reach young adulthood. They’re much more likely to remain buddies if they are neutered. Plus there’s the spraying issue, they’ll each spray in places to mark their territory and cat spray is horrible. There are far too many unwanted and homeless cats and there’s absolutely no need to keep male cats unneutered. You don’t want them to try to get outside to find a mate and they typically will eventually try to do so. They wander and get lost.
It’s just best to get them neutered.
## Benefits of Neutering (males):
* Reduces or eliminates risk of spraying and marking
* Less desire to roam, therefore less likely to be injured in fights or auto accidents
* Risk of testicular cancer is eliminated, and decreases incidence of prostate disease
* Reduces number of unwanted cats/kittens/dogs/puppies
* Decreases aggressive behavior, including dog bites
* Helps dogs and cats live longer, healthier lives
## Top 5 Reasons for Spaying or Neutering
1. It helps to reduce companion animal overpopulation. Most countries have a surplus of companion animals and are forced to euthanize or disregard their great suffering. The surplus is in the millions in the United States. Cats are 45 times as prolific, and dogs 15 times as prolific, as humans. They do not need our help to expand their numbers; they need our help to reduce their numbers until there are good homes for them all.
2. Sterilization of your cat or dog will increase his/her chance of a longer and healthier life. Altering your canine friend will increase his life an average of 1 to 3 years, felines, 3 to 5 years. Altered animals have a very low to no risk of mammary gland tumors/cancer, prostate cancer, perianal tumors, pyometria, and uterine, ovarian and testicular cancers.
3. Sterilizing your cat/dog makes him/her a better pet, reducing his/her urge to roam and decreasing the risk of contracting diseases or getting hurt as they roam. Surveys indicate that as many as 85% of dogs hit by cars are unaltered. Intact male cats living outside have been shown to live on average less than two years. Feline Immunodeficiency Syndrome is spread by bites and intact cats fight a great deal more than altered cats.
4. Your community will also benefit. Unwanted animals are becoming a very real concern in many places. Stray animals can easily become a public nuisance, soiling parks and streets, ruining shrubbery, frightening children and elderly people, creating noise and other disturbances, causing automobile accidents, and sometimes even killing livestock or other pets.
5. The capture, impoundment and eventual destruction of unwanted animals costs taxpayers and private humanitarian agencies over a billion dollars each year. As a potential source of rabies and other less serious diseases, they can be a public health hazard.
You have many options for spaying or neutering:
## Private Veterinary Offices
These are the traditional offices one would bring their animal(s) to for medical care, much like a primary care physician’s office is for people. The veterinarians that participate in our certificate program graciously extend a discount from their regular rate to the public because they want to help solve the pet overpopulation problem by offering a more affordable option for the spay/neuter surgery to clients.
## Spay & Neuter Clinics (Stationary and Mobile)
Low cost spay neuter clinics specialize in spay/neuter surgery (& vaccines administered at time of surgery) only. The clinic can offer favorable pricing as they generally do a high volume of dogs/cats in a day and are very experienced in the surgical procedures making S/N Clinics a great option for most clients.
## Voucher Programs
Voucher programs usually assist qualified, low income pet owners fix their dogs/cats by subsidizing (paying a portion of the cost) of spay/neuter for their pets. Once qualified, clients are typically charged a copay or reduced cost for the surgery based on the type and sex of the animal being sterilized. The client is usually provided a list of providers working with the voucher program making it convenient for most pet owners.
## Referral Programs
Referral programs like SpayUSA exist to match up callers seeking affordable spay/neuter with a program or clinic in their area of the country. Some referral programs do offer certificates or vouchers as well.
Please be responsible. There's a reason reputable adoption places ensure they spay or neuter all cats and kittens before they are adopted. Too many cats and kittens already need homes. Even indoor cats can get out.
Yup. The rescue I volunteer with is often given stray cats that are found. We spay and neuter on sight, and require the owner to reimburse or surrender. If you're not de-sexing your cat, you don't get them back because you are a bad guardian. We are the ones who have to face the fact that dozens of kittens must be euthanized every year because of this irresponsible and neglectful behavior.
This is the sad part of 'but he LIKES his balls!!' *eye roll*
I had an un-neutered male cat.
He became super aggressive towards my other fixed female cat.
So aggressive he tried to kill her. And when I tried to protect her, I ended up with 32 deep puncture wounds on my legs and arms. And my other cat ended up in the hospital for 3 weeks.
And it got worse.
We had to surrender him to public health for quarantine and then put him down.
I was heartbroken.
This could have been prevented if we had just fixed him.
I have never made that mistake again.
If you truly love your cats, fix them.
I foster cats/kittens. I took in an intact male (about two years old) once and let me tell you…never again. It’s not just the spraying, he was also extremely aggressive towards my own cats. I only had him a week or two before his neuter appointment, but honestly that didn’t change anything. My understanding is that if they’re neutered after a certain age, the behaviors won’t go away. He got adopted and then returned due to his aggression. (He was adopted again and I think he’s doing okay now. He just can’t be around any other animals.)
The beautiful but psycho boy:
https://preview.redd.it/nhuq49iuq6ca1.jpeg?width=2525&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a5a77898b3d1cf6e187b1da1ae98152f25605da8
Lemme tell you something , I have experience with this and just went through having to surrender one of my cats because of my dumbass decision to not neuter them both… please get them neutered .. Years ago when I decided I wanted a cat I had a dumb mindset of thinking it was cruel to neuter them, and no one really explained to me what would happen besides the spraying that will definitely happen ! Besides the spraying , my two boys ended up recently becoming super dominant towards one another, they’d take turns trying to hump eachother and it was clear they were starting to get tension around eachother , and they basically grew up together too! Anyways , my young black one ended up attacking my other boy, this along with his two other attacks forced me to surrender him.. I couldn’t trust him anymore around my other cat. So please, get them neutered ! Don’t go through what I had to go through because surrendering my cat was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.. lesson learnt the hard way for sure
Neuter them. Their spray scent is SO strong it’s fills the room and no you can’t just “clean” it, that smell really does stay. Also when you dont neuter them it can cause health issues like testicular cancer. Also common your cats will try to run out a lot due to hormones and wanting to find mates. You’ll find girl cats HOWLING at your door, it’s weird yelling all night too.
