When to neuter?

I'd like to hear different opinions on when the best age to neuter is. Boone is only 7 weeks old so I'm obviously not in a rush, just curious!

I called a few vets in my area and they all said about the same thing, that they recommended kittens be at least 5-6 months before neutering.

That's fine by me, I was just a bit confused. I know the shelter I volunteer at spays and neutered their kittens at a much younger age so it can be done before they are adopted into their new homes. I think they actually go by weight as opposed to age.

What do you think is ideal?

Shelters spay and neuter as soon as possible, 8 weeks and 2 pounds, to get kittens in their new homes.  People want the cute little fuzzballs so it increases their chances of adoption.  For a kitty that is already in their forever home you can wait a bit.  My male kitty was almost 6 months old when he was neutered.  You don't want to wait much longer.  You want to get it done before he starts spraying.

When do they start spraying? That is my main concern.

The average is around 8 months.  Of course some start a little earlier, others a little later.

We did Princess at 8 weeks

For males, I'm not overly concerned with doing it at a certain age. Anywhere between 3-7 months ought to be just fine. Shelters have to do it earlier because they can't trust adopters to prevent pregnancies, and they want to get the kittens adopted ASAP. But for pets already in a home, I prefer not to do surgeries on tiny kittens, which is why I think 3 months is the earliest I'd recommend. Yeah, it seems like most males get "tommy" (may not start spraying right away, but negative tomcat behaviors) around 8 months so I wouldn't recommend waiting longer than 7 months. if your vet says 5-6 months, that should be fine.

But for females I think they ought to be spayed before 14 weeks. I once had a kitten go into heat at 16 weeks, and have heard from breeders who had girls go into heat before that, so waiting any longer than that is just plain risky.