That sounds like a really good idea.
Comment on Why do we castrate animals instead of giving them vasectomies?
Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
You raise an interesting point with regard to TNE males in feral cat communities. Normally we like the fact that neutered males don’t spend all their time fighting and fucking and marking their territory. But if you had a vasectomied male or six around, you might get fewer of the fertile females impregnated by the fertile males you haven’t caught. Like when we release sterile male mosquitoes. It would be more difficult and expensive but maybe more effective in reducing the population.
Peppycito@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
philpo@feddit.de 7 months ago
Until you ask someone with basic knowledge of feline physiology.
…Cats are intentionally promiscuous and can have litters from multiple fathers. It won’t change a thing. Unless you sterilize almost all male cats. Before that it doesn’t change much - and as vasectomies are far more cost intensive you can actually sterilize less of them. So more fertile male cats will stay in the population.
Besides it is actually kind of cruel as a significant portion of non-castrated feral male cats get injured during these fights - so it adds an unnecessary layer of suffering as well.
Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
Seems, but you’d have to experiment to see if it actually worked. Cats are nothing if not out-of-the-box ninjas.
WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 months ago
How would it reduce the population? Cats mate with multiple partners and are one of the few species that can have a litter with kittens from multiple fathers. It seems like they would continue to mate with other cats and get pregnant anyway.
catster.com/…/can-a-litter-of-kittens-have-differ…
Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
Yeah, probably true. It would take a critical mass of sterile males to make a real difference. But neutered males aren’t trying at all, so females in heat are only mating with fertile males now. If a percentage of the fucks were not going to produce kittens, they might have smaller litters at least. Also if the sterile males were successful at fighting off fertile rivals. Again, neutered males aren’t trying.