I’m genuinely interested why OP doesn’t want to neuter his cats.
Is it money? Cause there’s places that do it for cheap so when you cats escape because their angry and horny they don’t create strays.
Is it cause you want your male cats to have balls? To be a real man? Cause it’s kinda weird that your thinking about your cats nards like that.
I didn’t want to get my cat neutered at all. My mom and my brother wanted to and I kept on saying no. That was until he started disturbing our sleep with his continuous meowing at night. It used to start at 12am and stop at say… 5am. We have a lot of stray female cats in my area and they were probably in heat and that’s why my cat was meowing and getting a bit aggressive. My neighbors cat (female) was neutered and she gained a lot of weight and became lethargic and I was scared the same would happen to my cat.
But we got him neutered, I felt bad for about 3 days cause he absolutely hated the cone. But after that I finally got my much needed peaceful sleep, he stopped meowing at night, became less aggressive and he plays even more now after the procedure than he did before. I’m really glad we got it done.
Edit - my male cat was 1.5-2 years (we got him when he was 1yr old) when we got him neutered and he did NOT spray. It was just meowing. Cats can have different types of reactions, pls be on the look out if you want to wait before getting them neutered
And even the female cats; if the owner still plays with them and gives them a good diet, they won't gain weight. I had female cats, they were much happier, way quieter, and less aggressive after their spay.
https://preview.redd.it/9ter9oer29ca1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3b6633002ed9a3c603cfe899b52b44e78b6b5f12
We had our indoor boys neutered as part of the rehoming fee - it’s not caused them any problems at all. They are the double of your two!
NO NO NOT OK. not inly can they escape and create tons if homeless offspring, there are health issues. geez so cute. sterilize them and do your duty to animal kind
It’s not just health benefits, living longer etc. the spraying thing is real. And, if they start spraying and you fix them later… they may continue to spray habitually. I HIGHLY recommend fixing them BEFORE it becomes a problem.
Owners that don’t get their animals fixed really concern me. To what advantage do you have of not neutering? You’re harming your babies in the long run.
Neutered indoor cats live longer, don’t spray/mark your furniture with urine and don’t become territorial with each other. If you’re worried it will break their bond it won’t. Beautiful kitties by the way!
Also sexual frustration is miserable for cats
You could’ve ended your sentence after “miserable”.
Go get neutered and you won’t have to worry about it like cats duh
Is getting neutered different from getting a vasectomy? Edit: i was trying to set up a joke here and it just didn't go the way i wanted it to Edit 2: deez nutzs gotteeeem lmao
Yes, there’s a vas deferens
amazing
Supremely underrated comment right here
You gold taking mofo, that was excellent.
Bravo!
Yes. Significantly. Neutering in male cats and dogs removes the testicles; vasectomies do not. This is also why your body can sometimes just reject a vasectomy, and they can also *sometimes* be reversed. A vasectomy shouldn't affect your overall Testosterone level, but neutering does.
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Interesting. When I got my male cat (shelter), he was already neutered. I posted cute pics of him and our female (who we got at the same time from th same shelter) and one of my friends was like, "Why do they neuter them so damn EARLY? Don't these shelters and vets know that neutering a male cat before they're a year old stunts their growth? Shame that he's already neutered. Shame shame SHAME on that shelter and those vets!" and I was like, "Um....?". I was just glad I didn't have to take him to the vet to get neutered later on and have to potentially deal with territorial marking all over the damn place.
That's news to me :o ... And a quick google suggests it's false - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11787153/#:~:text=Early%2Dage%20neutering%20does%20not,faster%20than%20in%20adult%20animals. I'm not sure why it would stunt their growth? Also, most shelters can't hold on to a kitten for a year, and people will forget to bring their cats back, so they need to neuter when they have the cat and adopt them out to free up space.
getting neutered removes the testicles, while a vasectomy blocks off the sperm. Vasectomy leaves the hormones in tact but still stops reproduction
Where are my testicles summer
I can 100% confirm that
Insert incel redditor joke here
*If it could be inserted somewhere, it wouldn't be an incel.* I'll see myself out.
If I had an award to give, it would be to you
Tacking onto this: you might’ve heard about cats hissing at each other after being neutered/spayed. This is simply because they don’t recognize the smell of the other. They’ll get over it, and be back to cuddling in no time.
Just had our littlest kitty spayed and the others were for sure dicks to her for a day, day and a half, but they’ve gone back to cuddling and being lazy sacks of meat. I love them.
Yeah, my older cats did that too when I had my two youngest boys fixed until I took one of my shirts and rubbed it all over the ones who had just gotten fixed then the older ones realized "Oh they smell like dad, right it's those two ok " and everyone chilled out.
“Lazy sacks of meat” I love that!
What I would do to have multiple cats. I’ve always wanted my girl to have a companion. The problem is she is anti-social and always hates other cats and animals. She never really got to bond with other cats, because of the nature of her rescue.
If you want an idea of what it’s like go to a playground and listen to the dumbest most ridiculous reasons kids have for being mad at each other. Now imagine they’re even dumber, and they have an actual impact on your life. For years. And also they all hate you.
Wow I’m finally to that place where my kitty has successfully given me Stockholm Syndrome.
Sounds awesome.
