Hi cat lovers,
Where do I start? I am currently helping to look after a cat in conjunction with a few other folks further down the road from my house. This cat I have been feeding on and off since he was a kitten and I am quite attached to him. But unfortunately, I don't live in my own place and others call the shots here and don't want any cat pets.
So this cat is/was a stray but not really. He has been exposed to me and other humans since he was a kitten and is now about 1.5 years old. Let's call him Jimi.
About some time back, I noticed Jimi started getting sickly, and was sneezing and having a bit of a run down condition, and then....he developed a condition called pillow foot and was bleeding from his paw. At that time, I was not aware that a certain house was feeding him, so I thought he was a stray of sorts who was depending on food handouts from houses around here.
So, I brought Jimi to the vet because his pillow foot was getting serious, and he was limping. They performed surgery on him and he had to stay at the vet for a long time, well over a month.
By the time I brought him back, he didn't recognize his old roaming place and everything was new to him. He was on the defensive and kinda growling when faced with another cat. It so happened on that day, the people from the house who fed him regularly chanced upon him and only then I got to know them. They had already given him up for dead and were joyous to see him alive again. These folks feed other stray cats in that area too, maybe about 5-6 others including a few males.
But since Jimi didn't seem to recognize any other cats and was hostile to everyone, we decided to cage him until he could settle down. I even bought a fairly large cage for him. He started to remember all the humans who took care of him before.....
But a few days ago, Jimi was inadvertently let out, and he promptly ran away and didn't come back for a few days. I went looking for him and found him and brought him home. All along the way he was spraying urine to mark his territory and sniffing the air by opening his mouth.....
Anyway, Jimi is back in the cage now, but I am not sure for how long he needs to be in it. In my area, cars are a major cause of cat deaths, and MANY cats have been killed by cars here, and then there are sometimes some dogs that kill cats, maybe for fun.....(these dogs have killed a kitten before my eyes once and regrettably I was too late to save it).
I am wondering if I should neuter Jimi? Will it make him more homely and less inclined to run or wander away to find a mate or mark new territory?
The thing is, I have reason to believe neutering/spaying cats may make them depressed, especially if done to an adult and/or a stray cat whom no human is going to give attention and love to. Neutering/spaying is probably fine with kittens who have not had a chance to mate yet and won't know any difference. But for adult cats in the prime of life, is it advisable?
I have had a bad experience spaying a female semi-feral cat who was very streetwise and was always getting pregnant in my porch and having endless litters. She loved being a mother and after I spayed her and released her....she still interacted with her daughter (who was grown up by then) from a previous litter.....and I guess she was depressed.
She wasn't the same again after spaying, and then died after getting knocked down by a car, shortly after getting spayed (within 2 months). I suspected she was depressed.
Of course, from a scientific standpoint, there is no way any human would know how she was feeling, and no one can ask her if she was ok being spayed....
But that's just my own experience, and I felt bad for spaying her. It may not happen with other cats though, since cats are such individualistic creatures.
Anyway, what do you all say regarding neutering adult cats who have already mated before? What are your experiences?
I need advice......
Thanks!
Where do I start? I am currently helping to look after a cat in conjunction with a few other folks further down the road from my house. This cat I have been feeding on and off since he was a kitten and I am quite attached to him. But unfortunately, I don't live in my own place and others call the shots here and don't want any cat pets.
So this cat is/was a stray but not really. He has been exposed to me and other humans since he was a kitten and is now about 1.5 years old. Let's call him Jimi.
About some time back, I noticed Jimi started getting sickly, and was sneezing and having a bit of a run down condition, and then....he developed a condition called pillow foot and was bleeding from his paw. At that time, I was not aware that a certain house was feeding him, so I thought he was a stray of sorts who was depending on food handouts from houses around here.
So, I brought Jimi to the vet because his pillow foot was getting serious, and he was limping. They performed surgery on him and he had to stay at the vet for a long time, well over a month.
By the time I brought him back, he didn't recognize his old roaming place and everything was new to him. He was on the defensive and kinda growling when faced with another cat. It so happened on that day, the people from the house who fed him regularly chanced upon him and only then I got to know them. They had already given him up for dead and were joyous to see him alive again. These folks feed other stray cats in that area too, maybe about 5-6 others including a few males.
But since Jimi didn't seem to recognize any other cats and was hostile to everyone, we decided to cage him until he could settle down. I even bought a fairly large cage for him. He started to remember all the humans who took care of him before.....
But a few days ago, Jimi was inadvertently let out, and he promptly ran away and didn't come back for a few days. I went looking for him and found him and brought him home. All along the way he was spraying urine to mark his territory and sniffing the air by opening his mouth.....
Anyway, Jimi is back in the cage now, but I am not sure for how long he needs to be in it. In my area, cars are a major cause of cat deaths, and MANY cats have been killed by cars here, and then there are sometimes some dogs that kill cats, maybe for fun.....(these dogs have killed a kitten before my eyes once and regrettably I was too late to save it).
I am wondering if I should neuter Jimi? Will it make him more homely and less inclined to run or wander away to find a mate or mark new territory?
The thing is, I have reason to believe neutering/spaying cats may make them depressed, especially if done to an adult and/or a stray cat whom no human is going to give attention and love to. Neutering/spaying is probably fine with kittens who have not had a chance to mate yet and won't know any difference. But for adult cats in the prime of life, is it advisable?
I have had a bad experience spaying a female semi-feral cat who was very streetwise and was always getting pregnant in my porch and having endless litters. She loved being a mother and after I spayed her and released her....she still interacted with her daughter (who was grown up by then) from a previous litter.....and I guess she was depressed.
She wasn't the same again after spaying, and then died after getting knocked down by a car, shortly after getting spayed (within 2 months). I suspected she was depressed.
Of course, from a scientific standpoint, there is no way any human would know how she was feeling, and no one can ask her if she was ok being spayed....
But that's just my own experience, and I felt bad for spaying her. It may not happen with other cats though, since cats are such individualistic creatures.
Anyway, what do you all say regarding neutering adult cats who have already mated before? What are your experiences?
I need advice......
Thanks!