Some people claim a cancer risk, but there seems to be a lot of anti-sex emotion around such claims. Our 'leave the ovaries' females were perfectly healthy, having neither cancer nor the obesity and personality change that often accompanies neutering.

In studies that find a correlation between normal hormone status and cancer, I suspect a lifestyle factor: ours were free range indoor-outdoor cats with plenty of exercise, no crowding, no need for tranquilizers, no other chronic health problems.