How Soon Can New Mommy Cats Be Spayed?

I'm caring for a colony of feral cats in my neighbourhood and want to get the last two intact females spayed as soon as I can. They both had a litter of kittens in the middle of April, but I don't know where the kittens are. How soon can I get them spayed? They are both terrible mothers, they abandoned their last litters and the ones that I wasn't able to find all died. I don't want to do anything that will cause them to abandon their new litters or make their milk dry up, but obviously with feral cats the sooner I get them spayed the better. Any advice?

I'm flagging this to send it over to 'Caring for Strays and Ferals'

You'll be in good hands over there

ASAP. Feed them in humane traps for a week. Wire the traps open during that week, so they get used to eating in there. The night before your appointment, set the traps. Is there a low-cost spay neuter organization near you? They may have traps they can loan you and trapping advice.

Thank you for doing this. It is sad about the kittens but the moms may be so stressed by their living arrangements, they having nothing left for mothering.

Good luck!

I don't think I'll need to trap them, they are both very tame and come into the kitchen to be fed and petted. I have invited them to live with me and my indoor cats, but they seem to prefer being outdoors.

I'm not sure if there are any low-cost spay centres near me, I live in rural Japan so I doubt it. However, I have got a wonderful vet who gives me a discount on any stray cats I bring in to be treated.

Will having the mothers spayed stop them producing milk? They usually bring the kittens to be fed when they are a couple of months old. Should I wait until I see them and know they are getting solid food before I take the mothers to the vet?

Oh, that's wonderful. Do you have any idea when the kittens were born? If they are five weeks or older, I think the moms can be spayed. Can you leave food outside for the kittens? If so, that might increase your chances of catching them for spay/neuter.

The vet can do something called a flank spay- the incision is on the side, rather than the belly.

You should expect to keep the moms confined for a few days after the surgery. They will need to recuperate In a quiet place. A spare room would be ideal.

They usually recommend waiting until the kittens are 8-9 weeks old. But you don't want them getting pregnant again. . .hmm. Does it feel like they're still nursing (you can usually feel their full milk glands)? If they lost the babies, they'll go into heat again even sooner so they should be spayed ASAP. If they are nursing, yes, I think I'd wait until the babies are coming around for food, and eating reliably, before doing anything with the mothers.

Once the mother cats start bringing their kittens to you, they can eat wet food.

And females can get pregnant really quickly after delivering; if the mother cats are already pregnant, spaying will take care of that!

And, depending on the weight/age of the kittens, maybe you could get them spayed too.  In the USA, with the low cost s/n clinics I deal with, the rule is two pounds or two months old.

My husband takes care of a feral colony at work.  There is a female that had kittens about the same time, mid April.  The kittens were caught last week (I know, early, but we were worried they'd get wild, and they were eating wet food) and given to two families (two each - so they have company).  Anyway, he caught the mom a few days ago and took her in to be spayed.  The vet said she was already in heat.  So unless you can control her wandering, I'd run, not walk, to the nearest spay organization. 

My husband's neutered five males since the beginning of the year.  He's sure there's one more lurking. This mom was his first female. 

Welcome, Norachan! Thank you for taking care of these feral cats. They can be spayed right now. It is much better to get them spayed no matter what. When we do mass trappings of feral colonies (and I am in the process of working for a TNR org. in the area trapping this week), we trap/neuter all cats regardless of them being pregnant or if they have kittens. With a colony, it is impossible not to do so and it is also very, very, very heartbreaking. :shame: The life of a feral cat is very harsh but once under the kindness and care of a guardian/giver then their life improves ten-fold. Please do what you can to get those kittens as well. Might not be a bad idea to contact a local Trap-Neuter-Release Organization to assist with trapping. Sound like you may have more than one or two in need and again for all you are doing.

Hi, thanks for all your advice.

The area I live in is rice and corn growing country, so people are happy to have feral cats around as they control the mouse population. I know of three other families that regularly feed them and I've seen other neighbours occasionally leave left-overs outside for them. This is great, as it means they are all well-fed and quite friendly. But it also means that if I put any food out to try and lure the kittens closer soon disappears!

I haven't seen any of the kittens yet and the mothers are obviously still nursing them. Neither of them seem to be on heat, the resident tom cat isn't paying any attention to them. One litter was born on April the 15th and another on the 18th so I've made an appointment to have both mothers spayed on June the 24th.

The surviving kittens from last years litters worked out that they could get food here when they were about 3 months old. They've all been spayed and neutered, two went to new homes and the other four are now living with me. There don't seem to be any TNR organisations in this area, animal control in Japan is a lot different to animal control in the US or UK. I think the best thing to do is get the kittens spayed and neutered as soon as they start coming into the house to be fed, then let them make their minds up about whether they want to live with me or join the colony. So far of the 12 cats I've had fixed, about half of them decided that they prefer life outdoors and just turn up when they want to be fed.

I'll post some pictures of the new babies as soon as I can.

Thanks once again for all your advice and support.

So wonderful that you have had those cats spayed or neutered. You sound like you have your colony under control. Because there is a steady food source, you will probably get newcomers and you are very smart to spay or neuter them as soon as you can. Pretty soon, you'll see fewer and fewer kittens.

Good job!

Sounds to me that you are doing THE BEST you can with the resources you have available in Japan. I commend your efforts and send along best wishes for all of the cats/kittens. Keep up the great work you are doing for the cats.