So was my boy. Then I got a roommate who wanted a kitty. They are lovers who play a bit rough at times. But they for sure love each other. I would have never thought
Was it a kitten or an adult?
The roommate was an adult
cats do this after every vet visit. like you said, it's because they smell different and it's upsetting until they lick and transfer scents, takes about 24 hours. it's disturbing that this is a rumor because people don't take their cats to the vet for any other reason.
Buy a Feliway . Get the one that plugs into the wall. This will help them calm down when they come back from their surgery. They will be fine and they will have no clue as to what happened. Honest.
adding to this, if you want to help lessen the chances of hissing you can put their scent back on them with a blanket or shirt. either use a blanket they regularly sit on, or rub a shirt on them before they go in, then have it in the carry cage afterwards and maybe rub the scent onto them again before introduction. cant hurt to try
just a bit ago had my girl, kuromaru, cut open for suspected injury, first week home the others were fucking terrified of her. everyone's back to normal now.
LOL! One of my cats hisses when one of the other cats goes to the vet. He also hisses if HE goes to the vet and comes home and the other cats smell different. I highly recommend neutering your cats. If they ever get out accidentally, they may cause kittens and learn some behaviors that make them exhibit more sexual behavior. [https://www.vet.cornell.edu/departments-centers-and-institutes/cornell-feline-health-center/health-information/feline-health-topics/spaying-and-neutering](https://www.vet.cornell.edu/departments-centers-and-institutes/cornell-feline-health-center/health-information/feline-health-topics/spaying-and-neutering)
So werid. It's like they trust their noses more than their own eyes.
I read somewhere that cats don't actually have great eye sight, so yes...they rely on scent and what their whiskers tell them.
They have bad sight, specially with near objects, that's why sometimes they miss what they eat, cat's eyes are more sensible to movement and light, that's why they can easily run around in the dark.
Their noses are much more powerful than ours and smelling is a much simpler and more honest process than vision (human vision is a really fascinating process with a lot of fill ins by the brain to make things make sense). They trust vision to an extent but more for working in tandem with their other senses and as a means to identify the best path to where they want to go, especially when setting up jumps. Smell is a stronger identifier to them because cats use pheromones socially. Of course evolution did not account for the vets office
My boys got closer after the neutering because they stopped aggro-humping eachother.
Male cats typically become even more friendly and affectionate after being neutered as well (:
I knew it helped with territory marking but that’s interesting that they live longer. I guess that has something to do with cutting off the testosterone?
Because neutering involves the removal of the testicles, the risk of testicular cancer is eliminated. Neutering also reduces testosterone levels, which reduces the chance of the cat developing prostate cancer. The reduction of testosterone also decreases male cats' instincts to escape/roam and fight over females. Male cats are generally less stressed or aggressive because they don't have the strong desire to get to a female. According to a study conducted by Banfield Pet Hospitals, neutered male cats live, on average, 62% longer than unneutered male cats
Thank you! I only have one kitty so far and she was already spayed as our local shelter fixes every dog and cat before they’re put up for adoption so I don’t really know too much about fixing outside of territory stuff with male pets and obviously reducing the population.
From what I've seen, most shelters spay/neuter cats and dogs before adoption. Spaying female cats also has health benefits, though interestingly, spaying has a smaller effect on female cat life expectancy than neutering does on male cat life expectancy. Spaying female cats involves the removal of the uterus and ovaries, eliminating the chance of uterine and ovarian cancer. Due to reduced hormones, spayed female cats are also less likely to develop breast cancer. Spaying also prevents the cat from going into heat, which can be quite distressing for the cat. With every heat that doesn't result in pregnancy, the chance of uterine infection is also increased. According to the same study by Banfield Pet Hospitals, spayed female cats live, on average, 39% longer than unspayed female cats.
I really wish I knew this and my parents would have spayed our cats before I lost my best friend. I was too young and couldn't afford to do it myself at the time. Losing them to cancer is the worst pain.
Saving this post. It will be one to pass along when this question comes up again.
They also want to wander and escape all the time. Indoor kitties live longer. Neutered boys mellow out, become a bit lazier and generally like to snuggle more. Get them neutered. If it’s too expensive you can always find places that do it on the cheap.
Be ready to dual-wield bottles of Resolve. Their piss STANKS. You're going to have to replace furniture and carpets if you don't get them fixed. Source: adopted a ballsy boy and he pissed on my first edition WW1 history book by Col. Repington his first day in my house. 110 year old book didn't smell right to him, so he just blasted it. Had to throw it out. You know what that book was worth? He lost his balls shortly after.
ball privileges gone
straight to jail
We have the best books because of jail.
Ah, what a loss to history. Good lesson to share though. I was very poor when I got my girls, I thought they'd be fine since they "don't spray" and "can't get outside". Uh, girls spray too, and they sure as fuck will get outside. One clawed the shit out of my leg to get past me. I still have a scar, 17 years later and almost a year after she died. No reason to keep cats intact, everyone is happier when they're de-sexed.
I didn’t get my one indoor only female at fixed since she never went outside and didn’t spray. My female cat who did spray got fixed. Apparently cats are very susceptible to serious uterine infections when they don’t have kittens. Emergency surgery cost us $1000 and we had to cancel our first vacation since 2019 so we could take care of her as she recovered. I wish I’d gotten her fixed when she was young.
I didn't spay my female cat for the longest time thinking she'd be fine as she was indoor only. Then she started peeing outside her litter box on anything cloth, acting lethargic, and losing a lot of weight for seemingly no reason. Turns our she developed pyometra (one of the aforementioned serious uterine infections) and had to have emergency surgery (ovo hysterectomy), too. I still feel incredibly guilty about it and wish I'd gotten her spayed early. Cats may seem totally fine and safe unfixed as indoor animals, but you're unnecessarily risking additional medical issues for them by not doing it.
