Is there anyone else who prefers the unneutered male cat appearance, as I do? I’m only referring to one aspect of the appearance of unneutered male cats: the head shape. It would be interesting to know if men or women prefer the unsterilized cat head shape. I sense that women prefer it.
Mature un-neutered male cats – tomcats – develop a head shape that is broader and more masculine and they develop jowls at around the age of three. It is a facial appearance which shouts out, “I am masculine”. It is very noticeable. The neutered male cat face is relatively feminine by comparison. It is thinner and more delicate in appearance.
The difference is due to testosterone and other sex hormones in their bodies when they are intact. When a male is neutered as early as possible, at 6-7 months old under the current policies to avoid unwanted cats, their head and face does not widen.
However, if a person adopts a friendly semi-feral cat from a colony who is three or more years of age and has them neutered they’ll retain that masculine head shape. It is a thought for anyone who is with me on male domestic cat head shape.
I like male cats who look like male cats. I am not being sexist because I also like female cats that look female. And I am of course referring to their general appearance.
Another difference in the development of early neutered male cats is that they are slightly taller because of delayed bone growth plate closure. A third difference is a possible ‘inability to extrude the penis’. Those words come from my reference book but I think they are not entirely accurate because neutered cats get boners to put it in layperson’s language. Perhaps the penis of a neutered cat is smaller than that of an unsterilized cat.
There is another appearance issue: neutered cats may be less lean that unsterilized cats because they are less active. Whole or intact cats cover more ground on the presumption that they are outdoor cats as they patrol territory and look for a mate.
Other appearance differences between neutered and unneutered male cats are (1) stud tail in intact males and (2) poor grooming as they are less committed to it. This poor appearance may be linked to the fact that unsterilized cats are nearly always homeless which automatically means that they are likely to be scruffy.
Castration of male humans makes them calmer. I wrote a page about that which you read by clicking here. I wanted to get an insight into how male cats feel after castration. We should know.
All the talk is about physical appearance but what about the mental side after castration?
For me, and this is highly personal, the negative aspect of early neutering is that is makes a male cat look less male. I don’t like it.
SOME MORE ON CAT NEUTERING:
Thanks for sharing Nancy.
A male cat when he’s older.It’s not sterilised, is a very handsome cat.He will get even bigger and more chunky as he ages. A very handsome cat.Indeed , my neighbors used to stop and stare at him… I took him to the vet for a respiratory infection and my vet started taking pictures of him with his cell phone.
Fair enough. It’s impossible to argue against spaying and neutering. I am for both obviously but it is sad for me that the male cat looks less male as a consequence. Thanks for stopping by and commenting Pat.