Desexing of cats before four months to prevent unwanted litters recommended by City University study

Desexing of cats before four months is recommended by the City University of Hong Kong’s veterinary chief Professor Julia Beatty. Female cats can reach puberty at 3.5 months and if they haven’t been desexed, there is “a pregnancy gap” between that age and surgery. Early desexing is safe and “it offers advantages including shorter surgery time, a smaller incision, quicker recovery and reduced cancer risk,” Professor Beatty said.

^{Professor Julia Beatty: Early age desexing of cats is safe and has advantages such as shorter surgery, quicker recovery and lowered cancer risk}

Everyone in villages and districts across Hong Kong who cares about animal welfare is aware we have a cat over-population problem. Cats have phenomenal reproductive success. A female can produce up to six kittens in every litter and three litters a year. Catherine Chung, a Sai Kung villager, says,”We have three cats coming to our door every day for dinner. One looks like she is pregnant. We have found a new litter of kittens in the drain that runs through our garden. The neighbours gathered around to help rescue them. It was a fun day for the kids. We found three kittens new homes through Cats Hong Kong. We don’t know what happened to the others.” Unwanted free-roaming kittens will likely have short nasty lives eaten by predators or killed by disease.

Professor Beatty is head of the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences at City U. It has collaborated with the University of Sydney in a study of optimum desexing. It found that although more than 80 per cent of cats in Australia were desexed, only a fraction had surgery before reaching puberty, thus creating a pregnancy gap. To prevent unwanted litters it is recommended the age for desexing is before four months.

“We really hope the research encourages anyone caring for a free-roaming cat in Hong Kong or elsewhere to arrange for that cat to be desexed, preferably before they reach four months of age,” Professor Beatty said. “This would help to reduce the number of unwanted kittens.”

Early age desexing of cats is recommended by the Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Australia, the Cat Group in the UK and the International Society for Feline Medicine.