Why do humans with no ovaries or testicles need to take hormone supplements to stay healthy, but animals who have been neutered are seemingly fine and often live longer than their intact counterparts?

Question

Just something that occurred to me when thinking about my elderly cat, who’s spent almost 16 years without her uterus or ovaries to no apparent detriment.

In: Biology

Answer 1

Animals do end up with health issues as a result of sterilization.

They can be more prone to bone problems and certain cancers, among other things.

It’s just that we’ve bred the animals that we tend to neuter to rely on us so heavily for reproductive decision making that it ends up being a lot more convenient to just do it anyway, in turns of managing their behavior, and we can mitigate some of those problems with certain foods, medicines, and lifestyle adjustments, anyway.

It also prevents *other* health issues.