Spaying pregnant kitten Vet thinks it a good idea

Amadeus did well at the vets today apparently he's going to be a big boy. I asked about my er prediciment and I was a little appalled at the response.
The vet thought it best to neuter him at five months so that would be middle of July and to keep my eye on them until then.
And this is the appalling bit, if the worst came to the worst (Symphony got preggy) Symphony could still be spayed when shes pregnant (if it's caught early).
This just seems so wrong and inhumane? I couldn't take her for that operation knowing their are babies living inside her and are going to be destroyed infact the whole idea makes me feel sick.
Is this a normal solution to a not so very normal problem?
Infact I felt so sick I even thought about changing my vets, though to their credit they are a very good vetinary practice. Oh what to do... I think I'm just going to keep my eye on them and wait.. hmm silly me but I don't regret getting them for a minute Symphony and Amadues are a part of me now heart3 ^_^

I had Yoshi fixed had 3 months so he would not get Coco preg and it worked out great.
Find a vet that will fix a male young.
My vet waits until they are older but he did it for me.
Coco is my 17 year old cat that coluld not be fixed because it would hav killed her.
She was 10 when Yoshi was fixed at 3 months.

Honestly I think vets think of it a bit differently than the rest of us. Just they see so many homeless, abused, unloved animals. The same thing happened to me when I found Elsa and she was pregnant. I wasn't really too into doing that, but it did open my eyes about the kitten problem.

It's really not a problem for the cat, it's not like they're excited and know they are pregnant like a person would be. It's not cruel, just truly a medical procedure.

I know it hurts your heart, but I think your vet is just trying to do his best from what he's seen - too many kittens not given loving homes. If you can get them to do pediatric spaying or neutering, maybe with Amadeus if he's gaining weight that quickly, and the boy's operation is a deal easier for them to heal from, that would be great - it's done a lot in the US now, although not universally. How much does he weigh right now?

Maybe you could ask them their thoughts on early neutering just so the issue doesn't come up?

Amadeus is currently 1.5kg (roughly 3.3pounds). I asked if they could neuter him sooner but all they could offer me was to neuter him at five months (in July). The vet did reassure me that it was highly unlikely they would mate before then but I'm not so sure. I phoned a few vet practices today and all they could offer me was the six months (I'll try some more tomorow).
I guess if it's caught early the kittens won't have developed a great deal but I'm going to try my hardest to avoid us ending up in that situation. Right now Amadeus and Symphony are curled up next to one another in the big fluffy bed completely oblivious and perfectly care free oh to be a cat!!

Hi RussianKittie,


abortion a difficult decision to take, yes. A teenage pergnacy isn't something I'd wish for my cat either, quite frankly. I think its OK if done asap after watching your kitties mate or with sick, malnourished moms or with ferals.

There are a lot of kill shelters in the USA and I can understand if they'd rather kill a foetus than a health cat ...


Putting those dark thought aside- ask your vet if he will do both Symphony and Amadeus at 5 months.

regards,

christine

All other thoughts and feeling aside, ask yourself this:

If she did become pregnant at her age, would you rather do a spay/abort or wait until she has a very likely difficult pregnancy ending in a spay/abort or c-section and possibly death?

Kittens that are too young simply cannot handle the riggors of pregnacy and birth, they are still babies themselves.
Try looking at it medically instead of emotionally.


To answer one of your questions, a spay/abort is a very common solution, to what is actually a not so uncommon circumstance.
Do not change vets, in fact, I would cling to this one as he truly seems to only want what is best for all involved, including your babies.

It's a natural reaction, but I hope you can find a place in your heart where you don't find the idea of having a pregnant cat spayed appalling.

I understand that morally people very differently about the situation, and while someone may value life over the alternative at any cost (sometimes to the detriment of the health of the mom, or even if the kittens are definitely inbred), as someone who rescues, I will always have a pregnant female spayed if possible. I know you're concerned about your own kitty, not a stray or feral cat, but IF it happened (and thank you for wanting to ensure it won't!), those kittens would be taking the home that other unpreventable births of kittens could be taking. Of course it's something anyone would rather not have to even choose. But it is a very, very sad reality that there are too many kittens and cats and not enough homes for them all.

I don't know if your existing vet would feel any differently if you took them some research on it. But there has been a study conducted on the safety and long term health and growth implications of early age spay/neuter. http://www.cfa.org/articles/health/early-neuter.html

Thankfully our vet here will do early spay/neuter for rescues. For pets they prefer to wait until the first baby tooth comes out, usually at about four months.

Laurie

Unfortunately early spay/neuter is not common in the UK, perhaps you could PM Rosiemac or Epona they may know of some vets that will do it earlier than 6 months since they live in England also.

I agree with Laurie's post but had another thought about finding a vet that will neuter before 5 months. It is very common in the U.S. to do early spay/neuter once a kitten has reached 2 pounds. Vets that work with shelters routinely perform this procedure. You might want to call the shelters in your area and ask if they have a vet they could recommend to do an earlier neuter for Amadeus. If you can catch him at 3-4 months, you won't have to face the question of spay/abortion.

