Tomcat sexual frustration can cause gastric ulcer?

[solomonar]

Vet diagnosed 4 years old my tomcat by mild gastric ulcer.
Her guess is that it was caused by sexual frustration (no mating for long time), and recommended neutering him.

1) Did anybody experienced similar cases?

2) From experience, did you experienced other sources of frustration than sexual deprivation causing health problems?

Thank your very much!

 

[Norachan]

I've never heard of sexual frustration causing ulcers in cats. As far as I know the most common causes of stomach ulcers are bacterial infections or parasites, but food allergies, poor diet and even cancer can lead to ulcers.

However, there are a lot of very good reasons to get your cat neutered.

Why You Should Spay And Neuter Your Cats – TheCatSite Articles

If your vet recommends neutering him then I suggest you follow her advice, but also make sure you get him wormed regularly and feed him as healthy a diet as possible.

Does he suffer from constipation?
What kind of food is he on now?

 

[solomonar]

Norachan

Mixed diet:
a) wet food (Schesir or Applaws) in the morning
b) dry food (1/2 Advance VD gastro entero + 1/2 Purina Delicat) at will rest of the time (day and night)

Indoor-only cat.

===

The vet recommended neutering as a cure for ulcer. So, if sexual frustration is not the real cause, then the ulcer will keep aggravating after neutering.

This is why I am worrying.

 

[Norachan]

Is there any reason why he hasn't been neutered yet?

I'm not a vet, so I don't want to contradict your vet's advice, but unless he is a feral tom cat that is being kept indoors I doubt that he would be under enough stress to cause an ulcer.

I'm very much in favour of getting cats spayed or neutered, but I think I'd be looking at food allergies or other possible causes of stomach problems rather than saying sexual frustration is the reason he has an ulcer.

How did you find out he has an ulcer? Was there blood in his stool or was he vomiting? Does he suffer from constipation?

 

[solomonar]

I am against medical interventions in absence of a good reason:

- My tomcat never exhibits aggressivity to anybody
- He never attempts to roam.
- Spraying and urine marking happens, but no so frequently and I manage these actions by leaving plastic bags in the corners, that I throw them away immediately after "using". It does not cause more discomfort than the litter.
- His home (well, mine ... :-)) is a very strictly confined residential tower apartment, thus no chance to ever escape.

If any of these circumstances changes, then of course neutering comes at hand, no doubt.

Another reason why I refuse neutering is: many vets (and owners I know) trend to consider neutering as an universal cure.

===

My assumption is that his frustration (related or not to ulcer) is caused by (one or more of the following):
- to long time spent with humans (we were in lockdown for some 3 months)
- exposure to different 2 care-givers, for a total of 2 weeks (although he knows them from past caring, this time he passed through 5 changes
- ceasing to play with him in the morning (hard work is the cause)
- to long period of time the dry food was exposed to air (1-2 days in open bowls) - that could stale

Worth to mention that one year ago I used to walk him in the parks- and he was very happy with this.
I ceased doing because of the time constraints and because I could not find a suitable collar (the ones I found were in fact for rabbits, although advertised for cats; he managed to escape one time).

He is known with gastritis, for almost one year. Treated in March 2020, with good results.

===
He poos every one day and half (since it was a kitty), now sometimes - at 2 days.
He vomited past night (non-digested dry food, about 2 spoons).
The diagnostic was done by belly palpation (and reaction). No blood work, no Xrays, no echo.

 

[Norachan]

I suggest you take him to a different vet for a second opinion. Some information here on causes, diagnose and treatment of ulcers in cats.

Stomach and Intestinal Ulcers in Cats - Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, Recovery, Management, Cost

 

[di and bob]

I would recommend neutering to reduce frustration and the instinctive drive to find a mate. Hormones cause drastic unrest and urges that cannot be realized if kept indoors. That causes frustration. Neutering takes the hormones away and brings on calmness and overall peace. Hormones in themselves cause many cancers too. I have always neutered my outside males because of the horrendous fighting that goes on. Unneutered toms always have torn ears, blinded eyes, and horrible abscesses that cause a lot of pain. Though your tom is indoors, he is driven by the hormones with which he has no control, to protect his territory and mate with as many females as possible. Please let him be relieved of these urges. They are instinctive, not learned.

