Neutering pets: myths, facts and what it actually changes

Myth 1. "She should have one litter, for her health"

Probably the most widespread belief — and it has no medical basis. Giving birth is not a health procedure and does not "settle" the hormonal system. On the contrary: pregnancy and birth put serious strain on the body with their own risks, and labour itself can end in complications requiring emergency intervention.

There is also the practical side: the puppies or kittens have to go somewhere. Some of them end up on the street or in a shelter — and that is precisely how shelters fill up to the point where they can no longer take anyone in.

Myth 2. "The animal will get fat and lazy"

Half true. Calorie needs do drop after neutering — by roughly a quarter. But animals gain weight not from the operation but because the portion stayed the same. That is fixed by recalculating the diet and adding activity, not by skipping neutering.

As for laziness: what disappears is hormonally driven restlessness — searching for a mate, calling, escape attempts, marking. Many owners describe it as "he became calmer", and that is about removing chronic stress rather than losing personality.

Myth 3. "The character will change, she will stop loving me"

Attachment, play drive, recognition, trust — none of it depends on sex hormones. What changes is the behaviour tied to reproduction: territorial marking, loud calling, aggression toward same-sex animals, escape attempts during heat or rut.

Myth 4. "It is unnatural"

A pet's life in a flat bears little resemblance to nature in general. In natural conditions a cat produces several litters a year, and far from most of them survive. In an urban setting the "natural" cycle means either constant litters with nowhere to go, or chronic hormonal stress in an animal that never has a mate.

What it actually changes

Neutering is considered one of the few procedures that address medical, behavioural and societal problems at the same time.

• Removes the risk of a number of reproductive diseases, including uterine infection, which can be fatal and requires emergency surgery.
• Ends heat cycles, rut, calling, marking and escape attempts.
• Reduces escapes — and escaping is the most common reason animals are hit by cars or go missing.
• Reduces conflicts and fights, and therefore injuries and infections transmitted through bites.
• And at city scale: one unneutered pair and their offspring can in theory produce hundreds of animals within a few years.

About street animals

The humane approach used in most countries is called trap-neuter-return. The animal is caught, neutered, vaccinated, ear-tipped and returned to its territory.

The logic here is not about the individual animal but about the territory: simply removing animals does not work, because new ones arrive from neighbouring areas to fill the vacancy. A neutered colony stops growing, is quieter, fights less and holds the territory against newcomers.

What to ask your vet

• The optimal age for my specific animal, given species, breed and size.
• Which tests are needed beforehand.
• How to prepare the animal the day before.
• Aftercare: a recovery suit or a cone, for how many days, when stitches come out.
• How to recalculate the diet after the operation.
• Which post-operative symptoms are normal and which mean "come back immediately".

One more thing: shelter animals are usually already neutered — that is standard practice in responsible rehoming. So if you adopt from a shelter, this question is most often already settled.