Spaying and neutering our cat friends brings undoubted benefits but also changes that if not managed properly can become problems. Proper nutrition is a key cornerstone in the management of our cat friends after neutering.

ADVANTAGES OF STERILIZATION

Let’s start by saying that almost all domestic cats, male or female, are neutered in adulthood unlike dogs. Without going into details, let us analyze the advantages of neutering in our cats

Male: Sexual maturity is expressed in outdoor cats with wandering attitudes and spasmodic search for females, sometimes for days away from home. Fights with other males over territory and females. Territorial marking with sprays of urine with an intense and persistent odor. In addition, fighting or mating predisposes to the spread of infectious diseases such as FIV and FeLV

Female: The female cat from sexual maturity begins to go into heat continuously at a couple of times a year. Heat attitudes are evident, with restlessness and continuous vocalizations (even at night). The female may also run away in search of the male. She is also more prone to mammary neoplasms if not sterilized, pyometra (uterine infections) and unwanted pregnancies.

So ultimately the Veterinarian recommends spaying/neutering cats to decrease risks related to reproductive activity and improve cohabitation with them.

BUT WHAT DOES STERILIZATION MEAN?

Castration in animals involves making an animal unable to conceive, in the case of animals by suppression of sex hormones. Surgically by removing the testicles in the male or the ovaries in the pussycat, or pharmacologically (chemical castration), a method, the latter, little used in the cat.

The female cat is sterilized around 6-7months while the male generally is sterilized later around 8-11 given the influence of testosterone on muscle mass and the urogenital system

ARE THERE ALSO POSSIBLE NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES?

Sterilization induces hormonal changes that reduce basal metabolic rate. In addition, these cats are more sedentary coming less travel for mating and territorial defense. Energy demand in these cats can decrease by 15 to 30%, and it is therefore advisable to reduce the calories in the food so that these cats do not gain weight.

Decreased metabolism and weight gain are the primary drawback. However, obesity is a predisposing factor to other diseases such as diabetes, pancreatitis, and the more common lower urinary tract disorders (FLUTD). These conditions, the best known of which is cystitis, can then be obstructive or nonobstructive. The male is much more prone to obstructive cystitis, which is very dangerous. In a cystitis, in fact, the cellular debris and bladder crystals that form go on to form, intermingled with the urine, a mush that becomes the most frequent cause of a mechanical obstruction of the urethra (PLUG) and thus the fateful bladder blockage. In such cases, the kidneys can be damaged even severely since due to the increased bladder pressure, renal flow is stopped. In females who have larger and shorter urethras this occurrence is very unlikely, and nonobstructive cystitis occurs.

SO WHAT SHOULD BE DONE?

Give a food with reduced energy density, high-quality protein sources, and designed to maintain a physiological urinary PH. It must be said that a good quality wet food often possesses these characteristics, but if we want, we can choose spayed cat food on the shelf.

Keep as many litter boxes as there are cats (one more would be better).

Stimulate water intake (drinking fountains , addition in food). Stimulation of play and environmental enrichment to avoid sedentariness and activate metabolism

Bibliography

-Factors associated with hematuric struvite crystalluria in cats (J. Feline Med Surg. 2019 Oct;21(10):922-930)

– Current perspectives on the optimal age to spay/castrate dogs and cats (Vet Med (Auckl). 2015; 6: 171-180)

Dr. Simone Falci