Spay/Neuter - what age?

I just booked my oldest cat in to be neutered next month, he will be 1 year old.  It got me wondering about what age I should get the girls done.  Willow is nearly 6 months, and Lily is 3 months.  I waited with Storm until 1 year because I wanted to wait for him to reach sexual maturity flor the hormones etc.  But it is different with him, he could afford to wait because he would not get pregnant.  With the girls I am wondering what age I should get them spayed.  SHould I wait until 1 year as well for them to reach sexual maturity first? Both girls are indoor cats, though they occasionally make a dash out the door and we have to go chase them and bring them back in. How old was your cat(s) when you did the spay/neuter? Do you feel it is more important to wait for sexual maturity to be reached, or more important to fix them young to prevent any oops litters?

Hi and welcome to TCS! 

Unlike with dogs there is no evidence that waiting for sexual maturity benefits cats and every heat cycle you allow a female cat to go through increases the chance of cancer. 

Cats can actually reach sexual maturity as young as 4 months and I am concerned your 6 month old may already be pregnant as you had an unfixed male in the house. When your one year old male is fixed he will still be fertile so you will have to keep him separated from the female cats- this can take up to a month. 

As your male will be fertile for a while and you say your cats have already escaped I would get the 6 month old female done right away because she will get pregnant if she is not already. 

In North America paediatric neutering is common and is a very good option for cats who may escape outside. Your 3 month old would most likely be large enough for the surgery now so it is something you should discuss with your vet. 

Hi. I have a 13 week old male who us being neutered tomorrow. I'm not waiting for his hormones to kick in. He is an indoor only cat and I want to keep him that way.

How much does/should it cost. I asked one of my local vets and they quoted me £65 which seems expensive.

It's going to cost me $134+GST Canadian for the boy to get neutered, for the girls it will be more.  My almost 6 monther is the size of a typical 3 monther, and my 3 monther looks like she is about 4 weeks (from the same byb and the momma's are of poor nutrition due to constant back to back litters so their growth is stunted) vet doesn't think they are of maturity yet.  But I will certainly speak to the vet about getting at least the almost 6 monther done the same time as the boy to be sure. 

swellmomma said:

It's going to cost me $134+GST Canadian for the boy to get neutered, for the girls it will be more.  My almost 6 monther is the size of a typical 3 monther, and my 3 monther looks like she is about 4 weeks (from the same byb and the momma's are of poor nutrition due to constant back to back litters so their growth is stunted) vet doesn't think they are of maturity yet.  But I will certainly speak to the vet about getting at least the almost 6 monther done the same time as the boy to be sure. 

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Here is a list of low cost clinics in Canada that you might want to look at (https://www.humanesociety.com/index...a-neuter-clinics-in-canada&catid=58&Itemid=94)

Dean23 said:

How much does/should it cost. I asked one of my local vets and they quoted me £65 which seems expensive.

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Here is a site with information on low cost spay/neuter in the UK (http://www.cats.org.uk/what-we-do/neutering/financial-assistance).

Franksmom said:

Here is a list of low cost clinics in Canada that you might want to look at (https://www.humanesociety.com/index...a-neuter-clinics-in-canada&catid=58&Itemid=94)

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Thanks.  I did look into the low cost spay/neuter clinic but it is 2 hours away and the cats have to be 100% up to date on their vaxs and have a letter from their vet (so you can't just show you gave your own vaxes), Then it is a $50 application fee etc.  By the time I factor in gas costs, vet checks for vax(my vet does not need them to be fully vaxed before a neuter), etc it is still cheaper to have it done in town.  It is a great link though and I hope it benefits someone else that doesn't need to drive so far to get it done.  I have no problem paying to have it done at the local vet, that was planned for when I took in these cats  

Franksmom said:

Here is a list of low cost clinics in Canada that you might want to look at (https://www.humanesociety.com/index...a-neuter-clinics-in-canada&catid=58&Itemid=94)