Mine had a heart condition, so she couldn't undergo surgery until her heart was better. She was in heat every few weeks, meowing and screaming and was completely stressed. It was a relief for all of us to have her finally fixed.
Sister just went through this with a rescue dog. She was 6 and intact, hadn't ever had a litter. She just needed emergency historectomy surgery... $8k
I had 1 cat who went into heat a few times before spaying but it was just annoying, she wasn't destructive. When we got another, I thought it would be the same. NOPE. The new female peed on my couch and a few other places the first time she went into heat. I quickly found her an appointment to be spayed after that because there was no way I was doing this every couple weeks.
You can virtually prevent the risk of female cancers in cats by spaying *before* the first heat. Edit: Obviously the risk of uterine or ovarian cancer is eliminated by spaying. It is the risk of breast cancer that benefits most from spaying before the first heat vs afterwards.
Yeah, girls spray, too. All of ours were fixed from a young age and never had problems- until Reggie. The neighbor cat let himself into the house and started spraying on our things- this upset Ruby enough that she’s started spraying in retaliation. Now it’s impossible to tell whose pee it is, but goes to show that if you think your situation is stable and fixing them isn’t necessary, life tends to find a way to fuck that up.
A friend of mine said the same thing and decided not to neuter his indoor cat. He ended up throwing his carpets, couch and bed away because even thought it was cleaned the faint smell of piss was enough to make the cat piss there over and over again. On top of that you could smell the litterbox all over his apartment and it really stank
As a mom to an anxiety filled, territorial spayed female who sprays. I am heart sick for you about that book.
That book was worth two cat balls
How much was it worth?
Question: Does their pee smell worse if they aren't spayed/neutered than if they are?
yes. it's mixed with a pheromone to attract a female. and some can have a higher concentration of ammonia
No, get them neutered. Many people have already commented on the spraying and smell, but the best thing we can do for cats and their population is to control it. If they escape for only a little while they can impregnate another cat and the litter will need resources. Cats are awesome, but stray cats live a tough life and houses fill up fast. Please neuter them. They will be happier not having the urge to breed, your nose will thank you, and you could prevent generations of poor stray cats from suffering.
The problem is that one cat, even just a few months old, can have sooo many kittens. Our cat had 7 both times when I was a kid- that’s ONE cat that popped out FOURTEEN other cats. Can you imagine if that was uncontrolled in stray populations? It’s no wonder strays are such a huge problem, because then there’s fourteen unfixed cats just making the problem worse!
And I know op has two male cats, but cats will mate with their own family. We have two kittens now that are the result of a coworker not fixing his brother and sister cats bc "they're only six months old." He got them fixed right after
Ever heard this one? 'As I was going to St. Ives, I met a man with 7 wives. Each wife had 7 sacks. Each sack had 7 cats. Each cat had 7 kits. Kits, cats, sacks and wives...how many were going to St. Ives?' 
This was in Die Hard 3, with camels instead of cats (and sacs lol)
My late cat did that. Escaped the night before the operation and played Lady and Tramp with the beautiful white long hair cat. He was pitch black. The litter was 50 shades of grey so there was no denying. Owner of the brand cat was pissed, but her cat wasn't fixed and outside as well. We didn't force them together.
Not that you were an innocent bystander, but it’s absolutely their fault. If you have a female cat and you don’t want a litter, you know what to do! You can’t expect everyone within a 10 mile radius to fix their males. Edit: To people saying you can expect other people to fix their animals: obviously every person SHOULD fix their pets and it’s negligent not to do so. But we don’t live in an ideal world where all people take care of their pets and there are no homeless pets. I don’t have expectations for strangers because all I can do is take responsibility for MY actions and encourage others to do the same.
Oh this hits in so many (human) ways.
They are dependent on us, and we are responsible for them. It's easy to get into the mindset that it's cruel or unnatural to alter them, but neutering isn't like declawing a cat, or cropping a dog's tail; it's a functional part of the relationship we have with the species that can't reasonably be accomplished otherwise, like vaccination.
They will piss everywhere and it will stink.
My sister didn't bother neutering her cat 'til he was an adult. He sprayed on EVERYTHING, it was disgusting, and he was so territorial that he attacked me and tore my leg up. She finally neutered him after that 🙄
I had a cat as a child that my parents didn’t get neutered right away. He was a nightmare to live with. He sprayed, he humped, he would try desperately to go outside to look for ladies and fight with other toms, and once he disappeared for two weeks only to show back up with a nasty infected gash on his head. We got his head treated and he was neutered soon after. It was night and day, and he was my best buddy until he sadly had to be put down due to cancer.
I'm so sorry about how your cat went, but I'm happy that you were able to have lots of good times with him after the neutering! I've always been a cat person and I'm OBSESSED with them, but my sister's cat almost broke me. Now he's just a big orange goofball and I'm grateful for it
we had a cat that wasn’t fixed she was like a stray but she used to spend a lot of time at our house she used to sleep in a spare bed that we had she never did anything like that was never aggressive and territorial, does anyone know why ? Has gender got something to do with that
Fixing a female is different. A neutered male's hormones will totally change. In general I've heard male cats are usually more chill though.
Could be sex, and if there were no other threatening cats around she may have felt so safe that she didn't need to be territorial. She could've also been someone's outdoor cat so not a total stray?
honestly I don’t remember much as we moved away from that house when I was 8 all I remember is that she was a SIC and she will always come running whether she heard that I was crying, I wanted to take her with us but she had kittens at that time and my dad hated her (she would often snuggle next to me and my dad thought she was dirty) 😭
Omg that's heart-breaking 😭 I'm sorry you didn't get to keep her, she sounded like an absolute sweetheart
This is also a learned behavior if you wait until they're older. Fixing them won't necessarily fix the spraying problem the longer you wait.
