The Sterycat project: what's next? - The opinion of participating shelter veterinarians and caretakers on prepubertal gonadectomy in cats

The Sterycat project is a scientific study financed by the Federal Public Service of Public Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment, in which the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine collaborated with seventeen Flemish animal shelters, to investigate the effect of prepubertal gonadectomy on the health and behavior of cats. To be able to efficiently integrate prepubertal gonadectomy of shelter cats in governmental policy, it is important to know the opinion on this topic of people in the field. For this purpose, at the end of the Sterycat project, a survey (16 questions, 70 copies in total) was distributed among shelter veterinarians and staff workers of the participating shelters. Thirty-five individuals completed the survey (10 shelter veterinarians, 25 staff workers). The majority of them (85%) were in favor of continuing prepubertal gonadectomy in shelter cats after the Sterycat project had ended. However, some respondents were concerned about potential complications due to the procedure (58%) and about viral disease outbreaks (72%). Whether prepubertal gonadectomy could be implemented successfully seemed to be dependent upon the financial feasibility and the development of a framework to prevent income loss for non-shelter veterinarians. Furthermore, to efficiently reduce the overpopulation of cats, private cat owners and municipalities would have to assume responsibility to prevent reproduction in cats. A positive perception of the feasibility of prepubertal gonadectomy and microchipping in cats was associated with the enthusiasm of the veterinarian, the increased chances of adoption of the kittens and with the fact that both procedures contributed to the decrease in cat population numbers. In turn, the degree with which prepubertal gonadectomy was considered important was associated with the type of shelter and the expectation of a better return for the shelter. These results indicate that most surveyed shelter veterinarians and staff workers support the idea of continuing prepubertal gonadectomy at their shelter, on the condition that the financial aspect of the procedure and the responsibility of others (private cat owners and municipalities) are taken into account.