When to spay.

Aw thank you! Omg he's so cute and what a great name you've chosen! When I saw her pattern I fell in love.

Btw she's maybe way to friendly haha she loves all our visitors and she will get up on their laps and display her tummy, and with me? We're inseparable. If I won't sit down and won't give her my lap or chest to lay on she will climb my legs until I sit and let her sit on me

Diego looks like a very happy boy!

Awww, she's gorgeous!!

And thank you for starting the thread and everyone for their answers.  I've been wondering about this procedure too - we are expecting a new female kitten in May.  We've done the boy op, and that was just fine, but I've never had a girl cat.  So great thread - and great answers!

They are great answers aren't they tammyp! So informative.

Il be getting her fixed within the month most likely so if you'd like il share my experience with you

And thank you she is a little cutie (and she knows it)

One thing I noticed about my cats when they were recovering from anesthesia was that they were tired and even more warmth-loving than usual. Tiny lay in my lap for the first time in his life (Tiny is a rescued semi-feral cat) just after he returned from neutering and was tired and wanted a warm spot. Since my lap was warm and soft, that was enough that when I put him in my lap he lay down and went to sleep instead of squirming out of it as he usually does. If the cat in question is amenable to it, they would probably enjoy lying on a warm lap, or in a sunny windowsill, or on a warm blanket, to recover. Not overly hot, of course, but comfortably warm. Warmth is healing for any species, it seems.

Please get her fixed sooner rather than later.  Next week would be perfect.

EB24 said:

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 (trust me, the genius OS would have called me out if any of my facts were wrong- that's why I like her so much)

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Oh dear.  All of a sudden I need a emperor-dalek shaped door to get out of the room!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Davros_-_Emperor_Dalek_.jpg

She does enjoy to lay with me, well actually she will claw me if I don't let her climb up on my lap or chest.

But she loves my bed aswell so I figured that during the day while I'm at work I'd make a nest with her blankie in my bed. With a ramp of pillows so she can easily walk down to the ground. (This is what I did when she was to small to climb up)

And I plan to do it sooner rather than later but there are other factors to consider. Finance, taking days off, she has an appointment this Saturday for chipping so I don't want to cluster her appointments to closely.

Hey, maybe you could get them both done together. That way she could get chipped while she was under, so it wouldn't even hurt.

I do know never wait till after 6 mo. Or they will spray all over the house the rest of there life, you will never get rid of the smell .

Girls can spray? What???

Yeah, they can.  Usually when not spayed.  It's certainly not as common as in male cats, but just as certainly has happened and is a possibility.  There is the possibility that cats who start the spraying behaviour won't stop after de-sexing.

And yes please Melhammouche, I'd love you to tell me your experience!  I won't be very far behind, as I believe in the sooner the better for de-sexing.  (But it will most likely be later than I would for other types of cats as this is a small breed, so it'll be as soon as she is big enough.)

We almost got a girl kitten in Feb, but we had to let that one go to a more suitable home, as there had been a FIP death in the litter - we didn't want to bring anything into Kato's environment.  I did a lot of reading and talking with feline specialists and the breeders in making that decision; part of the implications were that we wouldn't spay her until about 9 months, as her body would need the extra time to prepare for a stressful event and get over titre levels of the corona virus etc.. (it's a bit involved).  So I did ask about the ramifications of a late spay...going through her 'calling' when in heat (yay!), my neutered boy mating her (it happens, but not to worry, he's done!), and the possibility of her spraying.  And hey, that leads me to wonder...you have her brother as well? Is he neutered yet?....

No we don't have her brother, my mother in law has her brother so they have had visits before but as he's a big boy now I don't want him near her until she's spayed even if they are still kittens in my eyes!

I honestly knew nothing of a female spraying that's very surprising. I think i will make her appointment for a fortnights time as this is when my pay will allow me to get it done.

And I would be very glad to let you know the details of my experience tammyp

melhammouche said:

Aw thank you! Omg he's so cute and what a great name you've chosen! When I saw her pattern I fell in love.

Btw she's maybe way to friendly haha she loves all our visitors and she will get up on their laps and display her tummy, and with me? We're inseparable. If I won't sit down and won't give her my lap or chest to lay on she will climb my legs until I sit and let her sit on me

Diego looks like a very happy boy!

