Questions about Spaying and Neutering M/F Kittens

zoop · Aug 10, 2016

We have two kittens M/F (same litter) who are three months old (approximate). We want to Spay/Neuter them and avoid a litter.

From what I researched online and told by my vet as well as other they need to be at least 2 pounds to be Spayed/Neutered. They are close to that weight right now (1.9 and 1.7 couple of weeks ago).

Our vet told us that they will Spay/Neuter at 6 months.

I also read online that the Female can go into heat as early as 4 months and for Male it is 6 months. So there is a window although very improbable for her to get pregnant.

So what is the best course of action here?
When should we get the procedure done?
Should we get both of them done at the same time or alternate between them? Can we get one done a lot earlier than other?
Who is this procedure harder on? The male or the female?
Any advice, tips, preparation that can help?
What is the most healthy age/weight for the procedure from the cat's perspective?

Primula · Aug 10, 2016

Your kittens most likely are 2 months old - 1LB for each month in age - not 3 months old. In any event, they can be fixed at 2 months old. Six months is way too late!

It's the easiest thing in the world - they can be done together & there's really nothing else to worry about. No preparation is needed.

We take ours to a sort of mobile vet who does them for about $85 which is really cheap here. A vet will charge much much more. Where to take them is the most important issue. You need to find somewhere that you trust & a place you can afford.

The shelter we adopted our Looby Loo from had her spayed at a discount place. Six months later we had to re-do her since the vet left ovarian tissue behind. That cost us $700!

Willowy · Aug 10, 2016

If you don't want to do them both at the same time, have the female done first. She'll mature faster than he will plus it's easier on a female if they're younger. The procedure is harder on the female than the male (for boys it's just snip snip

, but for girls it's a major abdominal surgery). For the female, the optimal time is between 14-16 weeks, for the male, well, any time you want, as long as it's before he's 8 months old.

They are quite small for their age if they really are 3 months old, so try to get them well-fed and healthy before they undergo surgery. But of course surgery is better than a litter even if they're small so don't wait too long.

zoop · Aug 10, 2016

Primula said:
Your kittens most likely are 2 months old - 1LB for each month in age - not 3 months old. In any event, they can be fixed at 2 months old. Six months is way too late!

It's the easiest thing in the world - they can be done together & there's really nothing else to worry about. No preparation is needed.

We take ours to a sort of mobile vet who does them for about $85 which is really cheap here. A vet will charge much much more. Where to take them is the most important issue. You need to find somewhere that you trust & a place you can afford.

The shelter we adopted our Looby Loo from had her spayed at a discount place. Six months later we had to re-do her since the vet left ovarian tissue behind. That cost us $700!

How did you figure out that you had to redo her? Any signs? They were this weight at 2.5 months. I guess they were a little underweight. They are gonna be 3 months on the 15th.

Primula · Aug 10, 2016

It was a nightmare. She went into heat every two weeks & exponentially got worse each time. Our backyard was full of randy toms even though she was inside. We had to have a surgeon do the 2nd operation since it's not easy to find a tiny piece left behind. He described it as a remnant of her left ovary. Rare, but not uncommon with vets who are not the best. $700 later, she is fine now.

zoop · Aug 11, 2016

Willowy said:
If you don't want to do them both at the same time, have the female done first. She'll mature faster than he will plus it's easier on a female if they're younger. The procedure is harder on the female than the male (for boys it's just snip snip

, but for girls it's a major abdominal surgery). For the female, the optimal time is between 14-16 weeks, for the male, well, any time you want, as long as it's before he's 8 months old.

They are quite small for their age if they really are 3 months old, so try to get them well-fed and healthy before they undergo surgery. But of course surgery is better than a litter even if they're small so don't wait too long.

Thanks for the advice I am planning to get both done at 14-16 weeks. Currently they are at 12 week.

zoop · Aug 11, 2016

Primula said:
It was a nightmare. She went into heat every two weeks & exponentially got worse each time. Our backyard was full of randy toms even though she was inside. We had to have a surgeon do the 2nd operation since it's not easy to find a tiny piece left behind. He described it as a remnant of her left ovary. Rare, but not uncommon with vets who are not the best. $700 later, she is fine now.

