Took Caspian (kitten) to the vet and I have a few questions

I adopted Caspian (I've posted about him before under the name Liam, but I changed his name) at six weeks old and we had a rough start but he seemed to be doing a lot better. I just took him to the vet yesterday for the first time to get his first round of shots (he's 8 weeks now but I just couldnt take him to the vet right away) and Im worried about how the vet sounded. He actually thought that he way younger than 8 weeks from his size and didnt even give him all his shot because he thought he was too small for them. He didnt do a worm test either because he thought he was just too small for it.

So Im just wondering if he is not growing the way he should. When he was weighed at the vet yesterday he was 1 pound, 2 ounces. Do you think that small for 8 weeks? We found out he has ear mites and he also had fleas when I got him (the previous owners didnt take care of them at all) so the vet said it was likely he could have some kind of worm so could that be affecting his growth?

And the last question I have is do you think 6 months is too long to wait to get him neutered? When I asked the vet the age they start to neuter he said he likes to wait until 6 months because he likes them to have a chance to fully develope their penis with the hormones still there. Im not sure if thats a reasonable thought or if its just crazy. So whats your thoughts on that?

Sorry for it being so long im just a very curious person

Cats and their development is quite individual. But yes, he sounds as little for his age. Look, these vets who do early spaying, do it when they are 2+ pounds. And they do it at 8-10 weeks.  See?

Are you sure he was 6 weeks? If the owner neglected them, they could also lie about the age.

Or it is these worms etc who did slow him down.

A little peculiar the vet didnt mentioned any good medicines for deworming, as it is apparent he shall have, and whatever age he really is, NOW he is big enough for dewormers.

This vet prefers a little later spaying.  I dont think it is big deal here. As he is a slow deweloper, he wont be early sexually mature, so you dont take any risks.

And even if he happens to be mature, he wont spray yet or wander away. This comes a little later.

Good luck!

Some vets simply haven't been trained to do "pediatric spays/neutering" so are skeptical about doing them before 6 months (which is the usual age here in Germany). Afaik, two pounds is about the average weight for a 2-month-old kitten, so Caspian is rather small if he's that old.

If he has fleas and has been in your house for a couple of weeks the house will have eggs and so on in it by now...  Lots of info on this page, do NOT buy pet shop products.  It's a UK page but it gives the names of the active ingredients so if you are somewhere else you should be able to work out if a product is good or bad:

http://www.fabcats.org/owners/fleas/info.html

And on worming:

http://www.fabcats.org/owners/worming/info.html

Yes that is quite small for 8 weeks. Normal would be close to 2 pounds now. It doesn't necessarily mean there is anything wrong with him. but I really do not get not testing for worms / other intestinal parasites. For that you would have to bring a fecal sample. He should also be treated for worms and I'm not sure why the vet did not do that since parasites could be potentially the reason he is small. Kittens can be de-wormed as young as 2 or 3 weeks old, but it is better to get the medicine from the vet. Some of the ones sold in shops can be quite harsh.
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My other question would be, what kind of food and what feeding schedule have you had him on? Young kittens need to eat more often than older kittens or adult cats. Right now I would still try to feed at least 4 meals a day of a high protein/ high fat canned food, either kitten food or an all life stages food that is high in calories -- really these are even better -- like Wellness Chicken or Turkey (the regular pate style kind) or Innova Evo. or Merrick's Before Grain (BG), the Chicken, Turkey or Chicken & Quail, plus in between meals or at night you could leave out a high protein & high fat dry food such as Wellness Core, Natures Variety Instinct, Royal Canin Babycat ( this has some grain. but it's very small pieces that are sometimes easier for a small kitten)

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A friend of mine just told me about a kitten who was smaller than the rest of her litter, and slower to grow and develop. but she is now 4 months and doing fine and is catching up a bit in size to her bigger litter-sister with whom she lives. Hopefully both she and Caspian will turn out OK.

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There are different thoughts about early neutering. As you can read here in this pdf from the winn Feline Foundation http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/pages/early_age_altering_web.pdf , studies shown no difference in the size of the urethra in cats altered at an early age. As far as health, that's what is really the important issue about the penis, since if the urethra were narrower that would make it more likely that it could get blocked. I have heard a rumor that a Anyway, Stefan's probably right that being smaller he is less likely to become sexually mature very young anyway and I don't see any problem with waiting until 6 months to neuter him.

btw a urethral blockage is not likely if fed a diet appropriate for the species -- high protein, low carb, wet food. There is a good article on a vet's site about cats' urinary health. http://www.catinfo.org/?link=urinarytracthealth