With cats, several, all good. The chief reason to s/n your cats (second only to preventing kittens), is to get rid of unplesant behaviors. Unfixed males roam more than the females, looking to reinforce their territories by spraying and confrontations with other males, and to seek out females in heat and compete with other males for them. This leads to a lot of stink, a lot of noise, and a lot of injuries. The urine an unfixed male sprays is far more "pungent". He also uses it more. If he does confront a rival male, it starts as a standoff, with each cat trying to intimidate the rival into leaving with glares, hissing, growling, and eventually full blown screaming. If you've ever had a cat fight outside your window in the middle of the night you know what I mean. Sometimes it gets to the point of physical confrontation. Many people fear the jaw strength of the bully breed dogs and their power to rip and tear, but cat bites can be even nastier because they have MUCH sharper teeth and they have a LOT more bacteria in their mouths. The last time i took a cat to the vet with a bite wound abcess, it involved an overnight stay, a week in an e-collar, a course of antibiotics, a return visit to the vet to remove the drain, and I got off cheap at $300. A neighbor's cat died of an abcess, even after he was taken to the vet and put on antibiotics, and I took a feral cat who was on death's doorstep to Animal Control to be euthanised after half his face was eaten away by a very deep abcess and magots. "But my cat never goes out!" you say. "I don't need to get them fixed, tight?" Wrong! He's still got that testosterone flowing just like his outdoor counterparts, only his outlet for his frustration is your house! He sees another cat in the yard and goes balistic. He wants to chase that intruder off his turf, but he can't get at him so he takes his frustration out on the nearest alternative which could be your other pets or even you. Fancy a trip to the ER? And if he decides to "post notice" to the competetion to stay out of his yard he could start spraying near windows or doors. If he's not fixed it'll stink to the high heavens and you'll have a hard time getting the smell out. And just like humans, cats can get testicular cancer. Female cats can get uterine, ovarian, or mamary cancers. A very beautiful and loving stray a friend took in had at least four mamary tumors that we cound feel and the cancer had spread to internal organs, including her lungs. She could have had a much longer, happier life if she had only been fixed. A female in heat is no joy to live with either. When the hormones are flowing and she gets the urge, she will be moaning and whining and posturing. Some females have a fairly mild heat cycle, such as being overly friendly and shoving her butt in your face, but some (especially oriental breeds) can get downright obnoxious! And between the yowling and the pheremones she'd puting out, you'll have every unfixed male in the neighborhood singing opera under your findow and duking it out to win the paw of their lady fair.
In short, spaying or neutering (called "de-sexing" in some countries) removes the hormones that drive the sexual behaviors. Your cat will be more calm and mellow, and much less inclined to want to sneak out looking for a mate or to go wandering and get into fights. It usually removes the urge to mark turf by spraying, and if they do spray it won't stink as bad and it will be easier to get the smell out. You will be on better relations with your neighbors if your cat isn't yowling and spraying in their yard, you will have less vet bills, your pets will be easier to live with, and need I remind you, NO KITTENS!
That was $300 for puting him under to open, drain, and flush the abcess and put in a drain, giving him a massive dose of antibiotics, keeping him over night, and sending him home with oral antibiotics. While he was under, they gave me a discount on a neuter, and I got a break on the oral antibiotics since they were getting close to their expiration date. I also saved on the e-collar because I had my own.
(05-16-2012, 05:48 PM)Karenskatz Wrote: That was $300 for puting him under to open, drain, and flush the abcess and put in a drain, giving him a massive dose of antibiotics, keeping him over night, and sending him home with oral antibiotics. While he was under, they gave me a discount on a neuter, and I got a break on the oral antibiotics since they were getting close to their expiration date. I also saved on the e-collar because I had my own.
I was just wondering if everything he did was necessary. Usually salesmen will always try to sell us more stuff than we really need. Many car repairmen would always try to tell us to change more components than what is really necessary. Then again, I am not a vet, so I am not exactly sure on this particular matter.
Believe me, i went over the list very carefully. That's where I saw I would be charged $10 for an e-collar that I had bought from the pet store for $6. I also questioned if general anesthesia was realy neccessary or if it could be drained while under sedation. No, had to be anesthesia, but since he was a stray, was I planning on finding a home for him? Well then, since he already has to be put under, how about a discount neuter? We dickered a bit. They know me as a rescuer at that vet.
I can't quote exact prices for s/n because I haven't paid full price in ages and it can vary betwen vets and areas. I think a male is gett to be almost $100, and a female is well over that. There are more low cost s/n programs every day. In the US you can go to http://www.spayusa and click on your state to find out what in available in your area. Some are only for low income, some are only for those living in a certain area, but there are more programs that are open to rescue groups.
