Cat Spaying: What You Need to Know

If you’re wondering if you should get your cat spayed, then you shouldn’t be too concerned. It’s a very common procedure performed by qualified vets. On average, it only takes between 15 and 20 minutes for a vet to spay your feline friends.

When a cat spay is performed, the vet will remove the ovaries and uterus to stop them from being able to become pregnant and going into heat.

When the weather gets a little warmer between the months of February and October, your moggy can be expected to go into heat every two to three weeks. For cats who are able to go outside, this means they are at high risk of getting pregnant and indoor cats will still call and attempt to find a mate. 

Throughout the year, a cat who isn’t spayed can have around three litters. With one to eight kittens pet litter, one fertile feline can produce up to 100 kittens in her lifetime! Unwanted kittens are a major problem, even more so with the cost-of-living crisis. Cats Protection report to rehome 36,000 unwanted cats every year.

Making sure a litter of kittens are socialised and ready to go to their homes is hard work, not to mention up to eight curious little kittens exploring your home and quite literally getting their claws into everything is time-consuming and distracting.

Getting your cat spayed means they can focus on living a life of luxury without the stress of caring for kittens and you don’t have to worry about increasing the population of unwanted cats in the UK. Your feline companion will hit sexual maturity around four months of age, so your kitten will be perfectly capable of having kittens herself. If you do choose to get them spayed, it’s best to do so before they’re four months old.

On average, a cat spay will set you back between £50 to £100, which is a little pricier than a male cat. For a castration, you’re usually looking at £40 to £80 because removing the testicles is an easier and less time-consuming procedure.

There are organisations that offer financial support to owners who are unable to cover all of the costs themselves. Sometimes Cats Protection are able to support, or the PDSA are available for households on income support.

Many owners wonder if spaying a cat will calm them down and, to put it simply, yes it will. Your moggy will no longer be flooded with hormones every few weeks during their cycle. Without the urge to breed, they will become a lot calmer around the house and often affectionate too.

A spayed cat will also be less likely to contract certain diseases and it will totally eliminate the risk of both ovarian and uterine cancers after their removal. It also reduces the risk of any diseases that can be passed through bites, as a male cat will bite the female during the breeding process. The main benefit of getting your cat spayed is making sure they are unable to have accidental pregnancies.

There are a few downsides to getting your cat spayed. After a spay, you will have to watch what you feed them a little more as their metabolism slows down and they will become more prone to weight gain. They may benefit from a more low-fat diet after their spay.

You can explore plenty of other cat food options at Jollyes.

There are also the minor risks of complications during surgery as there are with any procedure, but the benefits will outweigh the very small health risks from being put under anaesthetic for a short period.

Preparing your cat for spaying is quite a simple process. They need to be starved from the evening before from around 9pm to make sure there is no undigested food left in their stomach. They should still have water readily available all the time, but make sure they can’t access any food from then.

You will need to keep them indoors overnight and if you have multiple cats in the house, keep them separate to make sure they don’t sneak anyone else’s food

Cats recover at different rates, however, how long they need to be kept inside for tends to be around 10 to 14 days. Two weeks gives plenty of time for the wound to heal beyond the point of being able to easily reopen. If they have stitches that will need to be removed, keep them inside until they have a check-up, and their stitches are removed. Some vets use stitches that gradually dissolve, in which case two weeks is usually ample time for the wound to heal enough to go outside.

Their cone should be kept on for a similar amount of time until they are healed enough but can sometimes be removed as early as seven days post-surgery if they heal quickly. If they struggle to wear a cone you can buy little onesies that cover surgical sites to stop them from licking too, but they usually get used to a cone after a day or two.

After coming home, your feline friend may be a little confused, scared maybe. It’s a big procedure to undergo without being able to understand what happened so their anxiety may be running high. It’s important to give them lots of quiet time to rest, recover and start to feel safe again.

Interacting with your beloved pet is still important to comfort them but play should be limited and instead cuddles and pets should be at the top of the agenda. If at any point you need to pick them up, don’t lift them under their front legs as you may normally do, this will stretch out the skin of their abdomen and is likely to be painful after surgery. Instead, support their bum and lift them into your body. If you can avoid picking them up or overhandling them for the first few days, this is ideal. They will gradually get back to their normal self and become more active in the days following their surgery. Recovery rates are individual to every moggy so let your cat tell you what they’re ready to do.

Although recovery can take some time and the surgery itself can be quite a scary process to put your feline family member through, it’s worth it for the peace of mind that she doesn’t have to go through unwanted pregnancies.

You can find out more about how to medically care for your cat over at our Pet Clinic.