A retrospective internet-based survey of French cat breeders about early-age neutering

Abstract

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.

Contrasting practices and opinions of UK‐based veterinary surgeons around neutering cats at four months old

“…Additionally, owners may be more compliant if neutering is arranged to follow primary vaccinations, when engagement with preventative veterinary care is likely to be at its highest. Prepubertal neutering is also important for cat rescue organisations and breeders, for whom veterinarian refusal to neuter early enough precludes the neutering of cats prior to homing,24 25 although in these circumstances, neutering earlier than 16 weeks is often desirable.…”

A shift towards early-age desexing of cats under veterinary care in Australia

“…Not surprisingly purebred cats were less likely to be desexed than mixed breeds. In contrast, the finding that purebred cats were 2.7 times less likely to undergo EAD was unexpected because breeders commonly request EAD so that progeny for the pet market can be sold without delay 50 . It is plausible that this result reflects a greater demand in Australia for EAD from the charity and shelter sector, where mixed breed cats predominate, than from breeders.…”

Evaluation of a brief video intervention aimed at UK-based veterinary surgeons to encourage neutering cats at four months old: A randomised controlled trial

“…The majority of owned cats are not neutered before a possible age of breeding [ 17 ], with a high proportion of litters accidental [ 18 ]. Although, there can be many barriers to four-month neutering and neutering generally [ 19 ], one key barrier may be due to the recommendations of veterinary professionals [ 20 ]. Despite, approximately 70 per cent of veterinary surgeons indicating they are comfortable carrying out neutering on cats of four months of age many consider it context specific and not applicable to the owned cat population [ 15 , 21 ].…”