Kitten Spayed at 9 Weeks

Hello - We got our little girl Calypso a few weeks ago. She was 9 weeks old when we got her and she had already been spayed. We absolutely would have gotten her fixed regardless, but the Humane Society that we usually go to has always said to wait until they are 4-6 months old. I was very surprised that this Humane Society that we got her from did the procedure so early. Is there any risk to this? Is there any chance it will have to be done again or that she will experience any health problems? We did not get our boy fixed until he was 6 months - which is when the Humane Society and our Vet told us to wait until. So far Calypso is perfectly fine, I just wanted to see if anyone else had experience with getting their baby fixed so early.

Thanks in advance!

Two of my cats were spayed very young - maybe 8 weeks. And they are fine. Procedures have changed so they are less invasive. My two new kittens are scheduled to be spayed next Monday and they will only be 3 months old.

The current standard at a lot of shelters is 8 weeks and 2# minimum. Many vets will still not spay/neuter before 4 months, but that seems to be a personal choice rather than a medical necessity.

My vet wouldn't spay before 16 weeks, so I don't have any experience with the early spay. However, if Calypso has been healthy since you got her, I wouldn't expect her develop any problems later on.

Early spay/neuter are pretty much the standard with the rescues/shelters here. They prefer to fix the kittens at 8 weeks/2 lbs., so they're fixed when they're adopted out. My own cats were a little older when fixed (Katie and Gracie both at 6 months, which was the standard years ago, and Pete and Claire at 4 months after they were trapped). That said, I've fostered several kittens fixed right at the 2 month/2 lb. mark and they bounced back right back from the surgery and have been fine since. I've never heard of the early spay/neuters being an issue with any of the rescues either.

No responsible animal shelter allows an unaltered animal out of their control, regardless of age. They do what they have to do, though I prefer to wait until 14-16 weeks if given a choice. But of course everyone wants little kittens and shelters can't afford to hold on to the kittens for that long, so it becomes necessary to do the very young alters.

Thanks everyone - I appreciate the feedback. It just seemed so young to me, but I guess that 8 weeks is about the norm.

It is the norm at rescue/humane facility shelters. As previously mentioned...you and I will spay/neuter our cats, but not everyone does. I received a kitten from a private home....had him neutered through the spay/neuter clinic at 6 months old.......he's now 15 months old.......and I also have a fellow from the humane society and he was fixed pre-8 weeks...because according to their records, he was born June 8, I brought him home July 31....and he had already been neutered. He's not quite a year old now.

Happy to say, they are 'brothers' and are as happy as can be....and so am I.. They are both healthy and loving cats.

Fortunately advances in the procedure have made it safe for the really young ones!

Most breeders spay/neuter the kittens at 10-12 weeks, before they are adopted. Shelters usually do it at 8 weeks becuase they let the kittens go earlier than breeders do.