The shelter we adopted them from provides the Spay/Neuter service with their partnered vets as part of the adoption. They even took a $75 refundable deposit from us so that we have to bring the kittens back for the procedure. So all this is no cost to us, we just have to give them a call.

I recently saw an episode of My Cat From Hell (Season 2 Episode 1) where the owners had the same issue as you (unspayed female inside home) and random Toms were spraying their apartment door and the outside of their house because of this.

trose · Aug 11, 2016

We rescued Garfield from a dumpster

image.jpeg

trose
Aug 11, 2016

when he was only a week old. He was in a box with 2 dead siblings and was weak, but vocal! He was covered with fleas! I nursed him with a bottle of kitten formula every 3 hours. He is now four months old and very healthy and sweet! I love him dearly and want him to be strictly an in door kitty,

image.jpeg

trose
Aug 11, 2016

so I am having him neutered next week. I hope he will stay sweet and playful. He lets me hold him like a baby. Will he recover quickly?!

marius · Aug 11, 2016

Hmm, i do wonder if the difference in countries might have different plans when it comes to this kind of treatment.

When we got our 2 kittens, one male and one female. We was told to wait 6 months for the male, and until 8 months for the female. And when i went to the Vet, they also mentioned they want to wait til 6 months minimum to not give them any complications.

I see here that some people say that 2 months is fine, so i get a bit confused myself..

foxxycat · Aug 11, 2016

TRose said:
when he was only a week old. He was in a box with 2 dead siblings and was weak, but vocal! He was covered with fleas! I nursed him with a bottle of kitten formula every 3 hours. He is now four months old and very healthy and sweet! I love him dearly and want him to be strictly an in door kitty,

image.jpeg

trose

Aug 11, 2016

so I am having him neutered next week. I hope he will stay sweet and playful. He lets me hold him like a baby. Will he recover quickly?!

yes he will recover quickly. its a simple procedure. I have heard they get more friendly after getting neutered/spayed. Also the hormones take a month to run its course after neutering so you may not see anything different for a month.

he is adorable!! I love my cats too!! Look at that Face!! I just want to pet him and kiss that head!!

trose · Aug 11, 2016

Thank you foxy cat! I kiss his head a lot! Your kitty is also gorgeous! I'll post how his elected surgery goes next week!

Willowy · Aug 11, 2016

Marius said:
Hmm, i do wonder if the difference in countries might have different plans when it comes to this kind of treatment.

When we got our 2 kittens, one male and one female. We was told to wait 6 months for the male, and until 8 months for the female. And when i went to the Vet, they also mentioned they want to wait til 6 months minimum to not give them any complications.

I see here that some people say that 2 months is fine, so i get a bit confused myself..

It may depend on how the vet was trained and what kind of anesthetic they use. The old anesthetics are a bit hard on the system so the bigger the animal is, the better they can handle the drugs. Some vets aren't comfortable operating on small kitties, if they weren't trained for it.

But if you wait until 8 months to spay your female, she'll be in heat pretty much constantly for at least a couple months. If she's not too vocal or escape-prone you might be OK, or she might drive you crazy :tongue2:. Hopefully she never sneaks out to get pregnant. Personally I'd try to find a vet who would do it sooner.

lifewith3cats · Aug 11, 2016

I just wanted to say Garfield is beautiful! And your rescuing him from a dumpster and feeding him with a bottle brought tears to my eyes. People like you truly make this world a better place.

howmany · Aug 11, 2016

I have to pipe up here I have owned several female cats and some were from I was a kid 10 and over and some in my twentys. There defiantly was an older style of vet advice that cats were generally fixed closer to one year mark as that is when they were thoughts to be grown.
I know that some vet will now neuter or spaye at 2 pounds or 4 months or 6 months depending on there training or preference. And thats great IF you have acess to those vets.

