Many cat owners are outraged when someone tells them they need to castrate their pet. But conscious breeders and owners understand that castration is this is not cruelty and that it is justified in cases where we are not talking about a breeding animal. In addition, there is also castration for medical reasons, which certainly cannot be called cruelty. So why do you need to castrate a Maine Coon and what is the peculiarity of this operation?
A little theory
During castration of a Maine Coon, the animal's gonads are surgically removed. In cats these are the testes, and in cats these are the ovaries. Thus, the Maine Coon loses the opportunity to continue his race, and, in addition, his sex drive disappears. Castration is often used to correct a pet’s behavior. After all, after this operation, cats become calmer and less aggressive during estrus. Cats do not mark territory and do not fight with rivals.
Some owners of Maine Coon girls prefer to undergo tubal ligation rather than spaying, believing that this operation is more harmless to the pet. In fact, with tubal ligation, the cat only loses the ability to become pregnant and bear offspring, but the instincts calling her to reproduce remain.
Castration is not always carried out at the request of the Maine Coon owner. For some diseases, it is necessary to resort to castration for medical reasons.
Contraindications to castration
In most cases, veterinarians are “FOR” castration, unless the animal is a representative of a rare breed and is not intended for mating. Surgery is not recommended in several cases:
- Having heart, kidney or liver disease.
- Old (over 7 years) or early (up to 6 months) age.
- Allergy to anesthesia medications.
Contraindications are not absolute, so an experienced veterinarian will be able to find a solution to the problem. For example, there are methods of medical castration (insertion of an implant) that will allow you to restore the animal’s ability to reproduce if necessary.
Whether to castrate a Maine Coon or not is the choice of the animal owner. If you are ready to put up with night concerts and organize cat romantic meetings on your territory, then surgery is not necessary. But what to do with the pungent smell of tags, which literally permeates the entire apartment? Or the wild howls of your beloved cat, preventing you from resting peacefully on your legal day off? In an apartment it is difficult to put up with such discomfort. And it is in such cases that veterinarians advise castrating the animal.
Why is it necessary?
It is recommended to castrate a Maine Coon cat for the following reasons:
- Unpleasant odor due to cat marking territory.
- Fights with rivals, during which the cat can be seriously injured.
- Severe stress due to the fact that there is no way to satisfy the reproductive instinct.
- After castration, life expectancy increases approximately 1.5 times.
- The cat stops focusing on the reproductive instinct and begins to develop other interests.
Maine Coon cats are sterilized mainly in order to get rid of periodic estrus, as well as to minimize the risk of the animal developing diseases of the reproductive system.
What to feed a neutered Maine Coon
Do not be afraid that after castration the animal will quickly gain weight. This can easily be avoided if you understand that after the procedure the metabolic rate inevitably decreases. Therefore, it is necessary to provide the animal with conditions for physical activity and reduce the calorie content of its diet by a third. This is enough to keep your Maine Coon in good physical shape.
In addition, specialized dry food is sold for castrated animals. Their composition is selected in such a way that it fully meets the needs and, when used in the recommended amount, does not lead to obesity. Therefore, if the cat previously ate dry food, you can choose another one from the line of the same manufacturer that meets the new needs of your pet.
Below is a selection of products for neutered Maine Coons: food and medicine.
Features of a cat and a cat
Sterilization of a cat can be carried out either traditionally or by another method.
That is, the uterus and ovaries of the animal are removed through an incision on the abdomen, and by the endoscopic method, in which they are removed through small punctures.
The second option for performing the operation is more preferable.
With it, there is no surgical wound, as a result of which there is no need to care for the sutures and ensure that the wound surface does not become dirty.
It should be remembered that endoscopic sterilization is also performed under general anesthesia and there is also a risk when performing it.
Neutering a cat is much easier. This is not an abdominal operation, and therefore it is performed much faster, and the period of wound healing and recovery takes less time.
Optimal timing
The optimal age for castration or sterilization is considered to be 9 - 12 months, although this operation can also be performed earlier - at the age of 5 - 7 months, that is, after the animal reaches puberty. At this age, the animal’s body is fully formed, making it easier for the cat to endure surgery and the rehabilitation period.
Intervention in early adulthood
Basically, it is carried out by nursery owners who do not want pet-class kittens to fall into the hands of people who will receive low-quality offspring from them or even mixed breeds and sell them under the guise of real Maine Coons. This operation is carried out at the age of 2 - 4 months, so that such a pet is already neutered when it arrives at its new home.
When carrying out early castration, there were no cases of negative consequences of the operation on the health or appearance of the pet.
The only exception when early castration cannot be recommended is if the kitten has cryptorchidism. Because it requires abdominal surgery. Because of this, the rehabilitation process is more difficult and may take longer. It is much wiser to wait until the usual time for such an operation, since this deficiency in many kittens goes away with age.
