Neutering your cat is a key step in responsible pet ownership, offering significant health and behavioural benefits for both males and females. It helps to prevent unwanted litters, reduces the risk of certain illnesses, and can make your cat calmer and less likely to roam or fight.
This guide covers everything you need to know about neutering, spaying, and castration, including the procedures, benefits, and aftercare tips. Whether you’re considering neutering your kitten or an older cat, you’ll find helpful advice to ensure your pet stays happy and healthy. Let’s explore how neutering can support your cat’s wellbeing!
Neutering is the general name for the surgery performed by a veterinary surgeon to prevent breeding in an animal.
Spaying is the removal of the ovaries and/or uterus from a female.
Castration is the removal of the testicles from a male.
Cats are neutered to stop them producing unwanted litters. Neutering may also reduce fighting and so can also reduce the spread of some infections such as Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) and Feline Leukaemia virus (FeLV).
Neutering may keep cats nearer home instead of going outside looking for a mate. Entire male cats tend to roam, especially during the breeding season, and can stay away from home for several days if they have found a receptive queen. Queens can also be quite desperate to get out and find a mate. The risk of getting lost or run over is also lowered if cats are not roaming so far.
Removing the reproductive organs prevents pyometra (womb infection – a life threatening infection), ovarian and uterine tumours in the female and testicular tumours in the male. Urine spraying to mark territory, indoors and out, can also be reduced and the urine does not smell as strong.
Preventing breeding by keeping an entire female inside when she is in season is stressful for the cat, especially if they toilet outside. It can cause urinary problems and constipation if the cat is not happy using a litter tray. Female cats come into season every 2–3 weeks between February and October, so keeping them indoors to prevent breeding is no small undertaking.
Female cats wail very loudly when in season, and this, as well as upsetting the neighbours, will attract unneutered male cats into the area. This unsettles local cats, causing more fighting with a higher risk of infection spread, as unneutered cats are more likely to carry feline leukaemia and feline aids.
Cats are best neutered before they become sexually mature – usually at around 4-5 months old. If you have a cat that needs spaying or castrating, you can get more advice from your veterinary practice about when to book them in.
If you have an older cat that has not been neutered, then the sooner it is done, then more health benefits there will be for your cat.
You will need to starve your cat from the night before in preparation for the surgery - your vet team will give you the precise details. Then at the admit appointment on the day of the surgery, the vet or nurse will go through the admittance form, ask you to sign the consent form and your cat will be admitted. If you have any questions about the procedure, they will answer them. Once your cat is admitted, they will be examined by the veterinary team to ensure that they are healthy.
Male cats: under general anaesthesia, the fur from around the testes is plucked or clipped short and the skin cleaned. The testes are accessed through incisions in the scrotum, the vessels tied off, the testes removed, and the wounds left open. If your male cat’s testes have not descended properly, then castration will generally be left until your cat is a bit older and the testes then removed from inside the abdomen.
Female cats: under general anaesthesia, a patch of fur is clipped away from the surgical site and the skin cleaned. A small incision is made in the abdomen through the skin and muscles, and the ovaries and uterus ligated and removed. The wound is sutured closed. If your female cat is a colourpoint (where clipping the fur makes the new fur grow back coloured), is in early pregnancy or has a problem with the reproductive organs, then the wound will generally be down the middle of the belly instead of on your cat's flank.
After the surgery, your cat will be monitored as they wake up, then put into a kennel with a heat mat to continue to doze as the anaesthetic continues to wear off. They will be monitored until they are up and about and will then be offered something to eat. The vet nurse will generally ring you once your cat is awake and arrange a time that afternoon for you to come and collect. At the discharge appointment, they will go through the post-op instructions with you, before sending you home with your cat.
Both male and female cats may be a little sleepy and sometimes a little disorientated as it can take up to 48hrs for the medication in their system to fully wear off. They should be kept quiet and warm until they are back to their normal selves.
Male cats generally just have the scrotal wounds that heal quickly, and they can go outside a few days after the castration.
Female cats have stitches in the muscles of the body wall and skin. There may be stitches visible on the outside, or they may be hidden. The wound takes a little longer to heal than in the males, so your cat should be kept in an enclosed area for several days to avoid excess exercise, climbing and jumping. Unfortunately, nobody tells these cats that they have had surgery, so they will bounce about as normal unless they are restricted. To prevent your cat licking their wound and opening it up, disrupting healing or causing an infection, your vet will send them home with a plastic or soft collar or a surgical vest. Expect to keep your female cat indoors until after the 10 days post-op check, or until any external stitches are removed.
Cat castrates may or may not have a post op check, but female cats usually have checks 2 and 10 days after the surgery, to check wound healing.
If you have any concerns about how your cat is recovering from surgery, then call your vet practice and discuss it with them.
- Wait until 6 months old: research has shown no adverse effects from neutering before 6 months old. Cats can breed from 4-5 months old, so neutering around that time is advised. Rescue centres may neuter at 12 weeks of age or younger, to ensure that rehomed kittens cannot breed.
- Let a queen have a litter first: Cats do not need a litter before spaying, breeding is hard work for a young cat and carries its own health risks so should not be undertaken lightly.
- Indoor cats don’t need neutering: If your indoor cat was to get out, then they are likely to mate – males at any time, females when in season. Entire cats will try to get out to find a mate, so will be alert to any chance they get. Un-neutered cats living indoors with other entire cats will breed, regardless of family relationships, so neutering is always advised.
- The surgery is painful: surgery is carried out under general anaesthesia, so no pain is felt.
Most cats that are neutered before sexual maturity do not have any changes in their character as they have not yet had any hormonal stimulation. Behaviourally, older cats that are neutered tend to stay closer to home and fight less.
It is important to reduce your cat's food a little after neutering as they will not burn it off as quickly, so weight gain is possible. A reduction of around 25% is advised to keep their weight stable.