Spaying & Neutering

What's the difference between spaying and neutering?
Both are surgeries that prevent cats from reproducing. Spaying is the name of the procedure for female cats. Neutering is the name of the procedure for male cats. Other non-medical names are "fixing" and "altering."

What are the benefits?
There are many! Read some of them below.

Overpopulation. Cats can start having kittens at 6 months of age and can have three (sometimes four) litters per year. When kittens from each of those litters begin having kittens of their own, the numbers become exponential. Here is a scenario where each litter has 3 female kittens (an average amount):

On January 1, a cat has three female kittens.

By late spring, the mother will be having a second litter. Now she's had six kittens since January 1.

By mid-summer,  each kitten from her first litter will have kittens of their own. This makes 15 new kittens since Jan. 1.

By Fall, the original mother will be having her third litter of the year and the cats from her first litter will be having their 2nd litters of the year. Now there are 27 new cats/kittens since January 1st.

By December, the mother will be having another litter, her first three kittens will be having their second litters, and the kittens born in summer will be having their first litters. If each litter had only 2 males, That's a about 80   cats and kittens from one mother in a single year. Consider that those numbers would apply to every female cat alive if none was spayed.

Your cat will be safer, happier, and healthier.  When female cats "go into heat", meaning they have the maternal urge to have kittens, they feel discomfort and yowl. Spaying removes this urge; they no longer care about having kittens and feel no discomfort. Many people want to let their female cat "have just one litter just so she can be a mother once." Cats don't long for motherhood the way humans do. They do love and protect their babies once they're born, but it's not something they want beforehand. Even the mating process is unpleasant for them. They're much happier if they never had kittens at all. Lastly, s paying female cats prevents uterine infections and breast tumors.

An un-neutered male will howl and "spray" - marking its territory with a pungent blend of urine and pheromones, even if it is an indoors-only cat (and that smell is difficult to remove!). Un-neutered cats that are allowed outdoors will roam in search of females - sometimes far from home where it is in danger of traffic, predators, and other threats. They often get into fights with other cats when non-spayed females are in the vicinity. Once neutered, these problems will cease and the cat will no longer have the urge to mate. Also, n eutering male pets prevents testicular and some prostate cancers.

How can I get my cat spayed or neutered?
Your veterinarian can do it. There are also low-cost and free services available:

Where to obtain low cost or free spay and neuter services for cats

If you need trapping information follow this link to Alley Cat Allies which is a national organization dedicated to the protection and humane treatment of cats.