When should a kitten be "fixed"?

feral65

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A recent post reminded me of this subject. It appears now instead of six months, the recommended age to spay/neuter is as little as 7 weeks. Do you all agree? I can't help but think of a small female cat I found as a stray. She was estimated at 8-12 months old, but I disagreed. The cat was barely 5 lbs., and I just didn't believe she was that old. Her teeth, manners, etc., led me to believe she was much younger. I was assured she was "old enough" though, so I went ahead with their advice and spayed her. To make a long story short, the cat almost died as a result. Turns out the cat really was MUCH younger. The anesthesia was too strong and that's what almost killed her...
 

booktigger

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In the Uk you are lucky to find a vet who will do it under 5/6 months, but I know a few rescues who have vets that do, and they have very few problems, so I personally would have one spayed that young. Sorry to hear there were complications with your kitten, but the anaesthetic being too strong actually does sound like a mistake on your vets part, not her age - we have had a hernia op done on a 7 week old kitten (vet wouldn't neuter though, despite a hernia op being worse on a male than a spay!!), and have known cats of similar ages having major ops (eye and leg removals) with no issues - both of those are worse than a spay.
 

jennyr

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Different vets in different places all have varying views and practice on this. Pediatric spays at 7-8 weeks or 2 pounds weight are becoming more common, but you need a vet who is experienced in the procedure on an animal that young. Others insist on 6 months. Here, whatever the age, vets wait till a month after 2nd vaccinations. Personally, I think the ideal is just before the first heat cycle, if you can hit that time, but since that can be anything between 4 and 7 months, it is a guess.
 

claire1973

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Hi

My vet said 5 months old is the best age to have them done. I had Humphrey done at 5 months and all was well.

Im so sorry you had problems

Claire

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feral65

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Thanks, you all have good points. I personally think about 4 months is a good time. 6 months is probably too long, because by then the "first cycle" may have already occurred. 7 weeks though i'll never agree with. that's just too soon. as for the female cat i spoke of earlier, my Vet was quite honest that a mistake was made . it was actually a "Vet Tech" that okay'd the spay.
 

missymotus

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I'm sorry you had a bad experience, but I do believe that the sooner you speuter the better.
At the shelter I've seen plenty of 8 weeks olds get done with no trouble at all.
 

white cat lover

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Well, if the vet said she was a certain age, they *might have* used the "normal" amount of anesthesia for that age, when really....they needed much less as she was younger. I dunno, though.

Pediatric spays/neuter ensure there are no "opps" litter. If more vets did pediatric spays/neuters, there would be millions fewer cats.
 

goldenkitty45

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Some vets go by weight on the kitten when spaying/neutering. Personally I am not comfortable with doing kittens under 3 to 3 1/2 months old. Can understand why the shelters have to do it younger, as people won't bring them back to be spayed/neutered!

When I was breeding my rexes, I had no trouble with the owners spaying/neutering between 6-8 months old (they got them at 4 months from me). But can understand the problems now with breeders wanting them done before they go. Apparently too many people were not living up to their ends of the contract!

And I've seen a 4 yr old cat in the HHP that was the size of a 5-6 month old! She just was a small cat - apparently having a litter of kittens at 5 or 6 months old herself stopped her from growing
 

myfirstragdoll

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Hershey my Ragdoll was neutered at 12 weeks. My Siamese Leah is going to be spayed at 14 weeks. I really don't see anything wrong with it. At least people have them done early wont have to worry with unplanned litters.
 

momofmany

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The rule for early spay/neuter is 2 pounds or about 8 weeks old. This practice has been around for about 20 years now and is very prevalent with the rescue community, as they need to get cats fixed prior to adoption and they cannot afford to keep them until they are 4-6 months old. Long term studies have not indicated any adverse effects of the procedure. At least in the U.S., there are thousands that go thru the procedure every day. A vet that won't do it either hasn't read up on recent medical findings, or has a strong personal preference to wait.

