Our question this week was:

How can you tell if a cat female or male has been neutered or spayed?

Lori Cannon


Answer

Hi – thanks for your question. Great question!

For a normal adult male cat – you can generally tell if they are neutered by the presence or absence of their testicles.

In adult female cats, it can be tough. There is no prefect way. Sometimes you can clip the hair on their belly and look for a scar that could have been from a spay incision. Sometimes you can feel the scar. There is no way to know for sure that the incision is from a spay but that is the most logical reason a young cat would have a surgical scar in that location.

Another way to tell is to see if your cat comes in heat. This isn't ideal for many owners but if they don't come in heat...there are probably spayed.

I've also seen cats go to surgery. During surgery they look and see if they have their reproductive organs and if they do, they are removed and if they don't, then they were previously spayed.

I hope this helps!


Dr. Jon




To read most recent questions Click here!

Click here to see the full list of Ask Dr. Jon Questions and Answers!