When to neuter

Hi everyone! I'm not sure if this topic should go here or not but I have not been able to find any other threads on this.

About a month and a half ago we found a little male kitten and decided to keep him. He has been to the vet for his shots and tests and he has a clean bill of health. The vet thinks he is about 4 months old and suggested we waited till he was 6 months old to bring him in to be neutered.

However the vet also told us we could bring him in earlier if we wished or if his pee started to smell strongly

I was wondering what every one thinks about bringing him in before 6 months of age. I've always thought that his pee smells really strong already, compared to my other cats and have been considering taking him in early. My vet stressed the importance of getting him in before he starts spraying and to be honest, I'd like to get him in before that too.

Thanks for your time!

With male cats in particular I would consider neutering a pet before 6 months.

I would suggest calling around... Cats can be safely spayed / neutered at 8 weeks / 2 lbs ... Though around here 4 months seems to be the youngest most vets will

I don't see any reason to wait. I find 4-6 months to be fine for males (females I think should be spayed at 3-4 months). If your vet is willing to do it now, that's what I would do.

For my kittens the closer to 8 weeks the better. Just had 2 litters done who were about 9-10 weeks. All bounced RIGHT back. Call and see what is done in your area some vets are strict to the 6 month mark(the older ones in my experince) and the clinics tend to go alot sooner

The sooner the better. All kittens I breed are done at 10-11 weeks (male & female), youngsters also have the advantage of bouncing back from surgery incredibly fast, they come out of the carrier like nothing has happened.

I would only use a vet experienced in paediatric work, since it is a finer surgery.

Really the concern is just to nip territory claiming spraying habits in the bud, but I haven't ever read anything about males exhibiting this behavior before 6 months of age.

The incisions are tiny and 6 month old kittens still bounce back fast, and really the only reason most kittens are neutered very early is because its the only way to ensure that it gets done since you can't count on every owner to do it AFTER adoption.

The later the surgery, the more robust the kitten, and the easier the surgery since the organs are physically larger. You sometimes hear stories of cats who were later found to still have one testicle despite being neutered, and you can't imagine how that could be overlooked until you see how tiny they were at the time.

4 months is really no big deal if it bothers you, but if it were me, I would wait until 5-6 months. But both of my cats were neutered and spayed respectively very very young.

There have been no studies I could find for cats, but for dogs there have been, and while the difference wasn't huge it was recommended against very young spay/neuter surgeries for breeders and to simply write contracts requiring them to be fixed at a later date.

Congratulations on the rescue (and being chosen by this kitten!)

With male cats I've always gone with: as soon as I smell tom cat pee. Which is usually around 5-6 months. But if your vet feels he is strong and healthy enough to do now, I see no reason to wait.

Keep us posted. What's his name? Got any pictures?

yeah, I just got my two guys neutered & they are about 5-6 months old.


The sooner the better, definately don't want cats spraying our furniture.

Lynxx was neutered when he was 8 weeks old, 2lbs 3oz. Midnight 1 vet wanted to wait until he was 4lbs, another vet wanted to wait until he was 6 months old, but we found a rescue league that would neuter him now at 3 and 1/2 months old a little over 4lbs. We brought him there last week. Lynxx wasn't in any pain when he was neutered. Midnight came home in pain. I think it was because he was older.

Thanks for the advice! I've always gotten my cats from shelters and this is the first time I've needed to bring one in to be fixed so I don't really know much about it other then it needs to be done.

I think I'll go ahead and get him in to have it done. My boyfriend (the one who found him in the road on his way to work) has called him Murcielago but we call him Murcie for short.

Here's a picture of him sitting in one of his favorite spots. And yes, poor baby has no tail.

Originally Posted by Tea Cake

Thanks for the advice! I've always gotten my cats from shelters and this is the first time I've needed to bring one in to be fixed so I don't really know much about it other then it needs to be done.

I think I'll go ahead and get him in to have it done. My boyfriend (the one who found him in the road on his way to work) has called him Murcielago but we call him Murcie for short.

Here's a picture of him sitting in one of his favorite spots. And yes, poor baby has no tail.

Click to expand...

Good looking kitty. He doesn't look like a bat

My boyfriend is a bit of a gear head and named him after the Lamborghini MurciÃ[emoji]169[/emoji]lago because this little guy is so zippy. He loves running around the house as fast as his little legs will go. Also, with the name shortened it sounds like Mercy, which I think is sweet and cute since he was very lucky he did not get hit by a car while on that road.

yeah, I thought about the Lambo right after I posted that, lol.



My wife has an outside cat that actually does look like a bat.

He's such a handsome guy! Congratulations on your new kitty!

We just had Tumbles neutered about a month ago. My vet wanted to wait until he was 6 mos old (to get some hormones in him), but we convinced her to do it at about 5-5.5 mos.