Is it good to spay cats? See what the scholars have to say

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"Neutering can increase cats! > lifespan. ”

"If you don't sterilize, you can easily get breast cancer!"

It seems like all pet bloggers and animal doctors say so, but that's not the whole truth

Take "neutering to prolong the life of cats", for now, we still can't firmly claim that "cats are castrated longer", which is not consistent with the concept spread by many pet self-media and veterinarians.

Cats that have been neutered can indeed live longer, but it cannot be ruled out that there are neutered conscious cat families who have given cats better nutrition and medical conditions.

在名为《英国初级兽医护理实践中猫的寿命和死亡率Longevity and mortality of cats attending primary care veterinary practices in England》这一篇文章中，对随机抽样的4009只已死亡猫咪进行了详细调研，得出的结论是绝育后，母猫能增加0.6年的寿命而公猫可以延寿1.7年[1]。

The authors believe that age-appropriate neutering has some benefits for domestic cats, reducing the incidence of diseases such as asthma and gingivitis.

However, they also pointed out that breed, diet, weight, vaccination, exercise and so on have a very large impact on the life expectancy of cats, and owners with neutering concepts usually pay more attention to these, so that the life expectancy of neutered domestic cats has increased.

So, what are the more clear, neutering benefits?

One is to stop estrus, reduce flights, and control the number of cats in the family

I have always believed that the core of pet raising is to serve human beings.

Female cats are cyclically in heat, while cats have a sense of smell 10-14 times that of humans, and male cats can passively estrus by sniffing pheromones from female cats in heat several kilometers away.

This means that, if not neutered, cat owners will have to endure the baby-like howling of the female cat in the home for many years, as well as the restlessness and odor marks (urine spraying) of the male cat.

As soon as the hormones come up, no matter how well-behaved the kitten is, they will find an opportunity to sneak out and find their own "meow match".

So far, there is no more effective method of forgiveness than spay-and-neuter (of course, I wouldn't recommend any owner try the swab method that is so popular on the Internet).

Of course, if you feel that neutering is an abuse of the domestic cat/you want him to leave his bloodline, don't poke the kitten as a matchmaker.

In addition, cats have multiple births, and once the baby is made, the number of cats in the family will increase exponentially

If you don't want to worry about where the kittens are going often, cutting them to Yongzhi is indeed the best result.

The second is to reduce the incidence of breast tumors

Compared with humans, the incidence of breast tumors in cats is not high, and it is considered to be a disease caused by endocrine disorders.

However, the flip side of God's coin is the severe illness rate that is difficult to control once the disease occurs, [2] 80~96% of cat breast tumors are malignant and the prognosis is very poor [3] [4] [5].

According to a study by Beth Overley et al., who specialize in feline cancer, oophorectomy (OHE) can significantly reduce the risk of breast tumors in female cats, and early sterilization of female cats under the age of 6 months can reduce the risk of developing the disease by 91% [6].

The protective effect of OHE on the occurrence of mammary tumors in female cats decreases with the age of surgery, and for female cats over 2 years old, neutering is meaningless in the prevention of mammary tumors...

In short, if your cat is over 2 years old and Nei Nei has obvious lumps to the touch (very few male cats can also get breast tumors), it is recommended to seek medical attention in time....

The third is to eradicate the problem of pyometra

Pyometra is common in female dogs but less common in female cats [7] [8], with an incidence of approximately 2.2 percent [9] and a clear genetic predisposition.

Although the pathogenesis is not well understood (most scholars believe that it is related to bacterial infections and excessive sex hormones) [10], prevention is well understood.

As the saying goes, if you cut off a thousand sorrows, without the uterus, it is obvious that there will be no pus...

Fourth, basically put an end to the behavior of indiscriminate urine

Male cats, in particular, will spray a large amount of pheromone-containing liquid on walls and furniture during estrus.

Unlike actual urination, this behavior is usually performed by standing, and the discharge is small but has a strong smell and does not squeak when smelled

There are also some more extreme cats that will poop everywhere during estrus, although it is an exception, but by coincidence, this kind of thing happened to me.

If you are particularly concerned about the smell at home, don't hesitate to cut it.

Correspondingly, there are downsides to neutering cats

One is obesity and an increased risk of diabetes

Neutered cats are redundant with a large amount of energy that should be consumed by the reproductive system, which is prone to obesity and a higher risk of diabetes [11] [12].

在《犬猫糖尿病：天生还是后天？Canine and feline diabetes mellitus: nature or nurture?》中，作者将绝育列为增加猫咪二型糖尿病风险的因素之一[13]。

Obesity will further aggravate the incidence of diseases in organs such as the heart, bones, liver and kidneys.

