WHY SHOULD I STERILISE AN ANIMAL?

The short answer to this question is: as soon as your vet recommends.

Mykonos Animal Welfare is frequently contacted by people needing assistance because a puppy or kitten they were feeding has become pregnant while they were waiting to have them spayed at 6 months, or has come into season at 4 months and is being pursued by all the neighbourhood male cats or dogs.  We are also regularly picking up 5-month-old kittens who are pregnant or have already given birth!

Waiting until your animal is 6 months old is an out of date practice that is not based on any current science, nor is it what is followed internationally and it is certainly is not within European guidelines.

“Juvenile neutering” is a procedure performed using keyhole surgery with a tiny incision and can be used with kittens from the age of 8 weeks. Using this more modern approach has been proven to lead to healthier outcomes for the animal.

Veterinary organisations in the US, UK, Australia AND the European Union highly recommend the use of “juvenile neutering” and organisations like The RSPCA, Animal Welfare League, Cat Protection and other reputable rescue organisations not only recommend but practice it on the animals in their care too.

The Federation of Veterinarians of Europe even released this information pack about its position. Feel free to show it to your vet and to try to encourage earlier sterilisation for your animal if you wish but be prepared – Mykonian vets consider sterilising at the age of 8 weeks old to be controversial. They will probably be unhappy about it and will refuse to do it. In that case, you MUST keep the animal inside so there is no exposure to other animals until the vet is willing to do the sterilisation. Over time we hope this will change.

With large dogs, it has been proven to be beneficial for the animal to wait until the dog has grown to its full size before sterilising.

Consult your vet for the appropriate age, but don’t forget to keep your pet inside until it has been sterilised.

Yes, it probably is “unnatural”.  But then so is having a domesticated animal as a pet. Or using a lead and/or a collar.  There are many “unnatural” things in this world. The fact is that our pets and the local strays rely on us to make the right decisions for them, and that makes us responsible for them, just like a dependent. The right thing to do is to give them the best chance at a long and happy life, and that means sterilising them as soon as we can.

Every year in Greece tens of thousands of cats and dogs are destroyed, thrown in the bin or ocean in plastic bags to die, poisoned, treated badly or die on the streets, and until this ongoing tragedy has been addressed it is cruel and irresponsible to bring more animals into this world.

If you are in doubt visit any shelter or street colony, and you will be confronted by dozens or hundreds of unwanted, homeless animals. These animals will range from gorgeous kittens and puppies to healthy and affectionate adult cats and dogs, and just as quickly as these animals live and die their short, tragic lives, many more are produced to take their place.

There are no health or veterinary benefits for allowing a female cat to have a litter before having her sterilised.

Just like humans, animals can catch many sexually transmitted diseases (some life threatening) when they are left to their own devices.  But because animals don’t speak, they cant tell you if they are in pain when they pee or they are itchy “down there”.

These infections often cause discomfort and pain, lead to shorter life spans and substantially more expensive vet visits. 

If you spay your female cat before she enters her first heat cycle you will dramatically reduce her chances of catching feline AIDS or developing mammary tumours. Mammary tumours are the 3rd most common form of cancer affecting cats and are of serious concern. 

Lastly, spaying an adult female animal that has had a litter is a riskier and lengthier operation. 

Having the animal sterilised prior to reaching sexual maturity gives it the best possible chance for a long and happy life. 

Have the operation as soon as you can. 

One single male cat can impregnate many stray female cats and most likely all the kittens will be unwanted. Although you will not have direct financial or ‘hands on’ responsibility, you will be ethically responsible (along with the owner of the non-spayed female if there is one) for the suffering which follows.

Sterilising male cats will also help in the prevention of injuries, stop the spread of diseases such as feline AIDS, and antisocial behaviour like spraying and noisy fighting with other cats.

In a word: NO!

In fact choosing not to neuter your cat can change their personality, for the worse.

When non-neutered cats reach sexual maturity, their bodies are flooded with hormones which drastically alter their personality. Male cats can become aggressive, extremely territorial and develop behaviours such as smelly spraying (including through your house!) biting and excessive vocalisation. They will begin to wander the neighbourhood in search of mates and competition, which places them at a high risk of injury or contracting diseases, such as Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV).

Female cats that are not spayed will enter heat cycles where they are pursued by any males in the district, and yowl almost continuously and distressingly. Neutering or spaying your cat before they reach sexual maturity (at around 4 months of age) will prevent these antisocial behaviours from occurring. Fortunately, neutering an adult cat will also halt the production of sex hormones, and after a couple of weeks your cat will get back the personality you fell in love with.

We could philosophise forever about the meaning of life and yes, animals do lose their sex drive when they are sterilised.

The important thing to think of is this: are animals aware that they no longer feel compelled to have sex? For dogs and cats, the answer is very unlikely, almost certainly, no.  But the upside of health, long life and happiness outweighs any downside even if it were true. And that’s before you remember how many times you have been woken by screaming cats in the middle of the night. 

Kittens and puppies certainly are very cute.  But the reality is a cat can have up to 12 kittens, and a dog can have between 8 to 15 puppies depending on its size. Unless you are planning on keeping all those babies when they grow up, you will have to find someone to look after them. That is a job in itself, but even if you are lucky enough to do so, you are taking spots for other kittens and puppies that desperately need adopting.