 

[solomonar]

di and bob

If the cause of ulcer is not sexual frustration, then neutering him, especially in this moment, may cause even more harm.

My primary concern is now to cure ulcer, which I know is complicate and time consuming in humans.
I cured my (mild) gastritis in some 3 months, combining medication with a strict diet.

 

[solomonar]

Norachan

Thank you for the suggestion and for the link!

I will do my best to get a second opinion.

 

[di and bob]

I definitely agree with the above, from solomonar , since no xrays, echos, or bloodwork was performed, the first step would be to definitely diagnose the ulcer, or not. Cure what he has and then go from there. Surgery would cause an increase in anxiety and he sure doesn't ]need that right now!

 

[cataholic07]

I would still get the neutering done at a later time. The spraying does mean he is stressed somewhat enough to feel the need to spray. Its an unnecessary stress, neutering is not an invasive surgery at all. It's fairly quick and within a few days most males are completely recovered.

What food is he eating? only dry food and free fed? Is he overweight? I would get blood work and xrays done asap. Is the poo black, tarry?

 

[solomonar]

cataholic07
- Only wet food in the morning and dry food at will.
- Normal weight (according to vet)
- Poo as usually - from my point of view (a kind of maroon).

He is looking for cold surfaces to rest on, but here is late summertime, very hot - 30 Celsius (86F).
He gave up eating wet food in the morning and eat 1/2 of the amount of dry food he used to eat 3 months ago (springtime here)

===

I talk to the vet about neutering, and apparently there is a temporary (lasts for one year) chemical neutering available.
Still undecided about walking him - according to some opinion, it has to be done in one place only and very regularly, at the same time of the day.

 

[Norachan]

As far as I've heard the jury is still out on whether chemical neutering is a better option for cats. There were a lot of problems noted with chemical neutering among dogs. The chemical has to be injected directly into the scrotum and some dogs, " experience pain, testicular swelling, vomiting, redness and, rarely, ulceration of the scrotal skin.... In cases with severe ulceration to the testis, complete removal of the scrotum is necessary, requiring full anesthesia from a DEA-licensed veterinarian to perform the surgery. "

Chemical neutering hasn't been approved for cats in some countries. I think it should really only be a last resort, as in cases where a cat can't undergo a medical procedure, but exhibits a lot of the problem behavior that comes with being an intact tom cat.

If you were considering neutering your cat a straight forward surgical neuter would be much safer and less costly.

However, I think that right now the first priority should be to find another vet who can run the appropriate tests to see is he does have an ulcer. Then you can think about how to treat him. Medication, diet changes, walking out doors etc. It will be difficult to make the decision about what treatment he needs until you know for sure what is wrong.

 

[solomonar]

Norachan

I totally agree.

That was a chat during the treatment (vet is very talkative in the positive sense, she loves cats, no doubt).

The Vet mentioned a sort of chip that is implanted similar to the identification chip and releases substances that prevent testosterone production. Apparently she used this method to "pause" mating for some exhausted (!) reproduction tomcats.

I know something similar (but doing the reverse thing) is used in humans to increase testosterone levels.

But I have very little idea about the subject of chemical neutering.

===

First concern is to cure ulcer (or whatever), certainly. The discussion about neutering, walking etc. was to make sure that he will have a happy life after the treatment.

I also found that he loves to climb, but in a very safe manner (!), because he climbed the cattrees in the vet's office. Which I think is a bizarre action, seen from the fact he never climbs at home.

It is time consuming to find a second opinion here but I will do it.