Everyone should pay attention to the cat's body management

This part of the increased risk can be offset by controlling the calories in the diet and exercising enough every day, but it is difficult for most excrement shovelers to do these two things.

After all, many friends don't care about the ratio of calories and nutrients when they eat by themselves...

What's more, puffed cat food itself is a very calorie-dense food, cats are easy to overeat, and domestic cats have always been more troubled to control their weight.

The second is bone dysplasia

The hormones produced by the gonads are also involved in the regulation of systemic hormones and have a non-negligible impact on the growth and development of kittens.

Studies have shown that premature neutering can delay the closure of the epiphysis in cats, bring more uncertainty to the growth and development of bones [14] [15], and increase the possibility of osteoarticular problems in elderly cats.

Therefore, there is a market for joint supplements such as ammonia sugar, dimethyl sulfone and even type 2 collagen in cat owners, and it is not without reason...

in a word

At present, cat neutering is not all benefits.

As for whether the benefits of sterilization outweigh the losses, there are 10,000 Meowlets in the hearts of 10,000 shovelers.

For my own cat, at the moment, I am physically healthy and energetic every day.

If you want to be sterilized, according to the literature, it will be a better time to do it as soon as possible after the end of the first estrus (less likely to be obese, higher breast cancer prevention rate, etc.).

If you don't want to sterilize the cat, actively find a mate for the cat and pay attention to the cat's physical state, which is good for the cat and the owner.

above

Bibliography:

1. O'Neill D G , Church D B , Mcgreevy P D , et al. Longevity and mortality of cats attending primary care veterinary practices in England[J]. JOURNAL OF FELINE MEDICINE AND SURGERY, 2015(2).
2. ^Gobello C, Corrada Y. Canine mammary tumors: An endocrine clinical approach[J]. COMPENDIUM ON CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR THE PRACTISING VETERINARIAN-NORTH AMERICAN EDITION-, 2001, 23(8): 705-711.
3. ^Withrow SJ, MacEwen EG. Tumors of the mammary gland. In: Small Animal Clinical Oncology, 3rd ed. Philadelphia, PA: WB Saunders; 2001:455–477.
4. ^ Hayes HM, Milne KL, Mandell CP. Epidemiological features of feline mammary carcinoma. Vet Rec 1981; 108:476–479.
5. ^Bostock DE. Canine and feline mammary neoplasms. Br Vet J 1986; 142:506–515.
6. ^Overley B, Shofer F S, Goldschmidt M H, et al. Association between ovarihysterectomy and feline mammary carcinoma[J]. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 2005, 19(4): 560-563.
7. ^Egenvall A. Hagman R. Bonnett B.N. et al. Breed risk of pyometra in insured dogs in Sweden. J Vet Intern Med. 2001; 15: 530-538
8. ^Jitpean S. Hagman R. Strom Holst B. et al. Breed variations in the incidence of pyometra and mammary tumours in Swedish dogs. Reprod Domest Anim. 2012; 47: 347-350
9. ^Hagman R. Strom Holst B. Moller L. et al. Incidence of pyometra in Swedish insured cats. Theriogenology. 2014; 82: 114-120
10. ^Liu Yongwang, Qian Cunzhong, Zhuang Junying, et al. Diagnosis and treatment of pyometra in cats[C]// The 12th Academic Symposium of the Animal Reproduction Branch of the Chinese Association of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine. 0.
11. ^ Crenshaw, K. L. & Peterson, M. E. (1996) Pretreatment clinical and laboratory evaluation of cats with diabetes mellitus: 104 cases (1992–1994). J. Am. Vet. Med. Assoc. 209: 943–949.
12. ^Effects of dietary fat and energy on body weight and composition after gonadectomy in cats Patrick G. Nguyen, DVM, MS; Henri J. Dumon, DVM, MS; Brigitte S. Siliart, DVM, MS; Lucile J. Martin, DVM, Ph.D; Renaud Sergheraert; Vincent C. Biourge, DVM, PhD
13. ^Rand J S, Fleeman L M, Farrow H A, et al. Canine and feline diabetes mellitus: nature or nurture? [J]. The Journal of nutrition, 2004, 134(8): 2072S-2080S.
14. ^C, May, D, et al. Delayed physeal closure associated with castration in cats[J]. Journal of Small Animal Practice, 1991, 32(7):326-328.
15. ^Karen L , Perry, Alice, et al. Effect of neutering and breed on femoral and tibial physeal closure times in male and female domestic cats. [J]. Journal of feline medicine and surgery, 2014.

The author declares that there is no interest in this article, and friends are welcome to communicate rationally and discuss harmoniously~