To Neuter Or Not To Neuter

That is the question.

Popo is becoming more and more active as the day goes by although hes still a quiet boy. He loves to play with his toys and sometimes when I'm not playing with him, he would be jumping here and there as if hes playing with an imaginary friend. I'm a bit worried whenever he plays with his 'friend'; he would be jumping in his litter box and suddenly rushed off running to the kitchen, or hide under the table or under my wardrobe as if hes seen a ghost. And his game with me now involves bitting my hand and my toes. I know its a sign of affection and that he just wants to play with me but his bites are still painful nevertheless.

Since hes heading towards puberty, I'm now considering whether to neuter him or not. My personal preference is to neuter him while hes still a kitten. A male cat who has been neutered would be less aggressive and less likely to spray his urine all around the house. Moreover, I am more concern when the time comes he needs to go out and find a girlfriend (during mating season) and I'm sure I wouldnt know how to handle him when hes on heat and starts to scratch and kick the door to go out.

How would my baby boy survive the outside world with all the other street cats who own the neighbourhood. Popo would surely have to fight them to get their girls or else he would have to venture further outside the neighbourhood in search of a mate to fulfill his passion (hmmmm...). My father's cat, Saddam (yes his real name) was having the same problem, he would be roaming the streets and started to fight with other cats almost everyday. Being a Saddam that he was, he would still be coming back home with all the bald patches here and there, wounded, scratched and bled sometimes.

I dont want Popo to go through the same ordeal. .

The reason I was having doubt was because I was afraid that he might loose a bit of his masculinity and that the 'housemates' would be coming back and worse still if they start to befriend him. But well, after some reading from the internet, I think the pros of neutering far outweighs the cons.

I think I'm going to go for it !

Source :

http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/reports/early-neuter.html

http://www.kittenrescue.org/spayneuter.htm