 

[solomonar]

Christelle Fontaine, Long-term contraception in a small implant - A review of Suprelorin (deslorelin) studies in cats
In Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, 17, 2015

Obviously outdated, but still informative.
- at that time, Deslorelin was not approved for use on cats - I dont know the today status
- chemical castration lasted for more than 24 months, although an 18 months duration is foreseen
- no side effects

A newer one, with similar conclusions:
Romagnoli. S et al - Length of efficacy and effect of implant location in adult tom cats treated with a 9.4 mg deslorelin subcutaneous implant,
Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, 2019.

===

Has anybody use this chemical temporary castration method on tomcats? The felise owners perhaps?

 

[moxiewild]

Stress can cause ulcers in cats just as it can in humans. Your cat marking is an indicator of stress. Thus, the neutering recommendation.

However, I strongly recommend a second opinion.

I’ve had several fosters with ulcers, and it is not diagnosed through palpitation - all that does is tell the vet whether everything is where it’s supposed to be (like organs), there is no excess fluid or large masses (depending on where and how much/big), and - most of all - whether kitty is experiencing abdominal pain.

Palpitation alone can’t tell a vet anything beyond that. More diagnostics are needed.

I find it extremely concerning that your vet jumped to ulcers.

But not only that -

- She didn’t do anything to evaluate how severe the “ulcers” were

- She didn’t do anything to evaluate his severe the ulcers were and recommended surgery without that information

- She made an assumption about the cause without ruling out other causes first

To be honest, she may just want you to neuter your pet and is being unethical to persuade you...

But don’t take any chances on your cat - get a second opinion from another vet in case she did notice he was experiencing pain or tenderness. Get a third opinion if you need to!

 

[moxiewild]

Christelle Fontaine, Long-term contraception in a small implant - A review of Suprelorin (deslorelin) studies in cats
In Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, 17, 2015

Obviously outdated, but still informative.
- at that time, Deslorelin was not approved for use on cats - I dont know the today status
- chemical castration lasted for more than 24 months, although an 18 months duration is foreseen
- no side effects

A newer one, with similar conclusions:
Romagnoli. S et al - Length of efficacy and effect of implant location in adult tom cats treated with a 9.4 mg deslorelin subcutaneous implant,
Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, 2019.

===

Has anybody use this chemical temporary castration method on tomcats? The felise owners perhaps?

All these studies cited in the first article are preliminary. So is the Romagnoli study.

Essentially, these are the studies that are used to persuade interested parties in conducting more, better, and larger studies.

Every single study cited was extremely small (6 of the 16 cats in the Romagnoli studied went missing and never completed it for instance, and one cat did not respond to treatment at all), had a relatively short duration, were not controlled, blinded, or randomized, etc.

Study authors frequently make note of these challenges and their recommendations for further studies to fix these design flaws. Which as far as I can tell, still has not been done.

At least one common theme seems to be that while most cats are successfully sterilized, the duration of that sterilization is all over the place - meaning it’s uncertain when the ideal time to replace the chip is.

Effects of repeated treatment also do not appear to have been studied at all yet as far as I can tell (and a couple of studies make note of this, too).

Basically, the chip is promising and there’s reason to be optimistic about potential future use, but we just don’t know enough yet about the efficacy and safety (particularly from repeated treatment, as well as long term side effects).

Chemical castration for cats has been studied for over 50 years. A lot of things have been promising and turned out to be not as great as we’d hoped. There’s a reason spay/neuter is still our primary means of sterilization despite the risks.

We’ll get there someday, we just aren’t there yet.

If I were you, I would not give a second thought to chemical castration, though.

Focus on getting a second opinion to see what - if anything - is actually wrong with your cat.

(Though - like most users here - I would still encourage neutering him once the current issue is resolved ).

 

[solomonar]

n moxiewild

Thank you for professional advise!

