# spayed cats losing hunting instinct?



## doulanobles (Aug 15, 2006)

Soemone told me that once you spay a female cat, chances are she'll lose her hunting instinct and sit around waiting to be fed after that. Anyone heard that? I'm trying to decide if we're going to spay our 2 new kittens. Thnaks!


----------



## belladulcinea (Jun 21, 2006)

Hardly, my spayed cat caught mice like crazy in and out of the house. Blue who is neutered is the same way. The neighborhood cat is spayed and she's a monster mouse hunter. Hasn't hurt any of the cats around here!


----------



## GoldenMom (Jan 2, 2005)

My spayed female is a GREAT hunter!


----------



## Missy M (Mar 2, 2007)

All 3 of my males are fixed and they are always bringing home something.


----------



## ScrappyNana (Aug 25, 2007)

My Zsa Zsa is spayed and hunts like I never feed her. She brought a little bluejay on the porch a few days back. Poor little thing. I like not having to worry about litters of kittens around here all the time.


----------



## donsgal (May 2, 2005)

doulanobles said:


> Soemone told me that once you spay a female cat, chances are she'll lose her hunting instinct and sit around waiting to be fed after that. Anyone heard that? I'm trying to decide if we're going to spay our 2 new kittens. Thnaks!


Endless studies have been made that pretty much all confirm the fact that cats do not hunt because they are hungry. They hunt because they really, really like killing things.

That having been said, my female cat lost interest in doing ANYTHING except eating and sleeping after she was spayed. If you give her some catnip you will have about a 10 minute window of activity, but after that, back to the couch she goes.

I would expect, therefore, that the answer to your question would be yes basesd upon my personal experiences and observations.

donsgal


----------



## Corgitails (Jun 2, 2003)

Morrighan, my parents' cat, didn't begin to hunt until after she was spayed at a year and a half old.


----------



## susieM (Apr 23, 2006)

Spay the kitties. They'll hunt. Plys, you won't have more kitties. Or daddycats hunting them and yowling all night long.


----------



## Wolf Flower (Dec 21, 2005)

In my opinion, spayed females are the BEST hunters, followed by neutered males. Unaltered cats spend more time breeding and fighting than hunting, and have a shorter lifespan. I think housecats tend to be more into eating and sleeping than outdoor cats, so if there's any difference in hunting behavior, I think it would be more along those lines.


----------



## Vera (Aug 22, 2003)

Add my being in favor of spayed/neutered hunters. My fixed house cats catch whatever they can get their paws on when I let them in the crawl space under the house occasionally. My neighbor's spayed cat (who pretty much lives around my place now) is probably the best hunter I've ever come across. Just about every time I see her walking across the yard, she's got some small dead thing dangling from her mouth. My as-of-yet unneutered male outside cat is a great hunter too, and I don't expect that to change in the least when he gets fixed. They all just love to hunt, so that's what they do.


----------



## donsgal (May 2, 2005)

Wolf Flower said:


> In my opinion, spayed females are the BEST hunters, followed by neutered males. Unaltered cats spend more time breeding and fighting than hunting, and have a shorter lifespan. I think housecats tend to be more into eating and sleeping than outdoor cats, so if there's any difference in hunting behavior, I think it would be more along those lines.


Excellent point. My housecat was not a hunter before either - doh! But she was more active in other ways. Besides, I think that hunting instinct is more an individual trait. Some are and some just aren't. My guess is that if a cat is before being altered, they still will be.

donsgal


----------



## doulanobles (Aug 15, 2006)

So far, they are cathcing grasshoppers and bugs. The gal I got then from said they were already catching mice, etc. but I've seen no evidence of that. We fee them in thebarn but they don't seem to want to leave the deck. When we go to the barn, they follow us sometimes and watch the chickens, eat, etc. I finally had to put water up on the decj for them because I don't think they were even going down to drink. They are somewhere around 14-15 weeks old, I think. The local Humane society does spaying for $45. Thanks for all theopinions!


----------



## HOTW (Jul 3, 2007)

nope it won't take away their instinct our female cats were always spayed and our white cat was the worst! SHe killed so mnay things and brought lots home for us. I think the worst was the dead skunk or maybe the live snake she managed to smuggle into the house, or the time my sisters tabby brought home a live bat...or maybe the rabbit ..nope that one was gross.. I would not WORRY at ALL!!LOL


----------



## trappmountain (Jun 22, 2005)

My barn cats are spayed and they do a great job hunting! One of them mst not have been able to find anything here so she went elsewhere and brought home a rat trap and all!


----------



## Bonnie L (May 11, 2002)

All of our cats have been fixed & all - except the occasional retarded one - have been good hunters. One that I thought would never learn to hunt did so after he was fixed. He's now one of the best. His favorite hunting ground is the chicken house. He & the chickens ignore each other - he just goes after the mice.


----------



## TedH71 (Jan 19, 2003)

I think it has more to do with the momma cat teaching the kittens how to hunt more than anything else. If they're city cats, they most likely will stay that way.


----------



## JasoninMN (Feb 24, 2006)

Hunting comes natural to cats. Mine were both indoor cats that were not using the litter box so needed to find outdoor homes. I never really wanted a cat but I was having problems with mice in my garage so got one. I figured it need a buddy so I added another. They are both fixed and have become killing machines. My yard has small animal carnage all over, its really quite disgusting. There are peices of squirrels, chipmunks, mice, shrews, voles, birds etc all over the place. I think it has to do with the individual cat as to whether or not its going to be a hunter. Mine did not see the outdoors till they were 5-6 months old. As far as being fixed and making them lose their instincts, I think its a poor excuse for people to not fix their animals.


----------



## NWoods_Hippie (Nov 16, 2006)

All of my cats hunt mice and bugs in the house, all of them are either spayed or fixed. I watched them get a mouse I shoed out of the pantry night before last, the female being the best hunter off all three!!

My cats were all given to me at about 6 weeks old, to early for the Mother Cat to have taught them much in the way of hunting skills, I think it is just in their nature. I will say that my cats are "city cats", or they were for the first few years of their lives until we moved to the woods. None of them has ever been outdoors with the exception of visits (in their carrier) to the Vet, and here in the house they hunt like crazy!!

Margie


----------



## NWoods_Hippie (Nov 16, 2006)

I forgot to add, that Cats are mostly night time hunters, mine spend most of the day laying around in the sun but I know they are VERY active at night.


----------

