Missing

Question
Hi,

I have a 18month old Tom cat that has not been home for 3 weeks. It is correct that this is common with Tom's that haven't been spayed.

Thanks

Answer
Corina,

Unfortunately tom cats who are not neutered tend to wander a little further and perhaps more frequently than neutered cats. I am a little concerned that your kitty has been missing for so long, unfortunately if he was brought to a shelter in your community it is quite possible that he has been euthanised due to space constraints or he may have even been adopted into a new family. You will need to bring pictures in to your local animal shelter, any cat rescue groups in your area, as many of your local vets as you can get to (your tom may have been brought into the vet by a good Samaritan after being hit by a car). Someone may have even taken your kitty in after seeing him hang around after an extended period of time. You will also want to see any shelter or veterinary clinic unidentified DOA (dead on arrival) photos in case he was killed on the road. I am inclined to believe that your kitty has likely been a victim of a road accident, predators, cruelty or even adopted or euthanised within the shelter systems in your area. The best way to avoid this in the future is to make sure that your cat has some form of identification (such as a microchip, a tattoo, and a break away collar with tags bearing his name, your address and phone number as well as the address and phone number of your vet). Don't forget to include your cat's current rabies tag on his collar just in case he bites or scratches someone trying to handle him when he is injured or afraid. It is extremely important to spay and neuter your cats by 6 months of age at the latest to avoid having your pet contribute to the serious pet overpopulation issues within our society. I have had many cats spayed and neutered over the course of my lifetime. The vet or veterinary technician is likely to tell you to try and keep the cat quiet for several days to a week. In my experience the spaying and neutering doesn't seem to bother the cats any, when they are brought home they bound out of the carrier and head off to play. You may have to borrow an Elizabethan collar for any female cat who is trying to pull out her stitches at the incision site for her spay, but that is about the worst complication that I have seen. Contrary to popular belief losing a healthy cat under anesthetic is not as common as most people think, it is about the same as the rate of complication for humans, in fact the same anesthetic gases are used. Spaying and neutering has many medical and behavioral benefits. Medically cats who are spayed are much less likely to develop serious infections in their reproductive systems, they are also at a significantly decreased risk of cancers or tumors in their reproductive systems. Another medical benefit is that cats who are spayed and neutered do not require medical treatment for abscesses inflicted during fights over mating rights or territory. Treatment for a serious abscess can run into several hundred dollars easily especially if the cat needs to be sedated and have the wound surgically drained as well as needing antibiotics and pain management. In terms of the behavioral benefits to spaying and neutering, cats who are altered tend not to fight as often, they don't urinate to mark territory as often, they don't keep your neighbors up at night caterwauling to advertise their availability to mate and they are less likely to wander from home and get lost. I do hope that you give serious consideration to neutering your tom if you can find him, if you can't spaying and neutering your next pets would be something that I would highly recommend considering. I do hope that you have found this information helpful. If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me again.