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Thanks.  I did look into the low cost spay/neuter clinic but it is 2 hours away and the cats have to be 100% up to date on their vaxs and have a letter from their vet (so you can't just show you gave your own vaxes), Then it is a $50 application fee etc.  By the time I factor in gas costs, vet checks for vax(my vet does not need them to be fully vaxed before a neuter), etc it is still cheaper to have it done in town.  It is a great link though and I hope it benefits someone else that doesn't need to drive so far to get it done.  I have no problem paying to have it done at the local vet, that was planned for when I took in these cats  

swellmomma said:

Thanks.  I did look into the low cost spay/neuter clinic but it is 2 hours away and the cats have to be 100% up to date on their vaxs and have a letter from their vet (so you can't just show you gave your own vaxes), Then it is a $50 application fee etc.  By the time I factor in gas costs, vet checks for vax(my vet does not need them to be fully vaxed before a neuter), etc it is still cheaper to have it done in town.  It is a great link though and I hope it benefits someone else that doesn't need to drive so far to get it done.  I have no problem paying to have it done at the local vet, that was planned for when I took in these cats  

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And actually your vet has a very reasonable cost. In Toronto a spay is between $600-$700 and the cheapest place in the suburbs is $400. Vet costs in Canada are insane and you are lucky you have a vet that has reasonable prices. 

Franksmom said:

And actually your vet has a very reasonable cost. In Toronto a spay is between $600-$700 and the cheapest place in the suburbs is $400. Vet costs in Canada are insane and you are lucky you have a vet that has reasonable prices. 

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I agree completely.  When we lived in Edmonton we had a cat neutered many years ago and it was around $300.  This vet does have excellent prices.  I think because it is in a small town out in rural Alberta they are happy just to have someone fixing their pets rather than litter after litter which tends to be the norm out this way.  Plus they have a huge large animal side of the business and they certainly make good money off the horses and cows, they are the priority out here for pet owners it seems.  I took my girl dog for her first check up and vax and it was only $88, which wasn't bad at all, for $30 I can get her microchipped next visit, $20 to buy all the vaxes to do at home per animal and $6 per dewormer pill.  I mean all in all very very affordable and they are excellent with the animals.  We are very blessed to have them nearby.

 

Franksmom said:

And actually your vet has a very reasonable cost. In Toronto a spay is between $600-$700 and the cheapest place in the suburbs is $400. Vet costs in Canada are insane and you are lucky you have a vet that has reasonable prices. 

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I agree completely.  When we lived in Edmonton we had a cat neutered many years ago and it was around $300.  This vet does have excellent prices.  I think because it is in a small town out in rural Alberta they are happy just to have someone fixing their pets rather than litter after litter which tends to be the norm out this way.  Plus they have a huge large animal side of the business and they certainly make good money off the horses and cows, they are the priority out here for pet owners it seems.  I took my girl dog for her first check up and vax and it was only $88, which wasn't bad at all, for $30 I can get her microchipped next visit, $20 to buy all the vaxes to do at home per animal and $6 per dewormer pill.  I mean all in all very very affordable and they are excellent with the animals.  We are very blessed to have them nearby.

 

Franksmom said:

Vet costs in Canada are insane and you are lucky you have a vet that has reasonable prices. 

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Vet prices in Canada are out of hand (well, at least as far as I know in the KW/Tri-Cities area of Ontario). It's very expensive, and frankly quite hard to argue with people who avoid taking their cat to the vet. I know of one vet who got shot down by the other local vets for trying to start a low cost spay/neuter clinic.
Spaying & neutering is one of the best things you can do for your cat or dog though for the long term. Think of it as an investment in their future health. I'm so glad you're able to do that for your girls Swellmoma, and to answer your original question, no it's not better to wait.

pushylady said:

Vet prices in Canada are out of hand (well, at least as far as I know in the KW/Tri-Cities area of Ontario). It's very expensive, and frankly quite hard to argue with people who avoid taking their cat to the vet. I know of one vet who got shot down by the other local vets for trying to start a low cost spay/neuter clinic.

