Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
The Benefits of Spaying
Aside from stopping annoying heat cycles, spaying will prevent your cat
from contributing to pet overpopulation. Each year tens of thousands of
cats are put to death in the United States because no one wants them.
Intact female cats are at risk for pyometra—a life-threatening uter-
ine infection. An infection like this cannot occur if there is no uterus.
Spayed female cats are less likely to roam in search of a mate, and
they are less likely to be aggressive.As with male cats, sterilizing will not
change any of the positive aspects of the animal's personality.
There are always some slight risks involved with surgery and
general anesthesia, but for a young, healthy cat they are negligible. If
complications were to occur, they would most likely be due to an
underlying health or congenital problem or poor surgical techniques.
This is another reason why you should think about factors other than
cost when choosing a doctor to perform the surgery.
An ovariohysterectomy is an irreversible procedure, so once a cat is
spayed she will never be able to reproduce. Some cat owners want to
experience the birth of kittens, especially if they also have children.
Instead, I think they should visit their local animal shelter and see what
happens after the miracle of birth when homes are not found for the
kittens.
On occasion, the owner of a purebred kitten tells me that he wants
the cat to have kittens so that he can recoup what he spent to buy the
cat. I think this is a terrible reason to breed a cat. Responsible breeders
sell purebred kittens as pets because they are not up to show quality.
They want you to sign a contract that you will not breed the animal.
You should buy a pet purebred cat because you want a cat of that breed,
not because you want to make money. If any complications arise dur-
ing the pregnancy and measures such as a caesarian section are needed,
the litter will end up costing you a lot of money.
HERNIAS IN CATS
Some kittens are born with hernias, which are holes in a muscle that
should normally be solid.These defects are usually not very serious and
can be corrected with a simple surgical procedure.
The most common type of hernia is an umbilical hernia . It occurs
when the kitten's belly button does not close properly after birth. The
hole that is left is usually quite small and it appears as an out-pocketing
at the middle of the belly, covered by skin. If you touch it, it feels soft.You
Search WWH ::




Custom Search