desex or not

Question
hello there jessica .. thank you for your time .. i have a 6 mth old female ragdoll cross himalayan ready for desexing .. i was jsut wondering if desexing will cause any changes in her behaviour .. she is so vibrant and full of energy and nosey .. and i love the way she is now .. i have two other cats and the both of them became fat and lazy lumps of fur after desexing .. i do know that desexing is the right thing to do but i do not know the reason why .. should i desex her or not ? will it affect her ? and are they and disadvantages if i choose not to desex her ? please help .. thank you so much ..  

Answer
Hi Ting.  Spaying should not effect her personality at all.  It is true that the hormonal changes that occur after spaying sometimes cause weight gain.  And excess weight definitely could have caused the lack of energy you're seeing in your other two.  However, if you get them on a good weight loss diet and increase their activity, I would be surprised if they didn't start to become more active.

Also, don't forget that as cats age, they do become less curious, less full of energy.  That's just a natural part of maturing.  

I would definitely recommend to go ahead with the spaying.  Cats who aren't spayed are at a much higher risk for mammary cancer.  Her chances of developing mammary cancer later in life increase 300% each time she goes into heat.

Also, cats who aren't spayed can get ovarian and uterine cancer.  Additionally, they can suffer uterine infections that can spread to the kidneys and liver and cause organ failure.  One particular type of uterine cancer called pyometra causes the uterus to become filled with pus.  If not caught early, this can cause the uterus to burst, and that usually kills the cat.

So it is definitely in her best interest to have her spayed.  Just be sure that she doesn't start overeating, and make sure to have some play time with her every day to prevent her from getting overweight.