- Joined
- Jan 3, 2015
- Messages
- 1,803
- Purraise
- 368
why there some vets that requires to wait? what is their reasoning?
I know what you mean. I work at a humane society & foster kittens. They like to get them out the door ASAP because for some reason people want the smallest kittens. I used to take them back at 2 lbs. Now that I know more I am going to keep them until 2.5 lbs. I wish people would realize that tiny kittens will be cats in 1 year.
It is fairly recent advances in anesthetic that allows for earlier neutering which is why some vets still wait. Even if they are using newer anesthetics they still wait until the customary 5 or 6 months. Even though it can be done as early as 2 months and 2 pounds I waited a bit longer to get my two done. Rescues get it done as early as possible to get kittens up for adoption. A kitty that is in their forever home can wait a bit.
I have never heard this! Do you have a link or somewhere I can read about it? Sometimes the babies I take in are only 8 weeks old. The vets think it is fine.
Yes, you do need to wait and allow for proper development of the body. Bone plates need to grow, and once the pet is altered, this comes to a halt.
I agree. My cat was from a shelter and at 2 months they spayed her. She is super long w a pin head. She did not have the hormones to stop growth. Still I love her with all my heart and think she is gorgeous but I know the importance of hormones and given the choice I would have gotten it done after she grew some.While the anesthesia is a factor, my understanding is that the primary reason to wait up to six months is physical development. Hormones aren't just about sexual development, they regulate growth, muscle development, and have an important role in bone growth and importantly, bone density. It is coming into sexual adulthood that the hormones trigger the body to stop growing the bones. Cats and dogs spayed or neutered early are typically taller, longer, and have smaller heads than those spayed or neutered later.
There has been more research on the long term consequences of early age s/n in dogs than in cats ( http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2013/09/30/neutering-health-risks.aspx a good summary) - but so far in cats similar long term health consequences have not been revealed. That said, if one is in a position to wait six months for spaying / neutering a cat, it's probably best, given the unknowns. Our vet recommends spaying/neutering owned cats when the first baby tooth falls out, as that is when the body is nearing sexual adulthood. That usually happens at four - five months.
The studies that have been done have all been done on dogs. The issues arise more with larger dogs. LDG's post had a good summary and here is another one http://www.2ndchance.info/cruciatelongtermneuter.htm
I have never heard this! Do you have a link or somewhere I can read about it? Sometimes the babies I take in are only 8 weeks old. The vets think it is fine.
This was me, when i adopted my first cat Kitty, she was three months old when i adopted her. XD It was my first pet as an adult, and i guess i wanted the experience of having a kitten, and seeing her grow up. Im so glad to have her in my life.
I know what you mean. I work at a humane society & foster kittens. They like to get them out the door ASAP because for some reason people want the smallest kittens. I used to take them back at 2 lbs. Now that I know more I am going to keep them until 2.5 lbs. I wish people would realize that tiny kittens will be cats in 1 year.
While I might consider this for a dog (although pyometra is a real threat), I wouldn't ever think of it with a cat. I've lived with females in heat, and have seen what tomcats can do, and nope . There may be an outlier now and then; a female with silent heats who doesn't urine mark, or a tomcat who doesn't spray or fight, but in general, a cat's sexual behaviors aren't really compatible with being a pet. Particularly since cats use urine so much in their mating behaviors, I think there are very few people who could/would live with a mature hormonally intact cat.I advocate tying tubes rather than removing all the organs as that way the cat is fixed but has the ovaries for those important hormones.