Honestly, I don't entirely accept statement of my vet that sexual frustration alone caused ulcer, for the following reasons:
1) How glucocorticoids impact the emotional centers can lead to stomach ulcers? I cant find any biochemical explanation.
2) Sexually deprived prison-mates do not develop ulcers. At least not as a consequence of sexual inactivity.
3) Humans have a continuous mating season (!), cats have a certain number of weeks per year.

Also, since most (if not all) cats who are subject to experiments are already neutered, studies of "frustrated" tomcats are inherently limited.

But maybe I am wrong - if a temporary castration will prevent gastritis (or ulcer) to occur, then (most likely, but not 100% anyway) the sexual frustration is the cause, no matter what I think. Also it is known that psychological stress can aggravate ulcer

But other more common causes should be first investigated, as the forum-mates said:

1) From the internet: "H pylori is rare in cats". But I found it was long studied:
L K Handt et al - Characterization of feline Helicobacter pylori strains and associated gastritis in a colony of domestic cats, J. of Clinical Microbiology, 1995

2) Food-related causes: a strange thing that I have been told (but no reference!) is that some cats do not tolerate high-protein food. Sounds bizarre ("cats are obligate carnivores").

I hypothesis that integer cats preserve hunting behavior more than the neutered ones. Hunting prepares the metabolism for food intake. In case of hunting routine suppression, the shortcut may negatively influence the preparation for digestion. Hence digestive tract problems from free-feeding:

a) follow -> catch -> kill -> eat
vs
b) go to bowl ->eat

Imagine the other way around: somebody would feed us, the humans, only after we run one our to catch our dinner, every single day. :-)

===
My primary concern is to cure whatever illness my tomcat. And as many of You advised, start thinking abut neutering after healing this ulcer. Which seems to be not straightforward at all.

 

[Norachan]

Honestly, I don't entirely accept statement of my vet that sexual frustration alone caused ulcer, for the following reasons

I think you're right. As much as I advocate spaying and neutering, I don't think you can expect neutering your cat to cure his ulcer. (If in fact that is what he has. I think he needs a proper diagnoses first.) Neutering may help to reduce stress, but if he has an ulcer I think this will need to be treated before he has surgery. I'd be expecting my vet to check for parasites and food intolerance too.

Have you been able to find another vet to get a second opinion?
Is your cat currently receiving any medication for his stomach problems?
How is he over all now? Is he eating and pooping OK? Does he seem to be in any pain?

 

[solomonar]

Norachan

Current physical status:
- eating just a bit (2 spoons/day) and is pooping normally; he is asking for food by climbing on my legs, but I am giving him only gastro food he does not like- I attempted all the VD gastro formulas.brands I found, maybe 5-6 version
- very present in his environment, actve, meowing a lot as usually - I like this.
- loafing more than usually (maybe double the time) daytime and sleeps a bit more as he hunts less during night (1/2 of the usual time).

===
Medical aspects:
- At the beginning of the next week I will go for a second opinion to an vet office near home.
- The cat receives injectable : fluids, pain medication and something specific to ulcer (I do not know for sure what). Today I will ask for a accurate receipt.
- The vet is very attached to my cat, so she is doing all she can. I suspect she did not check for parasites because the cat is strictly indoor and received internal antiparasitic treatment 2 months ago and external -right now.

I found a vet who performs endoscopy (it is said being the only one here, which is very unfortunate). However, the procedure requires sedation as far as I know, so I wont rush for it before ecography, Xrays etc.

I am still thinking to a H pylori test.
===

My strategy:
- feed him gastro soup by syringe - first attempt successful: 5 mil (apparently, he likes the procedure - which is fun!)
- re-introduce play - not a cure, but confort matters
- for the time being, not insisting on feeding, because he is a bit overweight anyway (maybe 100-200 g for a 5 kg cat body masas equivalent to 3 oz for a 11 pounds)

Side note: the situation is a lesson for me as well, in respect of the approach to solving health problems.
Sophisticated relation between life-style, impact of unknown factors (uncertainty) and health problems!
So I am having a look on myself with this occasion.