4 May 2022
Jenni McDonald PhD, MSc, BSc and Jane Clements MSc, RVN discuss work being done to encourage this practice to become the norm for feline patients, and the profession’s role.
Image: © patrikslezak / Adobe Stock
Cat-Kind (formerly the Cat Population Control Group) has relaunched its website (www.cat-kind.org.uk).
The website provides a one-stop shop for a whole host of resources that guides veterinary professionals through practical tools, guidance, peer-reviewed evidence and informative videos around four-month neutering of owned cats.
Neutering is widely recognised as an effective way to reduce the number of accidental litters and unwanted cats being born in the UK, alongside other recognised benefits to cat health and behaviour.
It is also the only certain way to prevent breeding, with alternatives such as containment and cat separation within the household often problematic, non-permanent, and stressful for both owner and cat.
Although the majority of owned cats are neutered, and despite cat welfare charities neutering thousands of cats every year, the unwanted cat population remains of concern.
Many cats live unowned on the streets, with an estimated quarter of a million in urban areas alone1 and in excess of 150,000 cats entering shelters each year2, with not enough good homes for those cats that are in need.
Pet cats often have accidental litters with owners acquiring kittens for which they are ill prepared to look after. Neutering cats is a key way to prevent overpopulation and the compromised welfare associated with those animals.
With the majority of litters of owned cats unplanned, it is important we support owners to have their cats neutered before potential breeding age to prevent unwanted kittens. Unneutered queens can fall pregnant before six months of age (historically the recommended age of neutering), reaching puberty as early as four months.
Since 2006, The Cat Group has recommended neutering owned cats prepubertally at four months, with earlier neutering, often younger than four months, considered safe and appropriate for rescue and feral cats. National veterinary association position statements and animal welfare organisations, which see the poor welfare effects of accidental litters and over-population on a daily basis, have subsequently supported this.
Changing the public’s thinking to neutering at four months of age means any delays in getting the procedure done will still hopefully result in pet cats being neutered before six months if not at four months, thereby preventing accidental litters of kittens being born.
Cat-Kind – made up of all the major cat welfare charity bodies – works towards making four-month neutering the “norm” for pet cats. This work is only achievable with the support of the veterinary profession.
Currently, more than 1,450 practices are signed up to the kitten neutering database (a public search resource of vets that carry out prepubertal neutering). Previous research undertaken in 2019 found almost 70 per cent of veterinary surgeons neuter cats at four months3.
However, the same research study also found some companion animal vets (32 per cent) do not neuter cats at four months and a greater proportion (48 per cent) would not routinely recommend neutering client-owned cats at four months of age.
Common concerns included the size and development of cats at four months, perceived increased anaesthetic risk, more complicated surgery and a lack of colleague or owner support. Vets who did routinely carry out four-month neutering had contrasting views on the same themes considering the surgery easier, with reduced anaesthetic complications and improved owner compliance, given neutering could be scheduled during the primary vaccination appointments while owners are fully engaged.
This work highlighted the importance of familiarity and experience with the procedure, along with social influences, with vets considering the procedure more favourably and widespread if they carry it out themselves.
The work highlighted the continued need for practical tools, guidance and accessible peer-reviewed evidence on four-month neutering. Additionally, the support required is likely beyond education alone, with social influences and the ability to observe the behaviour also likely to reflect clinical practices.
Key resources feature on the new Cat-Kind website. Specifically, the following support resources are freely available:
Although the majority of vets now carry out four-month neutering, educational resources and practical guidance alone have not been sufficient to engage all vets. In part, this is thought to be due to the lack of observability of the procedure within individual practices, creating the silos of clinical practices that were observed in earlier studies.
With many educational resources and guidance documents already available, the Cat-Kind website also hosts a brief targeted video (https://cat-kind.org.uk/), which was developed to encourage voluntary behaviour change towards four-month neutering. The video moves away from education alone and looks at how to support vets using human behaviour change science – an approach commonly found to be effective for other health professionals.
The COM-B (capability, opportunity, motivation) and BCW (Behaviour Change Wheel) models of behaviour change (alongside other theories) informed behavioural analysis and the development of the video.
The COM-B model is based on the premise that for any behaviour to occur, people need all three of capability, opportunity and motivation. Four themes were identified as influencing behaviour towards neutering cats at four months:
The video addresses these themes through the messages from Martha Cannon, a vet at the Oxford Cat Clinic, as she discusses the issue with her colleague.
A randomised controlled trial recently published in PLOS One found the video was effective at encouraging four-month neutering when compared to a control group of vets that did not receive it and a group of vets that received a written summary of evidence4.
The study found that the video prompted vets to think about their own practices, have conversations with their colleagues around four-month neutering and were subsequently more likely to be undertaking it six months later.
While educational resources and training are paramount, the video is an additional tool to help veterinary professionals understand more about the benefits of four-month neutering from peers who routinely carry it out and consider moving towards undertaking it.
Cat-Kind hopes the freely available tools, resources and signposting available on its new website provide the opportunity to reflect on current clinical practices, encouraging greater peer-to-peer discussions, training and learning. Only in doing so can accidental litters be prevented, stopping the continuous cycle of people spontaneously acquiring kittens for which they are ill prepared to look after.
This is hugely important to improve both individual cat welfare and overpopulation.