But no cat I have owned has gone into heat before 1 year.
And sometimes when cats go into heat it last only a few days and if there inside nobody notices but the owner.
I know kittens before 1 is not unusual but I feel like it is fear mongering to say that heat will start at 4 months and involve weeks of howling. the first heat can be short and you know you need to take the cat in as soon as It is over.

howmany · Aug 11, 2016

Kittens 11 weeks 4 days one of 5 vets in my area that I called ( with in hour) will take them next week the only one under 30 minutes won't for two months.

image.jpg

howmany
Aug 11, 2016

pegleg · Aug 11, 2016

howmany said:
I have to pipe up here I have owned several female cats and some were from I was a kid 10 and over and some in my twentys. There defiantly was an older style of vet advice that cats were generally fixed closer to one year mark as that is when they were thoughts to be grown.
I know that some vet will now neuter or spaye at 2 pounds or 4 months or 6 months depending on there training or preference. And thats great IF you have acess to those vets.

But no cat I have owned has gone into heat before 1 year.
And sometimes when cats go into heat it last only a few days and if there inside nobody notices but the owner.
I know kittens before 1 is not unusual but I feel like it is fear mongering to say that heat will start at 4 months and involve weeks of howling. the first heat can be short and you know you need to take the cat in as soon as It is over.

I wouldn't say that it's worth the risk to wait, though. My foster, who's not more than a year old they reckon, has already had a litter and has just gone into heat again.

TRose said:
We rescued Garfield from a dumpster

image.jpeg

trose

Aug 11, 2016

when he was only a week old. He was in a box with 2 dead siblings and was weak, but vocal! He was covered with fleas! I nursed him with a bottle of kitten formula every 3 hours. He is now four months old and very healthy and sweet! I love him dearly and want him to be strictly an in door kitty,

image.jpeg

trose

Aug 11, 2016

so I am having him neutered next week. I hope he will stay sweet and playful. He lets me hold him like a baby. Will he recover quickly?!

He's adorable! I'm glad you two ended up together. He'll be fine, it mostly depends on the anaesthetic. Mine was up and about in the evening when he was neutered midday. He was more annoyed that he hadn't had breakfast and he wasn't allowed to lick his balls for a while.

Willowy · Aug 11, 2016

But no cat I have owned has gone into heat before 1 year.
And sometimes when cats go into heat it last only a few days and if there inside nobody notices but the owner.

You're lucky! I've had one kitten go into heat right at 16 weeks, several at 5 months, and never had one go more than 7 months (well, maybe the ones spayed before first heat would have gone longer, who knows). And not all are vocal but it's certainly noticable.

My first cat went into heat at 5 months, the waiting list was long because we lived overseas, and she howled for the entire 3 months. But she was half Siamese. . .

howmany · Aug 11, 2016

I wonder if local populations differ as breeds would I have only owned moggies (mix breeds) and also sometimes they don't go in to heat all winter! At least the one I have now didn't.
And I am Not saying people shouldn't bother!!! Just that accessible early spay / neuter is not always done.
My two year old goes tomorrow !!!!
She had a 4 day heat last week.

Primula · Aug 12, 2016

Zoop said:
I recently saw an episode of My Cat From Hell (Season 2 Episode 1) where the owners had the same issue as you (unspayed female inside home) and random Toms were spraying their apartment door and the outside of their house because of this.

That can happen. I have read of tom cats even coming down the chimney into the house.

Primula · Aug 12, 2016

howmany said:
But no cat I have owned has gone into heat before 1 year.
And sometimes when cats go into heat it last only a few days and if there inside nobody notices but the owner.
I know kittens before 1 is not unusual but I feel like it is fear mongering to say that heat will start at 4 months and involve weeks of howling. the first heat can be short and you know you need to take the cat in as soon as It is over.

Not sure what "fear-mongering" has to do with it, but cats can go into heat at 4 months. The heat cycle can last several days & is uncomfortable for the cat because her hormones are upsetting her. (Think PMS.) Personally, I am always relieved for the cat & myself when she is spayed & relaxed again.

Questions about Spaying and Neutering M/F Kittens

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