Findings suggested that a high percentage (80.0%) of cats living in households in the United States were neutered and that annual family income was the strongest predictor of whether cats in the household were neutered. The present study did not attempt to address stray and feral cats, which represent a substantial but unknown percentage of the total US cat population. [Excerpted from report abstract]

Results—383 of 1,205 (31.8%) respondents reported having at least 1 cat at the time of the survey, yielding an estimated population of 82.4 million cats living in 36.8 million US households. Overall, 680 of 850 (80.0%) cats were reportedly neutered. Of the 371 neutered female cats, 303 (81.7%) had reportedly been neutered before having any litters. Proportion of cats that were neutered differed significantly across annual family income groups, with 96.2% (231/240) of cats in households with annual family incomes ≥ $75,000 being neutered, 90.7% (231/254) of cats in households with annual family incomes between $35,000 and $74,999 being neutered, and only 51.4% (123/239) of cats in households with annual family incomes < $35,000 being neutered. [Excerpted from report abstract]

Family income was determined to be the single strongest predictor of whether companion cats are neutered. However, this study shows that neutering is an established practice among American households with companion cats despite some variation in neuter rates across various income segments. Companion cats comprise only a portion of the U.S. cat population however, and research indicates that fewer than 3% of stray and feral cats are neutered.