Neuter and spay keeps the vet away (sort of) ...

A strange new tomcat had come to live in the district, and all the she-cats were wondering what he was like for romance. One day, one of the she-cats said: 'Well, I'm going to take a chance.' And she hopped over a wall to see the new fellow.

She was gone some time, and when she came back, the others said: 'What's he like?'

She said: 'He's a dead loss... It took him half an hour to tell me about his operation.'

Although this is a joke, (or meant to be – don’t shoot the messenger, I didn’t write it!) it does carry a message.  Neutering your cats is the right thing to do – both for the females and for males.  It’s not a macho thing to leave your tom intact, and I have seen men wince when I’ve mentioned getting my boys neutered.  And contrary to myth, female cats DO NOT NEED to have one litter of kittens before they are spayed. 

What a cat doesn’t have, won’t be missed. So, by neutering your tom, he won’t miss out on romancing the females, getting into serious fights with other entire males, and suffering horrific injuries – or death – on the roads.  He won’t miss them because having been neutered, he won’t have the need or the urge to do those things.

Likewise, with a female.  Having her spayed, she won’t start calling for a male and keep you awake half the night with her pleas to get outside.  Then there are the kittens – getting them rehomed into good homes.  All kittens are adorable, who doesn’t love the magic of having scampering kittens around the place but all too often, four kittens can become sixteen, and so they keep multiplying until you’ve got a houseful of kittens, cats and smells.

So, make this year the year you get your boys and girls neutered and spayed for the benefit of their health, your wallet (vet fees, food) and your relationships (family, friends and neighbours might rush round to see five or six new little kittens, but will draw the line at hundreds – and the smell that comes with a house full of unneutered toms and unspayed females).