Getting female kitten spayed

jenn1984

Hi Guys

Just looking for advice with regards to getting our kitten spayed. She is just under 5 & 1/2 months old and we would like to get her spayed next week even though our vet says 6 months is the minimum. As kittens go, she has always been a decent size. Would it be dangerous to just tell the vets she is 6 months? The reason for the rush is that we also have her brother and 2 other boys from a slightly younger litter in the house - not that we've noticed anything untoward so far but they sleep in with their mammies in the utility room at night so we can't always watch them. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Jennifer

CelticRambler

If your vet doesn't already know about this 'best practice' protocol (now established about 15-20 years), you should think of changing to a more cat-friendly clinic.

Traditionally male and female cats have often been neutered at six months of age, but this is after many cats reach sexual maturity and not based on any scientific rationale. For social, health and population control reasons, it is now recommended neutering should routinely take place at around 4 months of age.

Zapperzy

I have two females, one was spayed at 6 months while the other was done at 4 months. The 4 month one hardly noticed, I had to stop her from bouncing around the house. The 6 month old one thought she was dying. The younger they are the easier they recover. Any future cats of mine will always be done at 4 months from now on.

Steve012

I bought a male bengal kitten from a breeder up the north, I picked him up at 13 weeks old. He had been neutered at 11 weeks old ... : O
I wasn't impressed, either was my vet in Dublin.

fizififi

She needs to be at least 2kg in weight to cope with the anaesthetic.

Ms Doubtfire1

the weight is all that's really important. Feral cats get neutered as young as possible, sometimes at 11 weeks as well.they can be in kitten at 5 month old- 6 month is WAY too late

jenn1984

Thanks folks - she's always been bigger than the boys so I don't see size being an issue. Apt made for next Wednesday - she'll only be 12 days short by then so I don't see it being a problem. Boys will be done as and when we can afford it but Truffles (the girl) is the priority at the moment.

boomerang

Steve012 wrote: »

I bought a male bengal kitten from a breeder up the north, I picked him up at 13 weeks old. He had been neutered at 11 weeks old ... : O
I wasn't impressed, either was my vet in Dublin.

I run a cat charity and all our kittens are neutered between 10-12 weeks and it doesn't bother them one jot... In fact the younger they are done, the less they feel it and the faster they bounce back - the same day they are playing around like nothing happened! There are no medical reasons not to neuter a kitten that young. If anything, neutering kittens this young is on the increase.

boomerang

fizififi wrote: »

She needs to be at least 2kg in weight to cope with the anaesthetic.

Nope, ours are all done once they reach 1kg and any feral kittens are done when they weigh even less.

Steve012

boomerang wrote: »

I run a cat charity and all our kittens are neutered between 10-12 weeks and it doesn't bother them one jot... In fact the younger they are done, the less they feel it and the faster they bounce back - the same day they are playing around like nothing happened! There are no medical reasons not to neuter a kitten that young. If anything, neutering kittens this young is on the increase.

Cheers boomerang, I didn't know that.

Themadhouse

1kg is the least weight my vet will neuter. We neuter our kittens at 12/13 weeks and they are always way over the weight. Its a much quicker recovery for them particularly the girls if you get them done young.

jenn1984

We got her done on Wednesday. All going well! They've now changed the minimum age to 4 months- go figure!

OldNotWIse

Glad she is ok

We have two toms. One was neutered at a year (at the time, he was a house cat so he wasn't roaming anyway) and he still sprays and can be aggressive with the others - I always figured it is because we were late having him done. The other tom was done at 4 months because we had kept him and his sister from a rescues litter. The sister was the runt so we couldn't get her done as she was tiny, so the male was done at 4 months. He doesn't spray or get territorial at all.

jenn1984

We'll have to get our 5 month old male done next. He won't stop peeing where he shouldn't but has no problem doing number 2's in the litter tray! Our vet seems to think that neutering should help with it.

boomerang

Try having two litter trays - I've had kittens in the past who wanted one tray for peeing, and one tray for pooping!