Will postponing neutering affect my boy cats behaviour?

[IAmNotAPrincessIAmAKaleesi]

My boy cat is an absolute darling, so affectionate and a lovely pet

He is 10 months now and ideally we would like to postpone having him 'done' for about another year

I know he might start spraying but other than that how much would his personality be affected?

[thecatneuterer]

My god, why ever would you want to do that?! Yes he will start smelling and spraying really soon. He will also start fighting from which he would be likely to contract FIV (like HIV but in cats).

The most dangerous thing though is that you would be very likely to lose him. A male cat can smell a female cat in heat from literally miles away. They follow the scent - across busy roads causing many to be killed - and then they find they have travelled so far that they can't find their way home. This is why there are so many unneutered stray male cats around.

Also, even if none of that happens, the longer they spray for the more it becomes a habit, which can carry on even after they've been neutered. There is nothing to gain from waiting and everything to lose.

[thecatneuterer]

Please read the information here:

www.celiahammond.org/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=25&MMN_position=33:33

[IAmNotAPrincessIAmAKaleesi]

He's an indoor cat I would never ever let an unneutered cat outside

We were considering leaving him for a while because he is a pure bred pedigree and we (along with a registered breeder) would like to have one litter of kittens from him as he is such an excellent example of the breed. We would have him neutered immediately after. However if postponing would alter his affectionate nature too much then we would not go ahead

[thecatneuterer]

If he's an indoor cat then he will be very, very stressed by being kept in. He would also be likely to try to fling himself out of a high window or off a balcony or whatever.

I am very against breeding anyway. There are so many cats in shelters I think it's immoral to bring any more into the world deliberately so I am of course going to say that he should be neutered now.

[cozietoesie]

Why on earth would you 'postpone it' ? If his personality is to change, it will likely be as a result of not being neutered rather than being snipped. And who is the 'we' you mention? Is there by any chance an OH in the background cutting up rough about the neutering ?

[KittieCat]

We waited with our Selkirk Rex, to allow him to fill out and get that lovely, jowly, wide face. He is and has always been super affectionate.

Even if your boy does get affected by the inevitable increase in hormones (our boy didn't) this will change one he's been done. The only problem might be the smell. We waited as long as we could and while our boy didn't really start spraying he developed a rather 'unique' odour about his person...

[cozietoesie]

I'd get him booked in as soon as possible. At his age, he could start spraying and fighting right away - ie you could wake up tomorrow morning to damp patches on the walls. I'm surprised you haven't had them already to be honest.

[IAmNotAPrincessIAmAKaleesi]

No I didn't mean would neutering change for the worse, I meant by postponing would his behaviour be negatively affected. I know neutering is absolutely the best thing to do and he will definitely be done either way it's just a question of when

By we I mean me and my DH, he has no issues with having pets 'done' in general- all of our other pets our

The only reason we are considering this is because the breeder thinks he is worthy of being bred from, he has a great pedigree and we will be showing him (though only for fun). She would like to keep at least one from any resulting litter, we would like to keep at least one and should there be any 'spare' kittens resulting she has a very long waiting list for kittens because the breed is quite desirable (they are siberians and so are good for people with allergies, which is why we have the breed)

[msrisotto]

An unneutered indoor male cat....rather you than me!

Why do you want to breed him? It isn't the money spinner you think.

[IAmNotAPrincessIAmAKaleesi]

Msrissoto we don't think it's a money spinner at all also while he is an indoor cat he has a big enclosed space outside where he can let off some steam, I do take your point though!

Catneuterer I completely respect your position on this all of my previous cats have been rescues, and as a family we're quite involved with a local rescue centre. but my son is allergic to cats and siberians are the only breed we can have. We tried to find one from a rescue for ages but there just weren't any available. The breeder (who is very responsible and really cares about continuing the breed standard rather than churning out kittens, hence the long waiting list) said that almost all of the people wanting her kittens have the same problem

Having never had an unneutered animal it's been great to hear about the possible problems so thank you all for your advice

[Lonecatwithkitten]

I once fostered a cat who we suspected might be a pedigree stud cat who had escaped, it was the stinkiest 6 months of my life. Tom cat urine even in the litter tray is the most incredibly pungent stuff I ave come across that alone would put me off.

[issey6cats]

all i can add to this is cleaning pens today two lovely looking un nuetered ginger boys have been in their pen two days and the pong of tom cat piss hits you when you open the door (they will be done during this week) and we have self cleaning plumbed in cat genies so glad my boys were all neutered when they were still kittens

[IAmNotAPrincessIAmAKaleesi]

I just wanted to thank you all again for your help, we've spoken to the breeder and our vets and have booked him in to be neutered in a couple of weeks. If the queen is in heat before then then great we'll go ahead, if not we won't

[IAmNotAPrincessIAmAKaleesi]

I mean we'll go ahead with the breeding if it's in the next couple of weeks, the neutering will definitely be happening - sorry my morphine has made my posting skills even worse

[cozietoesie]

Best of luck - and I hope you feel better yourself in due course.

[IAmNotAPrincessIAmAKaleesi]

Thank you cozie