What is an intact cat? Full discussion.

Intact male (foreground), wandering yowling, intact female (background)

The word “intact” nearly always concerns domestic cats. Both the neutering of males and spaying of females takes a piece of anatomy away from them. For the male cat the operation is the removal of both testicles (castration) and for the female cat, the surgery is the removal of the uterus, fallopian tubes and …

Read more

Is it true that male domestic cats kill kittens?

Do male cats kill kittens?

To answer the question, you have to break it down into categories which I’ve done. There’s a difference between the behaviour of the wildcat ancestor which is the same species as the domestic cat and from which we can learn about domestic cat behaviour, unsterilised male cats, sterilised male cats and kittens parented by …

Read more

Castration of male domestic cats increases hair length from short to medium

Does neutering male cats make then less strong?

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.”

Castration cause hair to grow
Castration cause hair to grow. Extract from the report mentioned.

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.

Male cat neutering
Male cat neutering. Photo: O’Dwyer and Jones vets.

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.

Read more

I prefer the unneutered male cat appearance

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 …

Read more

Does neutering male cats make them less strong?

Does neutering male cats make then less strong?

I have concluded that neutering male cats is likely to make them less strong. The word “neutering” applies to male cats, as you probably know, although it can also be an umbrella term for spaying and neutering. It is the removal of their testes (testicles). As you might also know, the operation is considered …

Read more

Do private practice veterinarians desex cats later than shelters and if so why?

Feral or Stray Cat Being Spayed

I have just been informed by the authors of a study on the impacts of pet cats on Australian wildlife that animal shelters desex cats when they are younger than four months of age because the focus is on preventing cats breeding and creating more cats, whereas in private practice, where the making a …

Read more

follow it link and logo