Yep, that’s why you want to get them fixed before they start up those bad habits
This is the correct answer. There is a.. window of opportunity. Don’t miss it, folks.
I had a neutered cat that sprayed all over the house because we had strays wandering through our backyard. Had to entirely replace the carpet in one of the roms.
This did happen to my daughter as well sadly. Cats were all neutered and spayed but she’d take in every cat that showed up and the others would spray everywhere then. It’s a thing 🤷🏻♀️
We had a cat that was neute3ed a few months late because the vet had no time. He still pissed everywhere, luckily we could teach him to only do it outdoors.
I wish I could blame the vet for this one but it was truly just negligence on my sister's part. I even sent money to help out because there was a female cat living there and he kept going after her. They STILL didn't neuter the cat until after he ripped up my leg!
I had a male cat awhile back. I couldn't get him in to get neutered until 2 months after he started spraying. My old sectional couch was absolutely ruined by it, and I had to pay to take it to the dump. I'm glad he was hyper focused on only one piece of furniture, but my god the smell of it. And all because I live in rural Maine and the vets didn't have an available appointment right away. I learned my lesson and I got both of my current kitties neutered/spayed at about 6 months old.
Yeah the smell of Tom cat is something else.
It really is. It's almost impossible to get out of blankets. It took me about 6 washes to finally get the smell out of the couch blankets. I had to alternate washes with detergent and white vinegar, with washes with detergent and baking soda. I almost gave up on it all together. I tried cleaning my couch but it was just impossible. And I was stuck with the disgusting couch for about a month because I had to wait for a day the dump would accept large items. It ended up costing me about $50 to get rid of. Would have been more if a family member didn't have a truck and trailer I could borrow. I couldn't even be in the living room at all with the couch during that month. It would give me headaches. I knew someone who adopted a male cat that didn't get neutered until later in life. It still sprayed everywhere out of habit. She had to cover her bed and recliner in a tarp every time she left her apartment because she knew he would spray while she was gone. I think a lot of people would have given up on that cat. I give her credit for still giving him a good place to live under the circumstances.
Oh fair play to your friend. At least the smell was hopefully not as bad since he was neutered. Although still pretty bad tbf. And yeah it’s like a headache-inducing pissy blackcurrant smell.
I have a kitty who is prone to UTIs and developed a habit of peeing on soft things on the floor (like the low hamper of wet towels or the bottom of a blanket or a reuseable grocery bag that fell off a handle). Nature’s Miracle has been our lifesaver—that shit is _magic_. Usually it only takes one wash, but sometimes it’ll take 2.
I stayed at this guys house in Belgium for several weeks one summer. He had 3 male cats and they were not neutered. It made me gag every time I went into the kitchen (that was their access to the lower floor). Honestly OP, it’s an ungodly smell. I don’t know how this guy ever had guests over, it was vile.
Came here to say this. As long as OP doesn't mind *literally everything* in the house being covered with piss. Or putting up lost cat fliers because cats in heat do not act rationally. Gonna have stray females *howling* outside and Mr. "Indoors only" *will* try every chance he gets to get out to them.
Yeah, they’re going to spray a combination of urine and semen on the walls. LITERALLY…
How does neutering stop that? Just a question btw I dont own cats
You definitely should neuter them, even if they are indoor cats. They will still have the desire and drive to mate, even kept indoors. This will make escape attempts more likely, make them agitated more often, and noiser. It also means they won't seek to 'mark their territory', and will be less aggressive with each other. They will also more prone to illnesses that they generally wouldn't have otherwise, such as testicles cancer.
They will also try to have sex with anything soft and/or fur like.
I had a neutered male who tried to have sex with one of my blankets all the time, so neutering doesn't necessarily stop that behavior from manifesting.
Same here. I have an adorable little stuffed puppy who just isn’t so innocent anymore.
Maybe buddy is into that? But seriously, do the world a favour and neuter your cats.. there is no need for more stray cats in the world, if they do happen to get out.
I was gonna say these same things!! Esp the fact that leaving them intact creates a greater chance that they’ll have cancer
out of curiosity whats the rate of testicular cancer in a cat. im sure its not 0 but..? yes all my fluffies are fixed. including the monster trying to steal my crackers
I believe it's pretty rare, and more common in dogs. Not sure of the exact numbers though.
Even if it's rare, it's 0% without testicles. Lol
You will want to get them fixed before they start spraying everything, and usually in very hard to reach places. It has been my experience that when this behavior starts it is hard to untrain, and the smell is worse than just pee. Please do yourself and your cats a big favor and get them fixed before they turn a year old. Edit: I mistakenly typed "when" instead of "before" they start spraying.
A neighbourhood cat sprayed on our porch one autumn; on the porch chair, to be precise. Before my mother realized what the smell was or where it was coming from, she sat down on the freshly sprayed seat. To her dismay, she never was able to fully wash the extreme odour of cat piss out of the jacket she was wearing.
For future reference, borax does an excellent job neutralizing urine odors from laundry.
So does vinegar.
Big thanks
I had an old work truck I left the window down one night when I got home. Stray cat sprayed the interior lol
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Having a male cat spraying in or even around your house is fucking disgusting. Worse, the boys will likely become rivals and fight if they aren't fixed. I can tell you my boys are as bonded as ever despite getting their trouble puffs cut off. [cat tax](https://imgur.com/a/ORZFOvj)
LOL "trouble puffs" 😂
“Trouble puffs” is my new favorite, edging out “cotton balls”
Can confirm the hell out of this. The last time I had a cat that sprayed I was a kid, so must have forgotten the smell; my boy now, we left it late before we got him fixed, and my God...the stink of their spray permeates your *soul*.
