Neutering your tom or queen

Neutering is routinely performed by many Veterinary Surgeons on a daily basis. The decision as to whether to have your tom castrated or your queen spayed should be carefully considered and discussed with your Veterinary Surgeon. Below we give you some guidelines as to what the procedure involves and some of the points to consider during the decision process. Your Veterinary Practice will advise you on the most appropriate time for this to be done.

Castration for cats

This is considered to be a form of contraception for male cats, unlike oestrus control in the queen.It is a permanent procedure, so should not be undertaken if you wish to mate from your Tom. It involves a general anaesthetic and is a sterile surgical procedure performed by a Veterinary Surgeon and assisted by Veterinary nurses.

Reasons for castration

• To make the Tom sterile, so he cannot father kittens

• To stop adult tom cats from roaming after queens, territorial fighting or spraying/marking with urine.

The procedure

The procedure involves complete excision and removal of the testicles from the scrotal sac. The scrotum is left behind and will naturally look a lot smaller after the operation. There may be some swelling in the scrotum immediately post operatively. If this persists, please consult you Veterinary Surgeon.

If you are planning to have your dog castrated for behavioural reason, it is worth considering that sometimes the problems may disappear overnight. Sometimes the traits are as a result of learned behaviour and because of this, they may not subside for a few months.

Please note: Castrated tomcats may have an increased tendency to gain weight, so it may be worth considering a "lighter" diet. Please discuss this with your Veterinary Practice.

Spaying your queen

If you are not considering breeding from your queen you may want to consider having her spayed. It is not true to say, allow your queen one litter before spaying, there are literally thousands of unwanted kittens born each year, and destroyed, so spaying is the kindest and most sensible thing to do. This is considered to be a form of contraception and oestrus control. Again this is a permanent procedure and it involves a general anaesthetic. This is also a sterile surgical procedure performed by a Veterinary Surgeon and assisted by Veterinary nurses.

Reasons for spaying

• To make the queen sterile, so she cannot have kittens

• To increase the enjoyment of owning a queen by preventing her from "calling" during the oestrus season.

The procedure

Unlike human sterilisation in women, most Vets perform a complete ovariohysterectomy in the queen, which means removal of the womb and the ovaries. This is because the hormones produced to trigger pregnancy and oestrus is excreted from the ovaries. Your queen may be left with a small scar along her side of her tummy, which should not be seen after the fur grows back.

Please note: Spayed queens may have an increased tendency to gain weight, so it may be worth considering a "lighter" diet. Please discuss this with your Veterinary Practice.

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