Ever heard/had a kitten spayed at 6 weeks?

Hello,

I adopted Lily from the animal shelter when she was a little over 6 weeks old. I was surprised when they told me that they had just spayed her 3 days before I had arrived to adopt. Is this a common trend? Anyone own a cat that had been spayed that young or close to that age? Was there any behavior/health differences compared to a cat that been spayed later in life? The only experience I have with cats is when I still lived with my parents and their two male cats got neutered at 5 months.

Its been almost two full weeks since her spay and she is doing great. Honestly, I wouldn't have even known she had just been spayed 3 days before if they hadn't told me. She was a spunky kitty as soon as she got to my home.

When I adopted my Mia at the shelter at 7 weeks and 1 day old she had just been spayed the day before and was playing as if nothing had ever happened. According to the shelter once they reached 2lbs then spayed/neutered and then could be adopted the next day. They said it is far more easier to do this early and their reasoning was people will adopt a kitten the earliest possible and therefore they will get a home.    Last Friday I asked the same of my vet when I took Norville in for his first checkup and she said all that was true and they could do the spay/neuter early if I wanted as it would be easier but they prefer to wait until at least 4 months at the earliest  (no later than 6 months) because certain hormons develop in their bodies during puberty that help them develop physically and emotionally.

They're supposed to wait for 8 weeks AND 2 pounds, but I suppose as long as the kitty is healthy it will be OK. Personally, for pet cats I prefer to wait until they're at least 10 weeks; younger than that and I just feel they're too little for surgery. But shelters have to get the kitties out of there and can't wait any longer so I don't blame them for doing it younger. I haven't heard of any long-term issues related to early spay/neuter in cats (in large dogs it's not a good idea, though) so she should be just fine! They do recover so quickly at that age .

If it is a feral cat, then in my experience, clinics will use the two pounds OR two month guideline.
Ritz was spayed when she was around five months old. She and her litter mates were rescued after being abandoned during a very harsh winter. That's the earliest we could get them all spayed/neutered--we had to partially socialize them first.
She went into heat three days after I adopted her. It was a, um, bonding experience....

Yes, I forgot to put the 2lb stipulation in there too. Thanks for the reminder.

Thank you everyone for your input. Its good to know there isn't any negative effects. Its kitten season for our area right now so it sounds like they took a small chance so they could get her adopted out faster. They have a policy that animals can't be adopted out until they are fixed. I had a great experience overall with the shelter so I have nothing but good things to say about them. I guess its a good thing that I don't have to worry about taking her to get spayed myself.