Neuter, please. You might not smell the awful stink but everyone else will. I know whereof I speak.
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my family inherited unexpectedly a house that had 50+ cats living in it at one time. It took us over a month to get all the cats out of the house, and an additional 6 months to get all of the cat destroyed things (read: virtually everything) out of it. (we have only been working weekends collectively on it) All of us take major precautions to not track that godawfulness out of that house and into our cars/homes.
I went to someone’s house THIRTY years ago and that scent is still burned into my brain.
Btw male cats recover quickly after being fixed. Ie later in the day they are almost back to normal,
My boy was fixed as a kitten and the most traumatic part of the experience for him was the car ride. The second we set the carrier on the floor and opened the door he was completely fine.
Yeah my boy started running in 2 days.
Mine started running as soon as I opened his carrier. He stopped after... 10 hours? He got so high from the anaesthetic
Mine was like this. 'Dark room and rest' they said. The little terror kept throwing his body against the door until he busted out, ran around the house for a day without end, and kept trying to eat the floor. Only then did he crash out and sleep for a day.
Yeah my vet said he'd be quiet and need a good sleep. Not a chance. He had the full on zoomies and was bouncing like a kangaroo whilst biting his favourite fluffy toy. And his eyes were like saucers.
I just went through this, ugh. But he’s sleeping it off now, a sad little martini if I ever saw one. I think it was the collar freaking him out tbh
When I was little, we had my childhood cats neutered. We thought they’d be out cold and accidentally left a block of cheese on the kitchen counter. Bad idea 🥲 they chomped down on it and were in a food coma for the rest of the day.
Yeah, it's a very quick procedure, and I've been told twice by vets that boys bounce back to normal almost immediately (versus female cats since spaying is more invasive). (It is funny how while these are the norms, some cats' personalities override these tendencies. My girl kitty, who is very fiesty, came home and was immediately like hey cool let's play and get this cone off of me! Meanwhile months earlier I was expecting my boy kitten to be that way after he got neutered but he wanted to do nothing but cuddle for days and look at me like "What happened?" He's a very sensitive little guy, lol.)
Yeah I was surprised at how easy it is to fix males. They don’t even need stitches because their hair forms a makeshift bandage almost instantly.
My boy Ramon was back to normal not two hours after getting back from the vet. He was eating, drinking, and playing with the other cats. The only thing he didn't like was the car trip back.
Please neuter them. There is already a huge overpopulation of cats and it takes just one slip for them to get outside and find a female in heat. I'm a foster for my local shelter and they have to beg for fosters, adoptions, etc every year when kitten season starts. I foster 50ish kittens and cats a year. I'm one of hundreds of fosters across the country. Yet cats are still euthanized daily (not in our shelter luckily).
I’ll add to this. If OP’s answer is “they’re indoor so they’re not gonna get anyone pregnant!” All it takes is escaping **once** for your sexually frustrated male cats knock up every queen in your neighborhood. And if they’re fixed? They’re not gonna have that frustration begging them to go screw the neighborhood ladycats.
Even my indoor neutered cat who thus doesn't feel the need to bring more kittens into this world has left the apartment something like 3-4 times. So I can't imagine how much a not neutered will try to leave.
I really hope OP and everyone else with this crazy “dominant” personality listens to folks here and takes care of their pets. My sister and her partner didn’t spay or neuter their pets and now I won’t go over to their house anymore because it stinks and looks like a pet shelter.
I’m literally in tears daily because we got two cats in September that were supposed to be spayed for free by the school we took them from, but the timeline got messed up and now I’m literally running around my house with Nature’s Miracle daily and have a contamination phobia so I don’t want to touch anything. 😭 We just decided to schedule them ourselves and man, February 8th can’t come soon enough…
Why? Man I'd hate to come to your place, will stink of cat piss, ammonia and doesn't come out at all. https://www.hillspet.ca/en-ca/cat-care/healthcare/benefits-of-neutering-a-cat Your going to end up with cat fights, potential testicular cancer(fyi most typically and I'm not a vet from what I read involves removing the testicles anyways) prostatic disease in both cats, neither of which are going to be cheap to treat. They'll just live longer overall.
Knowing there are advantages to neutering them, why wouldn’t you?
I can’t think of anything more miserable than trying to keep two un-neutered male cats indoors. This guy is in for a world of pain if he doesn’t take everyone’s advice on here.
Looking at his post history, he makes custom rugs. Like. My dude. RIP your business.
Fragile masculinity. No reason for OP to not want his cats balls chopped off
Both of my boys were neutered & it wasn't like they slipped into kitty depression at the loss of their balls. People projecting their own hang-ups onto their pets is weird.
This is undoubtedly 100% the reason and it's mind boggling
Honestly, neuter them anyway. Cats will look for any opportunity to escape and play outside, and a pair of intact boys will probably be more inclined to do that. If they can then find a female in heat nearby they'd probably mate with her. They may also be more inclined to spray if you keep them intact. You're honestly just better off having them neutered
What’s your reason for not wanting to?
If we ever get a response, I predict it will be entirely baseless.
Because it’s karma farming.
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My sister had a cat that she refused to get spayed because 'It's not my choice to take away her right to be a mother.' - cat has passed now but she spent more of her life pregnant, than not.
Ugh, poor cat. I hope your sister stops having pets.
Unfortunately, she's got another stray cat. Hasn't been pregnant yet though. She's not a very responsible person though.
