Why You Should Get Your Local Stray Cat Neutered - Mitch's Story

Mitch - a cautionary tale about unneutered "community cats"...

We were alerted to Mitch's situation a few weeks back. Like so many cats we are contacted about, Mitch was an unneutered stray boy living in front gardens by the road and being fed for years on end by local residents. He had been living in the same spot, and despite willing “feeders” unfortunately had not been neutered. He was considered a “community cat”...

Unneutered male cats are generally very territorial and fights are frequent. In Mitch’s case, ironically he was the recipient of bites due to his submissive personality, by other unneutered and stray cats in that area.

By the time Mitch came to our attention, one of his fight wounds had developed into a nasty, infected abscess on the side of his face that “ate” into all the flesh all the way to his right cheek bone. We will spare you the horrendous photos.

Mitch also tested as FIV positive; again not surprising for an unneutered male cat and recipient of bites by other unneutered males; regular fights with other cats (FIV, or feline immunodeficiency virus, is most commonly spread through deep bite wounds) over time almost guaranteed this unfortunate outcome.

All this could have been avoided had Mitch been neutered years ago when he was spotted by his feeders, as it was obvious he was living as a stray...

Mitch has now been neutered, right cheek muscle removed and wound treated. The vets told us this was the worst case of untreated abscess they have never come across, causing them to belch during the operation to clean and debride the infected area. Now, almost a month later, after two additional vet visits and daily medication and cleaning from our team, hi cheek is slowly healing. He has also overcome his initial shyness and blossomed into a lovely, calm and gentle boy. He will soon be ready to begin his search for a loving forever home, and a very special home at that. Only the best will do for Mitch now!

Are you feeding strays or ferals in your neighbourhood? Are you unsure whether they are neutered? If so, get active!

If you live within the M25 area, many vets are part of a charitable scheme that offers free neutering for stray cats. Charities like Catcuddles are always happy to help with getting stray cats neutered. If you're feeding cats outdoors, getting them neutered as soon as possible is the kindest thing you can do. Once neutered, most previously aggressive male cats relax and stop fighting and roaming - their quality of life really improves so much! And of course they stop contributing to the huge cat overpopulation problem when they no longer father hundreds of kittens.