The use of vasectomy in stray cat population control

Abstract

Despite concerted efforts by animal control agencies and animal welfare advocates, stray cats continue to present ethical and public health dilemmas. Modern methods of control include capture followed by adoption or euthanasia and, more recently, trap-neuter-and-release. Because of the feline's unique reproductive status as an induced ovulator, vasectomy may have practical advantages over traditional surgical sterilization via castration. To test whether vasectomy can be a useful tool in stray cat population control, two trailer parks were chosen which were known to have large populations of free-roaming cats. During a five-month period, male cats in one trailer park (park A) were captured, vasectomized, and released; the other trailer park (park B) served as a control. Comparing the number of kittens or litters trapped during the summer prior to intervention to the number of kittens or litters trapped the summer following intervention revealed no important reduction in the cat population in the trailer park in which intervention took place. Because of a limited ability to ascertain the numbers of cats and kittens in the parks, vasectomy was not documented as a useful tool in cat population control.