Comment: Get cats sterilised early - even in rural France

Despite the local cat charity trapping all the feral cats in the village to have them sterilised, there is yet another litter of kittens in the orchard – and don't look at me, I am not adopting them. 

I have already got a cat, plus a visiting feline staying with us while his family move house. That is quite enough for one household, thank you very much.

The thing is, there are two cat owners in our village who refuse to get their cats spayed, despite all persuasion. 

Personally. I got my cat spayed when she was just three months old, although it took quite a lot of arguing. At that time French vets simply did not believe you could neuter such a young animal, although it had been common practice in the US for decades. 

I had to ring around half a dozen vets to find one who would do the procedure on a very young cat, many of them telling me it was physically impossible and/or cruel, but I found one in the end. For a handsome price of course.

Read more: 'I feel sorry for all the stray cats in my French village'

Healing process

The arguments in favour are that healing is very quick, the cat never gets even close to puberty so there is never a risk of accidental breeding, and it never has any kind of remembered trauma attached to going to the vet. 

Kitty bounced back from being sterilised in 48 hours, and has grown into an enormous, healthy adult cat. I would certainly opt for early sterilisation again.

Moreover, I notice that the French Ministry of Agriculture has updated its website since then and it now states that cats can be sterilised “à partir de l'âge de huit semaines” [from the age of eight weeks]. It goes on to say that this can also help them avoid getting overweight. That's news to Kitty, who is as fat as butter, but I digress.

The web page also states that as every cat-lover knows, a sterilised cat is more affectionate with humans, stays closer to home, hunts less and is therefore less likely to be abandoned.

Read more: Comment: How caring for my cats taught me neighbourly etiquette in France

Sterilise cats young

Apparently, hunting less is a good thing for biodiversity, but as far as I am concerned I like the cats to hunt. Especially in the barn where I store the rolled barley for the sheep. 

The large plastic bin is perched on a smaller concrete block to prevent rodents gnawing at the edges of the base, or climbing up the sides. But I still do not want mice in the barn and the mere presence of two overfed felines puts them off. Anyway, I digress again. 

I think I might report this litter of kittens to the local charity because they already have their eyes open and are running about, meaning they are probably around eight weeks old. 

They are easier to catch when they are still kittens and if they get sterilised quickly enough, at least that is another four cats who cannot reproduce.

Fingers crossed the local vet has read the Ministry of Agriculture's website and is not still arguing against early sterilisation, eh?