Alfonso Fernandez, a Barcelona veterinarian, breaks down contraceptive options for female cats. He weighs the benefits of injectables and tablets against their side effects, including serious health risks from long-term use.
Hi, everyone. I'm Alfonso Fernandez. I'm a small animal veterinarian and I work at a clinic in Barcelona, San Jose Veterinaris. Today we're going to talk about a topic that you often ask about, which is contraceptives for cats. Many of you ask, what contraceptive methods do we have for cats? And when you ask us veterinarians, we. We always tell you the same thing. Spay her. Yes, of course, but there are no other things that can be done to operate on a cat. They do exist, but they have many side effects. And that's what we're going to talk about today. The other contraceptive methods, these treatments are not recommended in the long term. In other words, if you're thinking of spaying your cat and just when you want to ask for it, she goes into heat and it's not advisable to do it well, you can always use some kind of treatment to stop the heat, and once the heat period is over, you can spay her without any problems. However, there are many people who just want to say, no, no, I don't want her to go into heat and not have to have surgery. As I was saying before, it is not advisable to use this type of treatment in the long term due to the side effects it can have. To start with, there are basically two types of contraceptives for injectables, which must be administered by a veterinarian, or tablets, which must be prescribed by your veterinarian and you can administer them at home. As for injectables, well, it depends on the product used. There is one that requires an injection every six months and another that has a slightly different schedule in which you have to give a first injection, a second at three months, a third at four months, and from then on a booster every five months. As I was saying, it is not recommended because it will cause many side effects. The tablets, well, it depends on which one we use. There is one that requires one tablet per week and another that requires one every day for two weeks. The main drawback of both injectables and tablets is for the owner. I mean, not. Not for the side effects, which I will tell you about later. But we always remember that we don't want the cat to be in heat when she is in heat. In other words, that cat that is already meowing at night, that keeps us and the neighbors awake. And that's when we say, wow, let's give her something to make her go away. The main problem, as I was saying, with this type of product is that the vast majority of them cannot be given when the cat is already in heat. We have to give them when she is in anestrus, that is, when she is not in heat. If we administer it when the cat is already in heat, we are more likely to have side effects. And you say this guy is being very heavy handed about the side effects. What are they? Quote? Well, the list is quite long and the more times we do this type of treatment, the greater the chances of these types of side effects occurring. These side effects range from problems in the uterus, such as biometra, that is an infection in the uterus. And the solution to Biometra is to sterilize the cat. Other types of problems in the uterus, such as endometrial cystic hyperplasia, such as endometritis, such as mucometra, which are different types of inflammations that secrete products that in the long run can become infected, can end up causing pyometra, and the cat will have to have surgery. We can also get tumors in the uterus, tumors in the ovary at the breast level. After treatment, we can see that the breasts increase in size, which is called mammary hyperplasia. It can also cause tumors in the breasts. Often. What we notice when we give these types of products is that the cat is hungrier. It causes an increase in appetite, and therefore, if we do not control it, we will have weight gain. And obesity is not healthy either. It can also cause problems. We can see lethargy, that is, after giving this to the cat, we see that she is more groggy, more still and more slumped. We can see changes in temperament and increase in aggressiveness. We can see restlessness. And we can see that the catalyst.
