Background The number of pet cats is increasing in most countries, often outnumbering pet dogs, yet cats receive less veterinary care than their canine counterparts.1 Clients state the difficulty of getting the cat into a carrier at home, driving to the clinic, and dealing with the fearful cat at the veterinary clinic as reasons for fewer visits.2 Educating and preparing the client and the veterinary team with regard to respectful feline handling is necessary in order to avoid stress and accomplish the goal of good health care. Without such preparation, feline stress may escalate into fear or fear-associated aggression. The resulting stress may alter results of the physical examination and laboratory tests, leading to incorrect diagnoses (eg, diabetes mellitus) and unnecessary treatments.

Cat urine from female, male, spayed female or neutered male cats was fermented with an undefined soil microflora broth to create a typical cat urine malodour. This fermented urine was extracted and analysed by a gas chromatograph–mass spectrometer coupled to an olfactory port. Sulfur compounds are the major contributors to cat urine odour, the key odorants being 4‐methyl‐4‐sulfanyl‐pentan‐2‐one, 3‐methyl‐3‐sulfanyl‐butan‐1‐ol and 3‐methyl‐3‐sulfanyl‐1‐butyl formate. Other compounds contributing to aged cat urine odour are mainly indole and para‐cresol. In addition to felinine, a cysteine‐S‐conjugate precursor of 3‐methyl‐3‐sulfanyl‐butan‐1‐ol, the occurrence of S‐(1‐hydroxy‐3,7‐dimethyl‐6‐octen‐3‐yl)cysteine (1.4 mg/L (±0.2) on average in male cats is described for the first time. Its concentration is proportional to that of felinine. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Objectives The aim of this study was to analyse cat breeders’ application of and opinions concerning early-age (ie, <16 weeks old) neutering in cats in France. Methods This study analysed a retrospective cohort. A web survey was designed for French cat breeders and was published in June 2017 on the Facebook page of Livre Officiel des Origines Félines, the official feline studbook for purebred cats born in France. The early-age cat neutering habits, opinions and expectations of breeders were collected. Results A total of 999 breeders returned the questionnaire. Almost half of the breeders (49%) reported consistently requesting neutering of kittens before selling them, 32% claimed that they never requested it and the remaining 19% reported that they inconsistently requested it. When performed, 83% of breeders had kittens neutered at 12 weeks of age; for a large majority of these breeders (94%), the neutering was undertaken on their own initiative. Various reasons for neutering were provided, including the prevention of uncontrolled breeding, short- and long-term welfare benefits for neutered cats, and practical and economic reasons. Reported incidents related to early-age neutering were scarce. Nearly half of breeders who did not apply early-age neutering to their kittens cited a veterinarian’s unwillingness to perform the surgery as a cause. Conclusions and relevance A large majority of surveyed French cat breeders supported early-age neutering that would occur before kittens were sold, most of the time at the age of 3 months. These breeders reported high satisfaction with early-age neutered cats, with a low number of incidents and accidents reported.