A question about the neutering of cats.?

Question

My cat is 10 yrs old. I had her neutered when she was 1. A couple of months ago she started eating her tail. The vet said it was an allergic reaction to a flea bite and gave her an injection. She also gave me flea drops to be used once a month on her neck. She stopped it for a while but then started eating the back of her hind legs. She looked like a poodle! Anyway, took her to another vet who said it was because she was neutered. Since he'd been the vet who neutered her, I thought this was rich and told him so. He said that my cat was the one-in-ten-thousand who reacts to neutering in this way. So, he's given me HORMONES to give to her. She has stopped eating herself but is now devouring everything else in sight [of a food nature]. He said it was obviously going to affect her, having no ovaries.

I thought they took away the womb but left the ovaries when they neutered a cat. I am very annoyed about this. If it were a human, she would be on HRT from the word go. But WHY take away her ovaries in the first place? Doesn't make sense to me. Does anyone know the reason they take the ovaries away? Thanks in advance for your answer.

Answer 1

Spaying is the common name for an ovariohysterectomy during which both the ovaries and the uterus are removed.  I'm not sure, but I think the reason for this is because if her ovaries were left in place, she'd still have heat cycles and attract males, even though it wouldn't be possible for her to get pregnant.  (When males cats are given a vasectomy as opposed to being castrated, they still display all the sexual behaviours such as spraying and are still capable of mating even though they are sterile.)  Removing all the reproductive organs also eliminates the risk of her developing certain forms of cancer later on in life, so I guess that's another reason they also take the ovaries.

Years ago I had a female cat that suddenly started losing fur from her lower belly and the inside of her back legs.  It wasn't due to over-grooming and she didn't seem bothered by it, but I took her to the vet anyway.  He told me it was known as "falling trouser syndrome" and was a hormone imbalance that is sometimes seen in spayed cats.  He said it wasn't harmful to her and that generally it was more of a concern to owners who considered it unsightly.  He put her on a course of Ovarid tablets which cured the problem completely and it never returned.  I don't remember the tablets affecting her appetite, but she loved the taste of them and it's the only time I've ever known a cat to be eager to take their medicine.  Obviously I don't know if this is what has happened with your cat, I just wanted to share my experience in case it helps in any way.

EDIT:  I have recently learned that because Ovarid was used successfully to treat skin conditions in the past, that many vets assumed the problem was hormonal - a theory now disproved.  However, it also works as an anti-inflammatory and it's this aspect that actually treated the condition which in all likelihood was milliary dermatitis.  The link below has information on this subject that may be helpful to you.

http://www.hydeparkvet.co.uk/pethealth/c...

Answer 2

We had a cat years ago that started pulling her fur out. As far up as she could reach on her chest to the tip of her tale. She was allergic to the food we gave her. We had Purina cat food and had to buy small amounts of different food to find out which one was best. Good luck.

Answer 3

The vet sounds like a quack. All the reproductive organs (ovaries, fallopian tubes, and uterus) are removed when a female cat is spayed. (Cats don't require hormone replacement therapy like human women do.) That's why it's a much more serious procedure than for males. Take the cat back to the first vet along with the "hormones" you were given and ask the vet if the medication you were given is indeed "hormones". It sounds to me more like the cat is having either a flea problem (still) or a skin condition. At 10 yrs old your cat could have developed an allergy (have you changed cat litter brands since this began?) or it couild be an underlying medical condition. Sometimes as pets age they can develop anxiety problems that cause them to over groom (anything new in your life since this began that might have caused stress? Did you move? New boyfreind/girlfriend, spouse, roomate, new baby or even a new pet added to the household?) One other thing I can think of that caused one of my cats to overgroom like that turned out to be a fungal infection from eating grass clippings outside during a wet summer. The clippings had mold on them that when eaten caused my cat to itch and thus the l*****g and chewing. A low dose of antibiotic and the medical collar had the problem cleared up in about a month.

Answer 4

Would they ever not take the ovaries out when spaying a cat?

We had our cat spayed on Friday due to the fact that she needed it and she had the start of a uterine infection even though she is young. When I went in to pick her up on Saturday the lady up front said they removed the uterus and horns and explained all of the after surgery care. I was thinking about what she said yesterday. Do they not remove the ovaries too? Why would they not remove ovaries? Did she just not mention this and they most likely did remove them? I took our cat to a large, very well known, high-tech animal hospital. It was more costly but I felt worth it. I put a call in for the vet a few minutes ago and asked the same girl that I talked to on Saturday this question. She said she is not a vet or nurse but she thinks they leave the ovaries in all the animals they spay but that she will have the vet that did the surgery call me back. What is going on? I want what is best for our cat. I am anxiously waiting for that call from the vet. Thanks for any help!!!

1 month ago

Additional Details

1 month ago

They gave her antibiotics for the infection and she wasnt responding to them. She didn't have a UTI she had a uterine infection. They did say they were doing an emergency spay on her and my vet called and talked to the vet that would be doing the surgery so they could be on standby and I drove her over an hour to be taken to surgery. They gave me a care sheet and I talked with the lady at the desk. I missed the call from the vet on Friday about the surgery though so I didn't get to talk directly to him. And he was not there for the pick up on Saturday. I just wanted to know what was procedure and if the lady at the desk just doesn't know what she is talking about. I hope the vet calls soon because I am getting really stressed about this.

1 month ago

They took out her ovaries!!! My vet had me come in to see her. She works at a office that is under the hospital where my cat had surgery. She talked with the vet she said over the weekend and he even sent her a text message with a picture of my kitties parts they removed because of something being unique to the shape of her uterus. She said she called the vet again today that did the surgery to express my concerns about what I was told and he said ovaries were removed and are always removed during a spay. They are also going to re-evaluate and re-educate the girl that told me that their hospital always leaves in the ovaries. They said she shouldn't even answer questions like that. She should forward them on to the appropriate person ie vet or nurse. I am so relieved and feel really good that extra time was taken for me today to see that this was handled the right way. Thanks for the answers!!

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by jujukitt... Member since:

November 10, 2007

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Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Yes, the ovaries are removed. In rare cases a piece of ovarian tissue may be left in (unintentionally) and the pet will still have heat cycles. A spay done correctly removes the uterus and ovaries.

1 month ago

Source(s):

vet assistant who's seen many, many spays done

I explained above the outcome of this misunderstanding. Thankfully they removed her ovaries as well!!  

Answer 5

They take away everything. ovaries/ womb... If they left the ovaries she would still ovulate ... she would still come in season.

I have never heard of a cat being allergic to neutering... I would call other vets and ask them too.

Ask the vet if she can be given some of the natural product that are out there for men-o-pause.

Your vet would not know if your cat would react one way or another.  

Answer 6

The vet sounds like a quack to me. If neutering was the cause of this behaviour why does it wait 9 years to start?? Go back to the first vet

and have him check the cat again. I would not be giving hormones to

cat unless I had a second opinion. I have had 30 cats in the last

25 years and I have never heard this story before.

Answer 7

When cats are neutered (spayed is the common word) all reproductive organs including ovaries are removed. I've never heard of this before but if the hormones are helping her, I'd say everything is ok now. If she starts getting fat, feed her a lite formula food and make her exercise a bit more.

Answer 8

They take away the ovaries to prevent her going on heat. It is quite normal to remove the gonads from cats and dogs when neutering. If they didn't remove the ovaries the cat would show all normal sexual behaviours, including bringing every tom home.

To compare to a male. Think what would happen if you gave a tom cat a vasectomy. It would still spray, it would still fight and it would still mate but it wouldn't be able to father kittens.

What the vet told you was correct and you have no need to be angry or upset.