What Effect Does Spaying And Neutering Have?

[10009891]

What physical appearance and behavioral effects does neutering your male cat do? Is it true that they'll get fat, larger, and sluggish? There are so many opinions out there. And what effected does spaying does to a female cat?

 

[Kieka]

What physical appearance and behavioral effects does neutering your male cat do? Is it true that they'll get fat, larger, and sluggish? There are so many opinions out there. And what effected does spaying does to a female cat?

The idea that cats get fat and lazy when spayed or neutered is a myth. Pure and simple. Some cats will slow down with age or outgrow their kitten phase around the same time they are spayed/neutered but it is more coincidence in my opinion. In fact, in a study where they tested that idea they found very little difference between early and later altering when that cats are in similar environments. For the study they divided 31 kittens into three groups and altered then at 7 weeks, 7 months and a year. The kittens spayed or neutered younger did weigh more on average until all were adult cats and then they evened out to around the same average. Once in homes all the kittens thinned out some as they were more active in a home environment. I have two males myself who were neutered at 7 weeks out and both are on the skinny side of healthy without any special diet and free access to food.

Interestingly, that study found that kittens neutered before 7 months tend to be taller, have longer limbs and are physically larger (not weight but measurement of height and length) then their unaltered counterparts. Theoretically because they don't have the sex hormones directing their bodies energies to reproductive growth so their growth plates close later. The study also found no correlation between urethra size and altering age which would refute the theory that early neutering leads to more urinary related problems. Although I find the study interesting and don't disagree on it's points I haven't found a similar case study so just like any study, take it with a grain of salt. I tend to believe the bigger because both my males are longer and leaner then their feral male counterparts. My female who was spayed at around 7 months has short stubby legs so she'd go counter that theory.

The main 100% proven and agreed visual effect of neutering would be a lack of the boxy male appearance that can come with age. Unneutered males tend to develop a wider rounder head due to horomones by around three years old. Depending on the age of neutering and genetics, neutered males can also develop rounder faces though maybe not to the same degree.

You also are less likely to have a male develop "stud tail" which is a greasy or mucky looking build up on their tails. They also won't develop spikes on their penis or minimal spiking, which really isn't something people would even notice but it worth mentioning. Males will also tend to care more about grooming if they are neutered because they aren't so focused on trying to get to a mate.

The biggest thing is the HUGE reduction in cancer risks. Males risk reduction is about similar regardless of age, but females spayed before their first heat have a reduced cancer risk compared with those after their first heat. There is also the benefit of reduced risk of spaying, fighting and crazed hormone driven behavior in both males and females. Also, specifically heat behavior in females and human bonding with males (unaltered males tend to be more distant to humans and can be more aggressive). Admittedly more human centric benefits.

This is my male who was neutered at 7 weeks, he is about 2.5 in this video
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This is the same male age 3 playing with my female who was spayed at 7 months, she's 2 in the video.
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No lack of energy from these two.

 

[Willowy]

If a male cat is neutered fairly young (before a year or so), you won't see much difference in physical condition. He'll look pretty much the same as a young tom. Basically, it keeps the cat from developing the secondary sex characteristics that he normally would develop if unneutered.

If neutered later, he'll gradually lose the big boofy cheek muscles that toms get, and will lose some muscle too. It all depends how much exercise he gets.

For females there isn't any difference physically. The fattest cat I ever knew was unspayed. Some female cats go off their feed when in heat so they look a bit strung out and scrawny, and spaying would correct that, but mostly they look the same.

And no, it shouldn't affect their activity levels at all. I had 2 kittens altered in December (one boy, one girl) and the 2 of them are still rocketing off the walls, lol. Cats do tend to get sedentary with age, whether altered or not, but that also depends on their personality and the lifestyle their owner provides.

 

[Furballsmom]

Everything has been said - you received some fabulous information from Kieka and W Willowy !!
Just one more addition in beating the drum of no sluggishness here , my Big Guy is neutered, (I'd have to look at his paperwork but I'd say that 'event' occurred early in his life, certainly before he was a year and mostly likely before he was 6 months) --he's 13 now and is the opposite of sedentary, (his early AM zoomies today nearly knocked the house walls down LOL).
He's also the opposite regarding weight gain. Now that I started him on a few nuggets of store bought raw mixed in to his canned food every couple days, I have to watch him that he doesn't lose weight, (vet checks all hale hearty and healthy). Granted, the increase from the raw in his energy levels and therefore his activity mean that his calorie input has to keep up with his calorie output, but in any case, he's not fat by any means.

Every cat is different, and nature vs nurture makes a difference too but at the end of the day, it's just better for them and the infrastructure of shelters and vets, TNR et al all the way around.