“Orchiectomy” (also called neutering or castration) is the correct term for the surgical procedure done to prevent your male cat from reproducing.  While many responsible cat owners have their females spayed, far too few seem to realize the importance of having their males neutered.

  From the medical standpoint there are many problems in older male cats that can be easily prevented if the cat has been neutered.  If one of the testicles has not descended into the scrotum (a genetic disorder known as cryptorchidism), he would stand a much higher chance than normal of developing several different testicular tumors.  Additionally, cryptorchidism is a genetic trait, which means that any male descendant of a cryptorchid cat, or the sons of his female descendants, are at drastically increased risk of being cryptorchid themselves.

  It is also important to neuter your cat from a behavioral standpoint as well.  Females are sexually active only periodically, but males are capable of breeding all year long, and a male does not have to see a queen in heat to get aroused.  His nose is so sensitive that he can smell a female in heat many blocks away.  You can NOT teach your cat to control his mating instincts.  Even when you have him securely confined indoors, he will try repeatedly to get loose, dig out, climb over, or do whatever he can to find a way out, sometimes even injuring himself in his quest to find his mate.  Once he does escape, all the perils that kill so many strays can now affect your cat; he could easily be hit by a car, exposed to diseases and parasites, get hurt in a fight or even get shot all while trying to mate with a queen in season. 

  Neutering your male cat before he becomes sexually mature, which happens at about 6 months of age, will make him easier to live with, more devoted, happier and healthier.  It will also greatly reduce the chance that he will begin spraying, which is a male cat’s way of marking his environment, which he does by urinating on virtually anything upright.  This is, incidentally, probably the #1 reason people bring their male cats to be neutered – cat urine has a very potent odor!  A neutered cat is healthier, happier and if he is not allowed to breed before he’s neutered he will not have added to the cat population surplus.  Thousands of kittens and cats are killed in shelters every year. 

  If you have any questions or concerns, call the Council Bluffs Veterinary clinic at 323-2147.   We are open 8-6 Monday through Friday, 8-3 on Saturdays.