To neuter or not to neuter that is the question...

[Best Paw Forward]

We recently adopted a approx 2 year old un-neutered male. All of my animals have always been fixed. We wanted to give him some time to settle in before neutering. He does not spray at all. What are the advantages/disadvantages to neutering an infertile male at this age? Will it change anything?

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

Yes. Yes to neutering and yes that it will change everything.

It's not just spraying, although because your addition is recent you cannot know if spraying may be in your near future.

Intact male urine smells much much more pungent than neutered male cat urine. So even if it is confined to a litterbox it smells more.

Male hormones can have a very strong effect on a cat and can make their reactions erratic and really vehement when stirred up. Many people have had a lovely pet that suddenly turns on them causing major damage in seconds. Cats that people thought were the sweetest kitty have turned aggressive at the drop of a hat, those hormones are shocking in their ability to change a cat instantly in certain situations. There is usually little warning, and certainly you would not wish to live with a cat you cannot turn your back on nor trust around children or visitors. There is simply no benefit to keeping your cat intact, but there is benefit to neutering.

Even though your cat is likely infertile (I think in another thread you said he was F2), he doesn't know that he is shooting blanks. He still is likely to feel the need to wander even if he doesn't understand why, that he is looking for a mate or three or ten. Neutering takes away that urge, and their focus shifts to being a great pet.

 

[Best Paw Forward]

Sounds reasonable enough... He is a 19lb F2 very slender and sleek. All of my previous animals have always been fixed so this is totally new to me to take in an unfixed cat. We were planning on having him fixed once he adjusted in the house (did not want to send him to surgery while with the stress of his third new home in 2 months). He is in his furever home now Someone had mentioned to me that it was unnecessary in Savannahs but I had never heard that so wanted to get opinions of Savannah knowledgable people Thanks!

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

There are those that assume that because a cat will be infertile then you don't need to neuter. They apparently don't consider that the cat would still be making testosterone so the behavior would be identical to a fertile male cat. It's only the sperm that is missing.

We encounter this often in Rescue....and have cats surrendered for spraying or aggressive behavior, which are easily fixed by neutering. Unfortunately those owners reached their limit in patience by the time they contact us and don't wish to wait and see if the neuter has the effect wanted... but almost always it does.

 

[Carykd7kau]

And they are so sweet after they are snipped. My F2 is my shadow.

 

[Best Paw Forward]

Our guy has been so sweet we love him so much. The only issue he has is when I leave and come back from work (I leave for about a week-10 days) So hopefully this will eventually stop. He acts like I am a stranger and ignores me for a few hours instead of his usual happy greet with tennis ball in his mouth

 

[Best Paw Forward]

Our guy has been so sweet we love him so much. The only issue he has is when I leave and come back from work (I leave for about a week-10 days) So hopefully this will eventually stop. He acts like I am a stranger and ignores me for a few hours instead of his usual happy greet with tennis ball in his mouth I was told his previous homes could not handle him but he seems excellent with us. One home had him for 3-4 weeks she said she could barely touch him and he always was hiding and hissing. Home before that hissing non stop and destructive, not sure of his previous history beyond those two other than at least one more owner...I think animals just know when they are in loving forever homes...I work with rescue and have a lot of time to work with the animals. This is our first Savannah however so I will be frequenting the forums often We had a bombay feral cat and an Egyptian Mau before him.

 

[John Popp]

As Brigitte mentioned, the cat has no idea he's firing blanks and you have a potentially very volatile situation on hand.