In adulthood
After a cat reaches the age of seven, castration is recommended only for medical reasons, since surgery using general anesthesia is much more difficult to tolerate in adulthood than in earlier years. This does not mean that you need to completely abandon castration. But if the decision has already been made to perform this operation on a cat, then it is necessary to conduct the most thorough veterinary examination of the pet as possible.
When is it better to neuter your pet?
Having brought a small fluffy ball to your home, it is difficult to imagine a large and fluffy cat, its needs and desires. An adult, uncastrated pet living in a home apartment can become a real disaster. His natural desire to express himself and leave offspring can manifest itself in many ways:
- Cat concerts during a period of increased hormonal levels can infuriate the most patient owner.
- Tags with a strong odor.
- Changes in behavior occur due to stress under the influence of hormones. The animal becomes aggressive, may convulse, and urinate in unintended places.
- Escaping is a common occurrence for cats and kittens experiencing increased sexual desire.
- A pet that is regularly exposed to the attack of sex hormones is more susceptible to infections and tumor diseases.
Timely castration is the responsibility of the responsible owner of a purebred animal not intended for breeding. This measure allows you to preserve the pet’s health for a long time and take care of the best preservation of the breed.
Unfortunately, although in Western nurseries it is the breeder’s responsibility to castrate a Maine cat not intended for breeding, in Russian realities you can sometimes see stray Maine kittens walking along the city streets.
Preparation
Before castration, it is necessary to conduct a full examination to identify pathologies of the cardiovascular system and internal organs.
This is necessary in order to minimize the risk that the pet will not tolerate anesthesia.
The necessary studies include ultrasound and ECG of the heart, and it is also advisable for the Maine Coon to be examined by a cardiologist.
Before castration, an adult animal cannot be fed for 12 hours, and watered for 4 hours. For kittens up to 4 months, the fasting time is reduced to 4 hours.
How does the operation take place?
In cats:
- Premedication is carried out.
- The animal is placed on the surgical table, where the surgical field is processed.
- The cat is given anesthesia.
- Incisions or punctures are made through which the equipment necessary for the operation - a laparoscope or endoscope - is inserted into the animal's abdominal cavity.
- The uterus and ovaries are fixed and removed.
- If the length of the cut or puncture is no more than 1 cm, then their edges are connected using special medical glue. If the length of the surgical wound is greater, then sutures are applied.
- Finally, treatment with an antiseptic is carried out.
Until the cat comes to its senses after anesthesia, it is not given to the owner.
Many clinics offer a service such as leaving your pet in the hospital for a day after surgery. If there is such an opportunity, then it should not be neglected.
For the cat:
- Premedication is carried out.
- The surgical field is being prepared.
- The cat is given anesthesia. After the animal falls asleep, the testes are removed through small incisions.
- If the incision is large, then the edges of the wound are sutured and treated with an antibiotic. Small surgical wounds can be treated without stitches.
- Until the cat comes to his senses, he remains under the supervision of a veterinarian, after which he is given to the owner.
In addition to the surgical method of castration, there are also chemical and radiation methods, but their use is very harmful to the health of the pet and therefore it is not recommended to resort to them.
What are the options?
Often, compassionate owners strive to preserve their pet’s opportunity to experience the joys of sex and motherhood and reject castration. Such sentimental measures make everyone suffer, because there is not much to solve the issue of creating humane conditions for an animal suffering from hormonal desire:
- You can try organizing a date with your furry friend. After this, it will be necessary to take care of providing a place of residence for new coons or just outbred kittens.
- Use special veterinary medications. These can be herbal tinctures or hormonal contraceptives. Herbal remedies become addictive very quickly, and the use of chemicals is stressful for cats and can lead to a decrease in the animal’s immunity.
Important! The use of feline contraceptives disrupts the endocrine system and provokes cancer.
Castration allows you to maintain the health of the pet and the nerves of the owner. The operation, performed under general anesthesia, does not bring suffering to the animal, and the cessation of hormonal attacks has a beneficial effect on the animal’s body.
Many owners who initially resisted the idea of castration and then decided to do it as a last resort under the influence of the animal’s screams note how much the Maine Coon’s character has improved.
Further care
The first days after surgery, you need to carefully monitor your pet.
In order to notice possible complications in time and, if they occur, immediately contact the clinic.
Postoperative care for the Maine Coon itself includes monitoring the condition of the surgical suture and treating it with an antiseptic recommended by the doctor.
You cannot feed a cat for 5 - 8 hours, but he can drink water.
In order to avoid infection of the surgical wound, it is necessary for the Maine Coon to go into an empty litter box for the first 5 days after surgery.
As a last resort, you can leave only the thinnest layer of filler, but only when the pet categorically refuses to use an empty tray. To prevent the cat from licking the stitches, a postoperative blanket is put on it. You can also put a special bell-shaped collar on the animal, which prevents the Maine Coon from licking itself. At first, the pet can be fed with regular food, but later it will be necessary to switch it to special dietary food for neutered cats and female cats.