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Callista said:

Hey, maybe you could get them both done together. That way she could get chipped while she was under, so it wouldn't even hurt.

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I agree that it's a good idea to have her chipped when she's already under for her spay. It definitely minimizes the trauma. However, I wouldn't cancel your Saturday appointment should you choose to go this route. I think for peace of mind you need her checked over again and need the time to ask all your questions. You can even ask them then if it's better to wait to chip her. 

If you like your vet it's not a bad idea to register her to their practice. That way if you ever move you don't have to worry about updating it. Both of mine are chipped to the no-kill shelter from which they were adopted. If anyone ever turned them in they would just look up the number and get ahold of me. It's fine to register them in your name too just make sure you save all the paperwork in case you ever need to update the contact info. 

OrientalSlave said:

Oh dear.  All of a sudden I need a emperor-dalek shaped door to get out of the room!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Davros_-_Emperor_Dalek_.jpg

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Haha HA! yup. You do. 

melhammouche said:

No we don't have her brother, my mother in law has her brother so they have had visits before but as he's a big boy now I don't want him near her until she's spayed even if they are still kittens in my eyes!

I honestly knew nothing of a female spraying that's very surprising. I think i will make her appointment for a fortnights time as this is when my pay will allow me to get it done.
 

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Ugh there is something about your thread that makes me miss half the posts! Didn't realize there was a second page....

tammyp is absolutely right- females in heat have a tendency to spray same as males do. Once altered they tend to stop but that's not always the case. And males, well, once they start it's a very difficult habit to break even after they are altered. It would be a good civic duty to inform your MIL of this fact too (as she may not know). And, you are smart to keep them totally separated until after they are both fixed. Females become infertile at the time of the surgery but males retain active sperm for several weeks after the operation. So, if the brother is going to have any access to the outdoors or to unsprayed females be sure to tell her to allow for at least a month quarantine. 

I'm still yet to decide whether I like my vet :S il ask him anyway and see what he thinks. He's in no rush to fix her yet because she was so tiny last time he saw her.

Yeah, some vets are old-fashioned like that. Back when anesthesia was more chancy, it made sense to wait until the animal was large enough that no extra risks were presented; but now, with modern technology, there's no difference in risk between a two-pound kitten and a ten-pound adult. Some studies even show that the kitten would heal faster. But an old-fashioned vet might still be running on the idea that it's safer to wait, even though that hasn't really been the case since about the 1950s.

With big dogs, it's a different story; waiting until full growth seems to be better for them. But cats are too small for the same issues that big dogs have and there are some benefits to spaying before sexual maturity.

You know, it's funny--people think "spay/neuter will change my cat's personality". In fact, it's the opposite. Neutering a cat lets it keep the same personality, preventing the hormone-related personality changes that come with reaching reproductive age. Neutered cats even grow larger (not fatter--larger, as in longer and taller) than non-neutered cats, because they aren't spending all that energy on trying to reproduce.

Wow that does make a lot of sense.

At the rate she's grown (especially since adding raw to her diet) I think that when he sees her on Saturday he'll make the appointment for me

She's gone from being able to sit on the palm of my hand to needing both arms to hold her. It's incredible

Callista said:

Yeah, some vets are old-fashioned like that. Back when anesthesia was more chancy, it made sense to wait until the animal was large enough that no extra risks were presented; but now, with modern technology, there's no difference in risk between a two-pound kitten and a ten-pound adult. Some studies even show that the kitten would heal faster. But an old-fashioned vet might still be running on the idea that it's safer to wait, even though that hasn't really been the case since about the 1950s.

With big dogs, it's a different story; waiting until full growth seems to be better for them. But cats are too small for the same issues that big dogs have and there are some benefits to spaying before sexual maturity.

You know, it's funny--people think "spay/neuter will change my cat's personality". In fact, it's the opposite. Neutering a cat lets it keep the same personality, preventing the hormone-related personality changes that come with reaching reproductive age. Neutered cats even grow larger (not fatter--larger, as in longer and taller) than non-neutered cats, because they aren't spending all that energy on trying to reproduce.

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Well said. All of it. I bow to your awesome post! 

EB24 said:

Well said. All of it. I bow to your awesome post! 

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Hahaha your so funny EB24! I want to learn some of these emoticons.