New study finds that early-age desexing is on the increase in Australia

Australians are being urged to get their cat desexed before the age of four months, instead of the standard six months, to close the “pregnancy gap” between puberty and surgery. Routine early-age desexing of cats could lessen the impact of unwanted litters. A new study has found that early-age desexing is on the increase in Australia.

Julia Beatty, Professor Emerita at the University of Sydney’s School of Veterinary Science, said the good news is Australia is doing well in the desexing arena. The study found more than 83 percent of cats presented to veterinarians in Australia were desexed, which is among the highest reported internationally.

However, the study also found that desexing at four months or younger, was carried out in only 21.5 percent of female cats, while only 59.8 percent of female cats had been desexed by six months of age, the traditional and the most common recommendation by vets in Australia.

“This creates a potential pregnancy gap between the time the female cat reaches puberty and the age at surgery,” Professor Beatty said. “It’s a gap that could be closed if desexing before four months of age were routine in vet practices, not just in shelters.”

Professor Beatty said early-age desexing was important to prevent unwanted kittens heading into overburdened and under-resourced shelters or into the stray cat population which is detrimental to their wellbeing and puts additional stress on wildlife already impacted by other predators, habitat loss and global warming.

“We really hope this research encourages the pet owning public to have their cats desexed before they reach four months of age,” Professor Beatty said. “This would be a win:win for cat welfare and wildlife welfare by helping to reduce the number of unwanted kittens.”

Kristina Vesk, CEO of Cat Protection Society NSW, said: “Cat Protection has practised and advocated early-age desexing for more than 20 years. It is not only safe but protective against diseases including some cancers and it is behaviourally positive for the cat and their owners.”

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