In a study by A.G. Searle, University College, London, entitled Gene frequencies in London’s cats, which was carried out in the summer of 1947, it was concluded that “There is a significant tendency for male castration to increase hair length from short to medium… It is well established that castration inhibits baldness in Man.”
My research does confirm that castration of a man will stop the balding process. You can’t reverse baldness with castration but you can stop it getting worse. Mr Searle uses that information, which appears to be accepted by the experts, to support the notion that castration of male domestic cats leads to an increase in hair length from short to medium.
My research on the Internet produced nothing which supports that assessment. That does not mean that it is incorrect. It just means that it has not been discussed and/or any discussions have not been reported on the Internet.
It is a very interesting thought nonetheless. This is partly because a very high percentage of male domestic cats are castrated i.e. sterilised or neutered to use another word. And nobody has ever told me that it might increase the hair length of a cat. And I would be confident in saying that a veterinarian has hardly ever if ever told their customer that their shorthaired cat is going to have medium length hair after the neutering operation 😉. And nobody has reported that effect on my website. And indeed, my cat’s hair length did not change after he was neutered. Or that, at least, is my impression.
