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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

On the garage roof, off to explore neighbourhood, will being neutered curb that?

17 replies

Italiangreyhound · 18/08/2013 20:32

Four and a half month old ginger kitten is on the garage roof, off to explore neighbourhood, and all over the place. Worried he will get stuck up a tree, or run over or lost.

I was going to wait until he was 6 months old to get him neutered but wonder if we go for having it done at 5 months if it will curb that behaviour before he gets run over lost or stuck up a tree?

Thanks for your help.

OP posts:
Original poster
Italiangreyhound · 18/08/2013 20:33

He doesn't look like a kitten any more, he looks like a cat so not worried about him being bullied by other cats!

OP posts:
Fluffycloudland77 · 18/08/2013 20:45

Yes.

We didn't let ours out until after neutering after an unfortunate incident with a relatives cat.

MumnGran · 18/08/2013 20:49

Sorry OP, neutering will stop him travelling for miles to find a calling female, but will do nothing to stop him being a cat!! .....climbing trees, exploring, hunting and looking for entertainment are all normal feline behaviours

Do keep him in a night though. It really is much safer for them.

itsnothingoriginal · 18/08/2013 20:52

If he's quite big for his age which it sounds like he is, vet might neuter him at 5-5.5 months so he hasn't long to wait. At least that's what we've just been told by our vet.. sooner the better Smile

cozietoesie · 18/08/2013 21:00

It could calm him a bit - but when I got my last ginger boy, I was coming downstairs one day and wondered what had been 'not quite right' about the neighbour-across-the-street's house when I glanced at it through a window. I dashed back up again to see the glorious silhouette of a cat in full stalk along the neighbour's ridge tiles. (And that was a two story house and not a garage.)

Unfortunately, roofs are where birds go because they feel safe up there. Poor deluded fools.

He may be more of a homebody after neutering but quite a lot of his behaviour won't change, I fear.

Original poster
Italiangreyhound · 18/08/2013 21:04

He is very big for his he, looks to me like a full grown cat.

He was inside the a garage tonight, shut in there by accident!

I don't want him to stop being a cat, I want him to be safe, I love the great big daft ginger pudding, even if he drives me mad!

Thanks for all your helpful and speedy answers.

PS feel bad having him done, he is missing out on having sex and being a dad, I know it is for his own good but feel like a meanie! Sad

OP posts:
MumnGran · 18/08/2013 21:11

You would feel far more mean if he was not neutered and then contracted a terminal illness from random sex with ferals, or comes home with half an ear missing because he fought a neighbourhood tom for the privilege!
You are doing the right thing.

cozietoesie · 18/08/2013 21:12

Much better for him. You should look at the figures on the average longevity of unneutered males. Male cats don't know about the concept of being a Dad (Mom hightails it afterwards) and neither would I anthromomorphize about the sex. Being a full tom is mainly about roaming around in the cold and having fights with other cats, I think.

cozietoesie · 18/08/2013 21:14

anthropomorphize, even. Flipping laptop.

GemmaTeller · 18/08/2013 21:19

Neutering only stops them roaming after females (I think)

Our kitten cat went out from six months, after being neutered, was up and down all the trees in the garden, calling for DH to help him get down and managed to get from one conifer onto the roof (bungalow),

One year later, he still goes on the roof and up all the trees but gets down himself, he goes over on the field for hours on end but has a curfew at 7pm in summer and as soon as its going dark in winter.

Fluffycloudland77 · 18/08/2013 21:36

Well, my relatives cat is in a shallow grave right now.

He didn't make it to 6 months.

Original poster
Italiangreyhound · 18/08/2013 22:50

Oh no, why didn't he make it to 6 months?

OP posts:
PosyNarker · 18/08/2013 23:06

My cat's neutered, has a large territory, hunts terrorises the local wildlife and beats up the neighbourhood cats despite now being a kitty OAP Hmm No guarantees you'll get a docile homebody if that's not his nature now!

Fluffycloudland77 · 19/08/2013 08:40

He got ran over by a car while roaming off to meet lady cats. The same relative now has two male cats but both are neutered and they stick closer to home.

lljkk · 19/08/2013 09:06

I would phone around about getting him neutered now, OP. There's no harm in it, it prevents most of the brain changes associated with puberty which is all to the good.

HuglessDouglas · 19/08/2013 12:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MinkyWinky · 19/08/2013 12:07

We have two neutered male cats. One is a homebody, who occasionally will go over the garden fence; the other goes out exploring during the day and we think has quite a large territory. He does have a curfew at night though, 9pm in summer and 7pm in winter (to coincide with food times...) He may like to roam, but he equally likes his food and a safe cosy place to sleep Grin

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