Castration

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Castration and sterilization (Neutering and spaying)

Castration of the male cat:

Castration means the removal of the testicles (balls). The testicles not only produce the sperm cells but also male hormones.

Those hormones cause tomcat behaviour, the typical tomcat odour and also the development into the broad cat type.

The first advantage of castration is that the tomcat can no longer sire kittens.

Often the 'ex-tomcat' also becomes much more domestic and sociable; he has less tendency to run away from home, to roam and to fight, which also considerably reduces the chance of infections and fight abscesses. An uncastrated tomcat often urinates in the house and the urine has a typical strong 'tomcat odour'. That odour always disappears after castration.

The spraying behaviour almost always disappears, although there is no complete guarantee that the cat will become house-trained. Sometimes even a castrated male is unclean, but then more factors are involved than just the sex hormones.

A tomcat can in any case be castrated from the age of 9 months.

Sometimes they are already very troublesome at a younger age (urinating in the house etc.).

Because there is no health objection for the animal, castration may then also take place at a younger age. To perform the castration, the tomcat is put under anaesthesia.

After disinfecting the area, in the scrotum a small incision is made on both sides, the testicles are brought outside, tied off and removed.

By contraction of the skin the wound edges move towards each other; the small wounds are not sutured.

Sterilization of the female cat:

Sterilization is usually spoken of, while the operation should in reality be called castration.

Sterilization means only making infertile; castration means removing the ovaries and that is what happens during the operation.

The heat of a female cat usually causes nuisance; a female cat in heat can make quite a lot of noise.

After removal of the ovaries the female cat is infertile and because the hormone production stops she also no longer comes into heat.

About 10 months old is a good age to have a female cat sterilized. If they come into heat at a younger age, the use of the contraceptive pill for cats can counteract the heat. The heat can also be suppressed for a longer term by tablets or an injection.

Long-term use of hormones, however, has disadvantages and therefore sterilization is a better solution. Also in the female cat the operation is performed under full anaesthesia.

However, this is abdominal surgery and therefore the operation is more serious than in the male cat. After an incision is made in the abdominal wall the ovaries are brought outside the abdominal cavity, some blood vessels are tied off, the ovaries and sometimes also the uterus are removed. Then the abdominal wall and skin are sutured again.

Sometimes the sutures can be placed entirely internally, so that no external skin sutures are needed.

Male and female cat:

In both cases an appointment must be made before the operation.

The animals must be brought in on an empty stomach; that means no more eating from 12 hours before the operation (drinking is allowed).

After treatment the animals stay in the clinic for a few hours until they wake up again and can safely go home. At home the cat must be given a warm, quiet spot where he or she can recover further. Other pets are best kept away until the patient is fully recovered and steady on its feet. Until that moment it must also be prevented that a cat could fall down the stairs, for example. Female cats may not eat on the day of the operation. If a male cat really asks for it he may have a little bit of food. If that is not vomited then a bit more may be fed.

As soon as they are well able to, both male and female cats may be given water again. If a cat still does not want to eat 2 days after the operation, you must contact the clinic.

Keep the male cat and certainly the female cat indoors for at least 3 days until they are completely back to normal. If external skin sutures have been used in a female cat, they must be removed after about 10 days at the consultation hour. If you are not sure whether everything is going well after the operation, do not hesitate to call the clinic for consultation or come with the female or male cat for a check-up at one of the consultation hours.