I do know of some places in Manchester that will neuter at 8 weeks, and one that is in Yorkshire, although probably a good 40 min drive from you, and they are a bit more expensive than my vet, but they do one of the local rescues kittens and puppies at 8 weeks - and all they do is neuter. PM me if you want details.

It isn't a pleasant thought spay/abort, but I would do it in your situation, as the last thing you want is a young mum - we have been lucky with ours that we haven't had a young mum reject them - although we did end up with a CH kitty from an 8mo mum. Our last young mum came to us at about 8 months old with 8 week old kittens, so the maths say she was pregnant at 4 months, luckily the kittens were a decent size, but she was incredibly thin, one of the thinnest mum cats I have seen.

Originally Posted by RussianKitten

Is this a normal solution to a not so very normal problem?
Infact I felt so sick I even thought about changing my vets, though to their credit they are a very good vetinary practice.

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Some years ago I did read this british veterinarian handbook. The part I read most closely was about spaying when the female cat is in heat. No no, they said. The tissues are very fragile, and the operation thus much more difficult and risky then otherwise.

So best is spaying when not in heat. In fact, they did sayed the next best if unsure, is to safeguard the mom gets pregnant, and neuter her in her (early) pregnancy. This is no big deal for an decently experienced surgeon...

So. If the ethics are 100% recommendable may be discussed. But apparently your vet does his very outmost to be helpful and pleasant to you, to the best of HIS knowledge.
So stick to him! (although you can use some other good vet for the neutering if you want to neuter your boy already now).

Pumpkin was about a week pregnant when she was spayed. She barely weighed 6 pounds, and our vet recommended that it would be dangerous for her to carry the kittens given that she was so small and young, and that the kittens themselves wouldn't have the best odds for survival.

One really has to consider the welfare of the mother, as well as the welfare of the litter.

I don't think that pregnancy changes the details of the operation in any significant way, either, especially if it's done early.

Thanks for your advice again every one !!!!!!! I've decided to take my vets advice and to keep an eye on Amadeus and Symphony until the middle of July and then take them in for their spay.
\tI can see how the spaying in pregnancy if the worse did happen wouldn't be such a terrible thing. After all my little Symphony is very small and it could damage her plus the kittens wouldn't even be kittens just tiny feotuses. So the terible image of kittens being ripped out of her isn't quite reality. I hope it doesn't come to that though and I can take them in for their spay / neuter like normal. Aaaarh what a carry on !!!!

Originally Posted by RussianKitten

I've decided to take my vets advice and to keep an eye on Amadeus

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Yeah, I think it is a very good bet.


The easiest sign to watch out is if his urine gets to smell much stronger. = sign for him being fertile. If, so you must look after them double careful.

It may be so he is still too young to know how to do, but being fertile - he CAN do it... hej, some kittens do try already as small kittens, so him not knowing how to do it is no guarentee either.


Question. these very young moms who do happens. Did they get pregnant by their siblings, or did they get pregnant by adult toms?? I dont remember if this was mentioned earlier.
My guess is, the most common is it was an older tom.

My vet recommends something similar. He says that if a cat in heat is making you crazy, you should just let her out to get pregnant and have her spayed in a week or so. He said an early pregnancy spay is easier for him than an in-heat spay. He will do spays/neuters early, so that's what I always do.

Personally, though I don't have a problem with early-pregnancy spays in cases of accidental pregnancy, I am uncomfortable with ALLOWING her to get pregnant like that, knowing you're going to abort. Just seems wrong somehow.

Originally Posted by Willowy

He says that if a cat in heat is making you crazy, you should just let her out to get pregnant and have her spayed in a week or so.

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Then you have the added vet bill of possible fights outdoors, and getting her tested for diseases from the neighbourhood toms.

I am slightly horrified that a vet would recommend letting a cat get pregnant cos it is easier to spay them - it is painful for the female to be mated, and if you just let them outside, you have no idea how many males have been at them, or what they were carrying, you could put your females life at risk. And all because it is hard to listen to them, it is just making it easier for us, not them, and they are the priority. We do spay females in heat over here, it is trickier, but better than letting them get pregnant just to spay them

NEVER underestimate a cat who is not spayed or neutered. I don't know why vets would say "don't worry, they won't do anything that young....". Kittens as young as 4 months old have been known to breed and get pregnant.

By waiting after 3-4 months old, you are playing Russian Roulette (no pun intended) and he could breed when you least expect it.

If she is pregnant, spay her anyway - she's too young to be a mother cat and you could have a lot more medical problems (c-section = $1,000 or more), etc.

I'd just like to add, that many vets do not think it is a good idea to spay a pregnant kitten, but rather better for their health - even if you are essentially killing unborn babies, it is less of a risk to spay/abort than let them go full term & risk complications.