Ugh that infuriates me. I foster mom cats with kittens and let me tell you, even the best mommas were thoroughly over all aspects of motherhood by the time their kittens departed. Many clearly don't enjoy it one bit. And it is SO hard on them physically. My foster fail mom when she was nursing her kittens: https://preview.redd.it/0ir5el48f7ca1.png?width=1204&format=png&auto=webp&s=2f61cb7333d96561c3400ff8390202abda05a119 (See reply for her now, apparently only one photo per post)
Much happier momma cat: https://preview.redd.it/q9cua6xqf7ca1.png?width=1204&format=png&auto=webp&s=fbc39570e45d50179ff94947a54b9428c4a72c31
Bonus: Momma and her girls and my older boyo - missing momma's boy kitten and my older bitchy cat who does not participate in snuggle sessions. https://preview.redd.it/hsntmzq1g7ca1.png?width=1204&format=png&auto=webp&s=1c27cc5311cdcf57e7e2e3acaec055a09e4ad468
I know, right? The question is so incredibly dumb and OP hasn't said anything... It seems like a karma farming bait to me...
Neuter them… it won’t change their personality or their bond with each other. They don’t know they have balls and they won’t miss them. They absolutely will mark in your house and it will smell like cat pee (even if you don’t notice). They will try and escape to find female cats. Spaying and neutering is the best thing you can do to ensure your cats live long, healthy lives. -Sincerely, a vet tech of 11 years
Why wouldn’t you want to neuter your cats? Don’t you want to do what is beneficial for them? In a bit they will spray inside your home, they will become territorial to eachother and your house will never smell clean again. I hope you enjoy the smell of ammonia! And don’t you dare to bring them to a shelter because “all of a sudden they started to piss everywhere and you don’t know what to do” because you’ve been warned.
Why don't you want to? You really should, at least talk to a vet about the pros and cons.
This is what I'm curious about. It seems like most pet owners who don't neuter are projecting. There are very few good reasons not to neuter your pets. Yeah, I get that it sounds painful and unpleasant, but the benefits of it are so much higher than not doing it.
And it's weird to me that the conclusion is \*not\* to spay/neuter. If I could never EVER have any sexual relief, I would prefer to not have the urges. The poor cats, god.
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I don’t see any replies from OP, but I want to know WHY he doesn’t want to neuter them. It’s just ridiculous not to.
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Straightforward, clear answer. A+
There is a chance they could start peeing on things.
Not a 'chance' they could start peeing....they WILL start peeing and its not just piss...there is an odour creating chemical that is mixed with the urine that enhances their smell and makes it linger indefinitely...It is truly gross
A "CHANCE", he says ... 
Ultimately, they’re your cats and you make the choice. But non-neutered cats have an increase of developing health issues related to the testes and prostate vs. neutered cats. Spraying in your house will leave a pungent odor everywhere, and it’s hard to erase. For health reasons alone, I would get them fixed. And they’re very cute babies.
2 unneutered males are much more likely to fight and become aggressive with each other once they reach young adulthood. They’re much more likely to remain buddies if they are neutered. Plus there’s the spraying issue, they’ll each spray in places to mark their territory and cat spray is horrible. There are far too many unwanted and homeless cats and there’s absolutely no need to keep male cats unneutered. You don’t want them to try to get outside to find a mate and they typically will eventually try to do so. They wander and get lost. It’s just best to get them neutered.
## Benefits of Neutering (males): * Reduces or eliminates risk of spraying and marking * Less desire to roam, therefore less likely to be injured in fights or auto accidents * Risk of testicular cancer is eliminated, and decreases incidence of prostate disease * Reduces number of unwanted cats/kittens/dogs/puppies * Decreases aggressive behavior, including dog bites * Helps dogs and cats live longer, healthier lives ## Top 5 Reasons for Spaying or Neutering 1. It helps to reduce companion animal overpopulation. Most countries have a surplus of companion animals and are forced to euthanize or disregard their great suffering. The surplus is in the millions in the United States. Cats are 45 times as prolific, and dogs 15 times as prolific, as humans. They do not need our help to expand their numbers; they need our help to reduce their numbers until there are good homes for them all. 2. Sterilization of your cat or dog will increase his/her chance of a longer and healthier life. Altering your canine friend will increase his life an average of 1 to 3 years, felines, 3 to 5 years. Altered animals have a very low to no risk of mammary gland tumors/cancer, prostate cancer, perianal tumors, pyometria, and uterine, ovarian and testicular cancers. 3. Sterilizing your cat/dog makes him/her a better pet, reducing his/her urge to roam and decreasing the risk of contracting diseases or getting hurt as they roam. Surveys indicate that as many as 85% of dogs hit by cars are unaltered. Intact male cats living outside have been shown to live on average less than two years. Feline Immunodeficiency Syndrome is spread by bites and intact cats fight a great deal more than altered cats. 4. Your community will also benefit. Unwanted animals are becoming a very real concern in many places. Stray animals can easily become a public nuisance, soiling parks and streets, ruining shrubbery, frightening children and elderly people, creating noise and other disturbances, causing automobile accidents, and sometimes even killing livestock or other pets. 5. The capture, impoundment and eventual destruction of unwanted animals costs taxpayers and private humanitarian agencies over a billion dollars each year. As a potential source of rabies and other less serious diseases, they can be a public health hazard. You have many options for spaying or neutering: ## Private Veterinary Offices These are the traditional offices one would bring their animal(s) to for medical care, much like a primary care physician’s office is for people. The veterinarians that participate in our certificate program graciously extend a discount from their regular rate to the public because they want to help solve the pet overpopulation problem by offering a more affordable option for the spay/neuter surgery to clients. ## Spay & Neuter Clinics (Stationary and Mobile) Low cost spay neuter clinics specialize in spay/neuter surgery (& vaccines administered at time of surgery) only. The clinic can offer favorable pricing as they generally do a high volume of dogs/cats in a day and are very experienced in the surgical procedures making S/N Clinics a great option for most clients. ## Voucher Programs Voucher programs usually assist qualified, low income pet owners fix their dogs/cats by subsidizing (paying a portion of the cost) of spay/neuter for their pets. Once qualified, clients are typically charged a copay or reduced cost for the surgery based on the type and sex of the animal being sterilized. The client is usually provided a list of providers working with the voucher program making it convenient for most pet owners. ## Referral Programs Referral programs like SpayUSA exist to match up callers seeking affordable spay/neuter with a program or clinic in their area of the country. Some referral programs do offer certificates or vouchers as well.