Spaying & neutering is one of the best things you can do for your cat or dog though for the long term. Think of it as an investment in their future health. I'm so glad you're able to do that for your girls Swellmoma, and to answer your original question, no it's not better to wait.

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Totally agree and I think there needs to be some regulation. The past 6 years vet prices have more than doubled and it just keeps getting more crazy. In Toronto it is hard to find a vet that will charge less than $80-100 for just a visit and for an in house x ray they charge  $300 and bloodwork is about the same price. I found a slightly cheaper vet in the suburbs but it is still $60 just for a visit. It has become so insane that more and more people are driving to the States because apparently it is about half the cost!

Kittens can be s/n as early as 2 pounds, which is about 2 months. 

For my own kitties, I prefer them being done younger in life than later in life.  Hannah was spayed when she was about 8 mos old because she had been so sick.  Tumbles was done when he was about 5 months, but the vet wanted to wait until he was 6 mos.  Daisy came spayed, but she had been spayed recently, and was about a year old.  She most likely had had at least one litter, but she was rescued from a high kill shelter, before the rescue group pulled her, so we don't know for sure.

My previous (female) cats were spayed when they were about 7 months old as one of them was tortured when she came into season. That was all a long time ago.

My current boy was neutered before I adopted him. He was about 10 weeks old and it was done in between his vaccinations. He was micro chipped at the same time. The breeders preferred to do this to avoid their cats being homed where they may be used for inappropriate /unauthorized breeding.  When I was told by the breeder that they did this I looked up the procedure on line and found good information supporting the procedure and explaining the anaesthetic risks in young kittens on the FAB web site (now International Cat Care). This reassured me that it was safe to do. Of course it had the added benefit that all of the nasty and risky veterinary care was completed before he came home with me.  The cost of all of his veterinary care, including the neutering, was included in the purchase price for my cat and I felt this was very reasonable.  He is a lovely boy and I think the early procedure has been positive in avoiding any development of behaviours such as spraying.

I had both my girls spayed when they were 5 months old. The surgery site was very tiny (less than one centimeter/ 0.39 inch) and they recovered wonderfully. The boy was neutered at 6 months old (because of other health issues, I would have done it sooner if I could). I have seen surgeries of pregnant cats and they are a lot bigger and riskier.

I am sorry to hear about the high prices. I am lucky enough to be in a place where vet prices are affordable to the average person and, most important, all the vets I met have discounts if you have more than one animal or if you bring in ferals.
 

Am I being dumb in this... So if not letting your cat get spayed can possibly lead to cancer... What happens with cats that become mothers (when they're obviously older than 6 months-1 year etc)? Isn't getting a cat spayed to stop unwanted pregnancies and stop her going into heat every few weeks? But then that leaves her infertile because the doctors have took her ovaries...? 

I'm genuinely confused and probably sound stupid because I don't know what everything means haha.

Dean23 said:

Am I being dumb in this... So if not letting your cat get spayed can possibly lead to cancer... What happens with cats that become mothers (when they're obviously older than 6 months-1 year etc)? Isn't getting a cat spayed to stop unwanted pregnancies and stop her going into heat every few weeks? But then that leaves her infertile because the doctors have took her ovaries...? 

I'm genuinely confused and probably sound stupid because I don't know what everything means haha.

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I'm not quite sure where you're confused. Yes, spaying leaves a cat infertile which is a good thing. Have a look at this and maybe it will answer your questions? If not, please do ask. http://spayusa.org/benefits.php

I suppose it was hard to explain. I have a beautiful and potentially very rare cat. Of course, I want to get her spayed because l don't want her to be experiencing any discomfort or whatever. But at the same time, I think she would have some wonderful mini versions of her if she were ever to have a litter, and then 14 years down the line when her 9 lives have ran out, I'd be able to have mini ones of her that I'd be able to look after.
But of course, worst case scenario is the cancer situation so it's a lose lose situation.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not some breeder wanting to produce rare and exotic cats for a profit. I'd just maybe one day like a mini cat family aha.
Surely I'm not the only one who thinks this...?