Hormones/fertility after neutering?

I have two kittens in the house, a male and a female (we definitely did not plan for that to happen, one was a stray rescue.) The female is younger than the male but neither has begun to exhibit any signs of puberty/hormones kicking in. The male is about 22 weeks, female 20 weeks old.

I know with dogs, the males can still have viable sperm up to a month after neutering and it can also take up to a month for the hormone levels to go down. I'm not totally sure if it's the same with cats but it seems likely... The male is getting neutered next week. My concern is whether there is a possibility of him impregnating the female after neutering. Do I need to keep them separated for several more weeks after the neuter? Since he hasn't shown any signs of puberty is there any chance he could still enter it after neutering since the hormones remain?

The other factor is the female's age. Although I've heard that it is possible for cats to become pregnant as early as 4 months old, she has not shown any signs of heat/puberty, and I know Maine Coons develop more slowly and tend to enter puberty late...(she still has all her baby teeth too.) My vet recommended to wait until 6 months at the earliest to get her spayed, and her breeder strongly advises not neutering until 7 months old.

So basically my question is whether I need to keep the kittens separated, and for how long after the neuter.

From what I have heard males can have some sperm up to six weeks POST neuter

You are probably safe however:

Males can get females pregnant for up to 2 months (not just a month - heard recently from other breeders its 2 months) after being neutered. And females don't have to show "signs" of being in heat to be bred or get pregnant.

Kittens sometimes have a short "kitten heat" with no symptoms. So until she's spayed, keep him from her.

I agree, definitely keep them separate! She doesn't have to be in heat to get pregnant!

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Males can get females pregnant for up to 2 months (not just a month - heard recently from other breeders its 2 months) after being neutered.

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I also recently heard 2 months, after so long of hearing it was about 1 month. The longer you leave them apart the better.

I'm just curious but why not spay the female first? Or both of them at the same time?

My vet recommends waiting until at least 6 months old to spay, and the kitten's breeder strongly advises (insistently) not spaying Maine Coons until 7 months old. That's why we're not having them both fixed at the same time.

I just wanted to check if it was necessary to keep them separated after the neuter, since neither has shown signs of 'hormones kicking in' and they are both young for puberty to start. I don't want to take any chances though.

ooo ok, understandable

well i think the others have answered your question heh

A Siamese breeder (this was probably 20 yrs ago) that I know well had her little 5 month old Siamese kitten running and playing with some adult females. One of the females was in heat for a short time. She didn't pay much attention at the time, until 3-4 weeks later when this female turned up pregnant.

She didn't have that female in with any of her stud cats - only male that was close was the little 5 month old one. Guess what????

He was a daddy at 7 months of age! The breeder never saw the 5 month old doing anything related to being a stud; but obviously he figured it out!

Just cause you "think" they don't know and have never seen them do anything remotely breeding related doesn't mean they won't try or accomplish the act.