Expert: Jessica - 11/7/2011

Question
We have a stray male cat who has been coming around for the past five years.  We feed Smokey when he shows up.  Sometimes he is gone for days but always returns well fed, so others are feeding him or he may even have an owner.  He has no collar and is unneutered.

    My problem is this.  I am under pressure from my wife to get Smokey fixed.  Firstly, this is not my cat.  I am just trying to be kind to a stray animal.  Secondly, the cat is five years old.  Isn't this procedure a lot easier on a younger cat?  Thirdly, and this is important, being an alpha male, wouldn't neutering affect this cat's social status in the outdoor cat community?  When we tried to introduce Smokey to our neutered male Max, Smokey immediately attacked and Max became very submissive and would not defend himself.  I worry this would happen to Smokey if we got him fixed.  

    There is no need to lecture me on the problem with cat over-population.  Of course that's a problem, but as I say, Smokey is not my cat and I am not here to champion a cause, no matter how noble.  I just want to do the right thing for THIS cat.

Answer
Hi Eugene,

The right thing for THIS cat is to have him neutered. It will reduce his testosterone levels, resulting in a less aggressive cat. A less aggressive cat is drastically less likely to acquire the two most deadly feline infections, Feline Leukemia and Feline AIDS, and he is less likely to get serious abscesses as a result of bite wounds.

Surprisingly, his established position in the cat community is very unlikely to change at all. Neutering won't change his personality, and alpha cats become alpha cats because of "hard-wiring" in the brain. His basic personality traits have led him to be a dominant cat much more than any hormones have. This is why we see that even kittens establish a hierarchy before they reach maturity. I think your cat, Max, is, by nature, on the submissive side of the scale, and this is why he reacted the way he did to Smokey. It does not have to do with his being neutered.

As with most any surgical procedure, yes, neutering is tolerated most easily by younger cats. But those even into their senior years are neutered every day. Cats who have been used as breeders are retired and neutered before going to new homes at 10 years or older sometimes. And we routinely neuter cats in their double digits in trap-neuter-return. A neuter is a simple procedure that only takes a few minutes from beginning to end. Two small incisions are made. If the testicles are very large, a suture or two may be required, but in general, only surgical glue is needed to close the incisions. In nearly all cases, the cat may return home the same day, as long as you can keep him in a separate room to relax overnight (he will be groggy, so he should not be exposed to the dangers of the outdoors until the next day). Bruising and swelling are common in males of his age but this will pass in a couple weeks' time. I'm sure there must be some discomfort, but I have never noticed any males to show any signs of pain. Vets generally give a 3-day pain injection before the cat's release, which seems to cover the worst of it.

Good luck!

Jessica