hi was wondering if any of this was true ?

http://www.caninesports.com/EarlySpayConsiderations.pdf
it takes a little while to load it , but was wondering your views on it ? i was reading on another site that it probley wont be to long before they stop s/n on young kittens aswell ? i always thought it was safe . i know im in england we still wait till 6 months but i thought that was going to change aswell?

The Winn article doesn't say that its completely safe. They stress that its not much more risky than altering at 5 1/2 mo. or later. They even mention the bone growth considerations.

Overall, I think the issues listed in the first link are probably not substantial enough to discourage early altering. But I think its great that someone is seriously considering the negative implications that may result from this procedure. I think its 100% necessary for the wellbeing of our beloved cats.

I was always thought that you had to wait until your cat was 6 months old to be spayed/neutered.

But when we adopted our kitty Sydney from the adoption centre they schedule them to be spayed prior to 6 months and she had her surgery at 5 months.

The vet assured me it was perfectly safe as long as the cat is healthy. One thing I did notice is that she seems to recover more quickly than other cats I have had spayed in the past.

Originally Posted by Miss Mew

I was always thought that you had to wait until your cat was 6 months old to be spayed/neutered.

But when we adopted our kitty Sydney from the adoption centre they schedule them to be spayed prior to 6 months and she had her surgery at 5 months.

The vet assured me it was perfectly safe as long as the cat is healthy. One thing I did notice is that she seems to recover more quickly than other cats I have had spayed in the past.

Click to expand...

Yes it can be done when the kitten is 2lbs. which is only about 8-10 weeks on average cats. I have had all mine that were adopted or found young altered well before 6 months except for one. They are perfectly healthy and happy cats now! I am COMPLETELY for pediatric altering and I think it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT for shelters to do to all cats adopted.

I had a shelter tell me nearly 8 years ago i had to have the neuter appt scheduled and they would follow up with the vet ... the pup was 8 weeks I didnt get him since my old country vet wouldnt .. I cant understand why it is taking so long for more places to do the early "fixing"

I've had early s/n done on several of my cats, both male and female, and have nothing negative to say. I'd recommend it, and agree, the winn foundation material is a good resource.

My rescue s/n's every kitten when they reach 2 pounds (assuming they have a clean bill of health otherwise, of course) and we haven't seen any problems (or heard from any from our adopters) other than the normal risks the accompany the surgery in an older kitten.

I say it's imperitive vets get on this. The earlier we can s/n them, the more we rescuers and also the responsible breeders can ensure our kittens aren't having kittens. It also would help TNR efforts and make sure the risks of the cancers associated with reaching sexual maturity stay down. You can't gaurantee a cat isn't going to start spraying or going into heat by 5 or 6 months. I've seen 4 month old females in heat. This way, no owners have to deal with those things either! Plus, they seem to recover faster, but I'm not sure if there are study results out there that confirm that.

Well... I certainly hope that early spay/neuter is safe, but I feel I should mention: of the six cats in my extended family, only one was neutered as a baby (at eight weeks) -- and that's the one who is now having some urinary problems. He's also by far the most "masculine" of our cats -- a huge, powerful, and sometimes scary cat who does occasionally turn on us and inflict some pain. (But he's 99% wonderful, and we adore him!)

Whether all that has anything to do with his early neutering, I don't know... but none of our other kitties had their surgery until they were at least four months old, and they're all doing fine.

For what that may be worth...

My shelter also speuters kittens at 2 lbs. A friend of mine works as an assistant to the vet there and he said they haven't had any problems during the surgeries. I adopted two tiny kittens from there last July and they were spayed the day before I got to bring them home and the acted like they were fully recovered. They are both doing well now. My vet has said that she hasn't seen any problems with early speuters during surgery or when the cats are adults.

I too think it's very important for shelters to speuter kittens before they go home. It's the only way to make sure it actually happens, and cats are so severely overpopulated that every litter prevented means more lives saved.

thanx for all the replys , i couldnt find this page again . i to think early spay/neture should be inforced more , i was speaking iwth a rescue place called the repca , and they was telling me they are looking into it seriously , pros and cons and so fourth. he said maybe in the next 2 years we might be doing it as early as 4 months ( which is better then 6 months) . so fingers crossed that when it all does go ahead there wont be to much bad publicity at the time to put a stop to it.

When I had Alley spayed they said to wait until she was at least 6 months. When I had a male kitten, the vet said as long as they could see "them" that they could neuter him, so I had him done when he was around 4 months old before he picked up those bad spraying habits.

For those in the UK, CP have produced an article saying that the age should be lowered to 3 months, so vets might actually start doing it earlier - my vet will now do it at 4.5 - 5months old - just a shame the receptionists didn't tell me that, or my foster kitten could have been done last month. She is only just 6 months old and small for her age, but the vet said that if she had been left another week she would have been in season, and she has known farm cats pregnant by 4 months of age. I personally think that all rescue cats (And pets from breeders) should be done before leaving so that no cat can 'accidentally' get pregnant, then we may be able to tackle numbers.

so very true booktigger, would help solve some of the problem.