The anesthsia that is used is based on their weight, not their age, so if a cat is weighed properly, there shouldn't be a problem with the procedure. That is not to say that any cat can have complications, regardless of their age.

You mentioned that your girl is 5 pounds. A general rule of thumb is that a cat gains about a pound a month until they are full grown, so she should be about 5 months old, and clearly old enough for the spay. Perhaps either the vet messed up on the anesthsia, or she is just one of the those cats that reacts poorly to it. I've neutered kittens that had problems like you described, and they were older (5 months). I'm glad that yours pulled through.
 
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feral65

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wow. thanks for all the replies. i thought i was fairly knowledgable, but had no idea shelters have been doing this for over 20 years, etc. i suppose it makes sense though. in my kitten's case, i really believe it wasn't an "allergic" reaction, rather she was simply given too much anesthesia. i thought they might have gone by age, instead of weight too (as white cat lover) mentioned. i don't know. i'm just really happy she did pull through. i'll never forget bringing her home and realizing something was wrong. she was so tiny and couldn't hold her head up or even keep her eyes open as much as she was trying to respond to me. she just looked so vulnerable and it was truley heart-wrenching to watch her struggle. honestly i really was surprised she pulled through, but so happy she did. i love her to death still and she's the sweetest (and still the smallest!) cat i've ever known....
 

jen

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Most of the shelters here spay and neuter at 8 weeks, I do it as well because there are so many adopters who don't bother or they don't make sure the cat stays inside until spayed. Some vets also won't spay when the cat is in heat so they have to cancel appointments that are never made again.... 4 months is a great time though. The vast majority of cats haven't gone into heat yet/males can't reproduce yet. Although there are some exceptions. I do mine anywhere from 8 weeks to 4 months unless the cat comes in older then that of course.
 
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feral65

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jen, thanks. perhaps you could answer the question that i still have though, which is: how is the correct amount of anethesia determined? is it based on only weight, or does age also play a factor?
 

booktigger

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Feral65, anaesthesia goes off weight - it has too, they can't do it off age. I have 2 6year olds here at the moment, one prob weighs 5.5 to 6kg, the other is 7.9kg - they couldn't give them both the same anaesthetic!! When I have had dentals done, the quote has gone off their weight, so Ginger always cost that bit more with being 5.5kg, I just can't remember the bands for anaesthetics now, it is years since i have seen it. It could be that your vets either messed up on the dosage, or she is just very sensitive, but they shouldnt have let her come home like that. I have only had one cat come home looking iffy, it was a different vet practice and she could barely walk, I did complain to them and the rescue who used them - they use a different method for administering anaesthesia to my vets.
 
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feral65

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thanks book. i understand. i guess i was just wondering if besides weight, if a kitten is extremely young, does that also come into play? for example, the directions for cough medicines are different for adults than for children under 12. :-)
 

booktigger

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i wouldnt have thought so, but our vets wont spay under 5mo, so not something I have experience of. The rescues i know who do haven't said anythign like that, other than they tend to come round quicker and easier and seem to deal with it better than a 6mo.
 

jen

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that is the general idea for pediatric altering, they come back around so fast and are back to their old selves. Anesthesia does go by weight which is why i think if your cat was given too much anesthesia, it's age isn't necessarily the reason, sounds like the cat wasn't weighed properly or something.
 