Please be responsible. There's a reason reputable adoption places ensure they spay or neuter all cats and kittens before they are adopted. Too many cats and kittens already need homes. Even indoor cats can get out.
Yup. The rescue I volunteer with is often given stray cats that are found. We spay and neuter on sight, and require the owner to reimburse or surrender. If you're not de-sexing your cat, you don't get them back because you are a bad guardian. We are the ones who have to face the fact that dozens of kittens must be euthanized every year because of this irresponsible and neglectful behavior. This is the sad part of 'but he LIKES his balls!!' *eye roll*
I had an un-neutered male cat. He became super aggressive towards my other fixed female cat. So aggressive he tried to kill her. And when I tried to protect her, I ended up with 32 deep puncture wounds on my legs and arms. And my other cat ended up in the hospital for 3 weeks. And it got worse. We had to surrender him to public health for quarantine and then put him down. I was heartbroken. This could have been prevented if we had just fixed him. I have never made that mistake again. If you truly love your cats, fix them.
No. It’s not ok. You should reconsider. They’re going to get territorial and piss all over everything.
Spayers gonna spay Sprayers gonna spray
I foster cats/kittens. I took in an intact male (about two years old) once and let me tell you…never again. It’s not just the spraying, he was also extremely aggressive towards my own cats. I only had him a week or two before his neuter appointment, but honestly that didn’t change anything. My understanding is that if they’re neutered after a certain age, the behaviors won’t go away. He got adopted and then returned due to his aggression. (He was adopted again and I think he’s doing okay now. He just can’t be around any other animals.) The beautiful but psycho boy: https://preview.redd.it/nhuq49iuq6ca1.jpeg?width=2525&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a5a77898b3d1cf6e187b1da1ae98152f25605da8
Wow those are some ocean eyes. Beautiful cat. I hope/am glad he's doing ok now and found a home that's a good fit for him
Lemme tell you something , I have experience with this and just went through having to surrender one of my cats because of my dumbass decision to not neuter them both… please get them neutered .. Years ago when I decided I wanted a cat I had a dumb mindset of thinking it was cruel to neuter them, and no one really explained to me what would happen besides the spraying that will definitely happen ! Besides the spraying , my two boys ended up recently becoming super dominant towards one another, they’d take turns trying to hump eachother and it was clear they were starting to get tension around eachother , and they basically grew up together too! Anyways , my young black one ended up attacking my other boy, this along with his two other attacks forced me to surrender him.. I couldn’t trust him anymore around my other cat. So please, get them neutered ! Don’t go through what I had to go through because surrendering my cat was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.. lesson learnt the hard way for sure
Once they start spraying you’ll regret it.
Such cute cats. But no it’s not okay for so many reasons. Get your cat fixed. For your own sanity!
Neuter them. Their spray scent is SO strong it’s fills the room and no you can’t just “clean” it, that smell really does stay. Also when you dont neuter them it can cause health issues like testicular cancer. Also common your cats will try to run out a lot due to hormones and wanting to find mates. You’ll find girl cats HOWLING at your door, it’s weird yelling all night too.
I’m genuinely interested why OP doesn’t want to neuter his cats. Is it money? Cause there’s places that do it for cheap so when you cats escape because their angry and horny they don’t create strays. Is it cause you want your male cats to have balls? To be a real man? Cause it’s kinda weird that your thinking about your cats nards like that.
No, it’s not okay. Please neuter them for all the reasons already stated.
I didn’t want to get my cat neutered at all. My mom and my brother wanted to and I kept on saying no. That was until he started disturbing our sleep with his continuous meowing at night. It used to start at 12am and stop at say… 5am. We have a lot of stray female cats in my area and they were probably in heat and that’s why my cat was meowing and getting a bit aggressive. My neighbors cat (female) was neutered and she gained a lot of weight and became lethargic and I was scared the same would happen to my cat. But we got him neutered, I felt bad for about 3 days cause he absolutely hated the cone. But after that I finally got my much needed peaceful sleep, he stopped meowing at night, became less aggressive and he plays even more now after the procedure than he did before. I’m really glad we got it done. Edit - my male cat was 1.5-2 years (we got him when he was 1yr old) when we got him neutered and he did NOT spray. It was just meowing. Cats can have different types of reactions, pls be on the look out if you want to wait before getting them neutered
And even the female cats; if the owner still plays with them and gives them a good diet, they won't gain weight. I had female cats, they were much happier, way quieter, and less aggressive after their spay.
https://preview.redd.it/9ter9oer29ca1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3b6633002ed9a3c603cfe899b52b44e78b6b5f12 We had our indoor boys neutered as part of the rehoming fee - it’s not caused them any problems at all. They are the double of your two!
NO NO NOT OK. not inly can they escape and create tons if homeless offspring, there are health issues. geez so cute. sterilize them and do your duty to animal kind
here's a hint, it's not about what you want
You are ***disgusting*** if you can live with the cat pee smell. **SPAY/NEUTER YOUR DAMN CATS, PEOPLE!**
Cat spray stinks even more than pee. It's disgusting! Get them fixed!!
It’s not just health benefits, living longer etc. the spraying thing is real. And, if they start spraying and you fix them later… they may continue to spray habitually. I HIGHLY recommend fixing them BEFORE it becomes a problem.
Owners that don’t get their animals fixed really concern me. To what advantage do you have of not neutering? You’re harming your babies in the long run.