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feral65

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ok, thanks. it seems common sense, but i just wanted to make sure. this is a little off topic, but i was looking for the paperwork on my kitten at the time this happened to give her exact weight, but couldn't find it (naturally!) :-) Anyways, it occurred to me that since I have six cats, I wonder if the problem was just a clerical error. This Vet actually lists the name of the cat on the paperwork. In one case (a different cat and after the fact), I noticed the printout I was given after with my bill had the wrong cat's name on it (it was in fact one of my cat's, but not the right one)... and therefore all the information regarding weight, history, etc., was wrong too! I thought it was a "fluke", but thinking about this whole situation again makes me wonder if perhaps the same mistake was made prior and that's why my kitten was given too much anethesia. Seems unbelievable to me, but then again, if they were given the wrong "paperwork", they're so busy they really may not have noticed that the "description" of the cat on that same paperwork was completely different. And yes, i do feel like an idiot now upon reflection for not making a bigger deal out of the mistake on my subsequent cat's paperwork. Are such errors common and do you think this is possibly what could have happened too?
 

momofmany

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I think errors can be quite common. When I bring any of my babies in for procedures where they are put under, I don't leave until they pull the right file out for that particular cat. My folder at the vets is very fat and I have a number of DSH yellow tabbies.
 

tnr1

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I know this is an older thread...but I wanted to comment on the assumption that "heat cycles" have anything to do with pregnancy. I know plenty of people who assumed that because their cat wasn't in heat it couldn't become pregnant. Cats are induced ovulators and can become pregnant at any time. I wouldn't feel comfortable spaying/neutering any later than 4 months of age because to me the risk is too great of accidental pregnancy.

These are the shelters in Virginia that have reported euthanizing 76%-100% of cats or dogs or both. This isn't even a final list as all shelters haven't provided their numbers yet...but just look how many euthanized a majority of the cats that were brought into them:

2006
Alleghany Humane Society, Inc-77% cats
Appomattox County Animal Control-86% cats
Bath County Animal Shelter-81% cats
Bedford County Animal Shelter-80% cats
Bristol City Animal Control-79% cats
Buchanan County Animal Shelter-85% cats
Buckingham County Animal Control-99% cats, 87% dogs
Caroline County Animal Shelter-79% cats
Charles City County Animal Control-97% cats, 82% dogs
Charlotte County Animal Control-100% cats
Chesapeake City Animal Bureau-82% cats
Cumberland County Animal Pound-99% cats
Danville Humane Society-95% cats, 80% dogs
Dickenson County Animal Shelter-95% cats, 89% dogs
Dinwiddle County Animal Shelter-89% cats, 76% dogs
Floyd County Animal Control-100% cats
Franklin City Animal Shelter-84% cats
Frederick County Animal Control-83% cats
Galax-Carroll-Grayson Animal Shelter-96% cats, 79% dogs
Greensville County Animal Shelter-92% cats
Henry County Animal Control-99% cats, 81% dogs
Highland Animal Shelter-100% cats
Humane Society of Amhurst County-79% cats
Humane Society of Warren County-79% cats
King George Animal Shelter-79% cats
Lancaster Animal Shelter-90% cats
Lunenburg County Pound-89% cats, 87% dogs
Martinsville City Animal Control-98% cats
Nelson County Animal Control-76% cats
Nottoway County Animal Control-97% cats
Orange County Animal Control-100% cats
Patrick County Animal Control-85% cats
Pittsylvania County Animal Control-87% dogs
Prince Edward County Animal Control-87% cats
Pulaski County Animal Shelter and Humane Society-76% cats
Roanoke City Animal Control-78% cats
Roanoke Valley Regional Center for Animal Control and Protection-80% cats
Rockbridge SPCA-79% cats
Rockingham-Harrisonburg SPCA-83% cats
Russell County Animal Shelter-100% cats, 87% dogs
Scott County Animal Shelter-84% dogs
Smyth County Animal Shelter-83% cats
Spotsylvania Animal Shelter-77% cats
Suffolk City Animal Control-78% cats
Tazewell County Animal Shelter-88% cats
Washington County Animal Control-77% cats
Wise County Animal Control-82% cats

To me, this is an epidemic that must be addressed by aggressive spaying/neutering measures. We have to get ahead of the curve or the numbers will sadly stay the same. I am greatful to the shelters that are choosing to spay/neuter prior to adoption.

Katie
 
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