Kittens with BO?

My Burmese kittens will be 6 months on January 27th and the vet has told me to make an appointment around that date for them to be neutered. She said that they prefer to hang on until they have "filled out a bit" and 6 months would be about right. She did say that we could bring it forward a bit, if we noticed any spraying or other behaviour indicative of them trying to demonstrate their masculinity!

We definitely haven't had any spraying, but we have noticed that one and possibly both kittens are a bit smelly. It's not a urine or poo smell, but a sort of musky type of body odour. We're sure that they didn't smell like this before, we've always buried our noses in their soft fur, but now it's a bit niffy. Is this likely to be a masculine, tom-cat smell caused by emerging hormones? We have noticed that one kitten in particular grabs his brother by the scruff of the neck and attempts unmentionables.

I hope it's only "tom-cat" smell, that will go when they're fixed. They were so sweet before, but now it's a bit off-putting when they're on your lap.

One of them has just jumped on to my lap while I'm typing this and is not smelly, so I think it's just the one. If it's not "tom-cat" could it be some health problem?

All I can say is that with unneutered/unspayed cats, you need to get them fixed as soon as possible. Don't wait til 6 months, that is WAY too long. I get my kittens fixed at 12 week or 2 lbs, thats what the shelter goes buy. 95% chance they will start spraying soon and if not then you are one of the lucky few. Also, your question, kittens get into things, some play in the litter box, some have smelly poo, point is they are kittens...mine will do summersaults in his litterbox, so he smells weird all the time. I wouldn't worry. Just please get them fixed sooner then 6 months. They already sound like they are becoming mature.

If you have females in the litter, they are at the age to get pregnant by the males in the litter. And it will happen if they go into heat no matter how young. I reread your post and it sounds like you just have 2 males, so nevermind about the pregnant thing.

Having done a bit of research on the web, I think that later neutering is a UK thing - just about all the vets' websites I have found based in the UK say that neutering/spaying can from done "from 6 months of age". One said 5 months. It seems that other parts of the world do it a lot earlier. Our vet did say we could go a bit earlier if they needed it, or if they were outdoor cats that might stray further.

There's no pregnancy worries at all, both kittens are indoor cats only. Apart from the fact that we don't want them to go outside from a safety point of view, they did cost us quite a bit and pedigrees do regularly get stolen. Both kittens are males and we only have one other neutered male cat.

The smell is definitely not poo, nor normal cat urine smell - but it could be tom-cat urine smell starting I suppose. But they are definitely not spraying - the smell is coming from the cat, not the house, thankfully!

I suppose I also get a bit paranoid about their health. I lost a CRF kitty earlier in the year and one of the symptoms I remember was a distinctive smell.

Simon had really bad, bad breath while he was teething...it would surround him like maisma. I had to hunt to see what was so stinky, you know? But he's through teething, and doesn't smell at all anymore, other than a normal cat.

Other than that, I don't know.

Best-
Michele

Your two male cats are becoming sexually mature. That smell is part of the adult male cat 'aroma', and the one doing 'unmentionables' to his brother is exhibiting mating behaviour. If it hasn't happened yet, they will start to get very aggressive to each otherand it will not be nice. Spraying will follow shortly as they compete with each other to 'mark' their sexual territory. This is one of those circumstances your vet mentioned as a legitimate reason for getting them neutered earlier. Once they are neutered it will also take up to a few weeks for the sexually mature male qualities to fade as the sexual hormones in their system will still be present until they wear off. Shortly after they are neutered, they will return to the sweet and cuddly little kitties they used to be.

I had already made the appointment for Bear and Lion to be neutered at 5 months and had to move it forward a few weeks when they began to exhibit the same mating behavour that you mention, as well as male 'aggressiveness'. Their 'play' had a lot more 'competitiveness' to it and very quickly began to border on fighting. I was surprised at how quickly it all happened. You will want to make your arrangements with the vet as soon as you can because this problem will only get worse until they are fixed.

Good luck!

Kathryn

Sorry I didn't realize where you are from. I noticed other countries wait a long time to fix their cats, some old fashioned vets wait that long here too. I just find it odd I don't know, you think all the vets would be up to date on how to do stuff. I don't know, I couldn't imagine waiting that long since there is really no reason to. I would rather fix them earlier before any of the maturing male cat symptoms start to show, and not have to worry about waiting for all the hormones and stuff to go away. Anyways, sorry about that if I sounded a little like I was being rude.

L.S. is 7 months, and was neutered at 5 months. He still mounts Merlin when they're fighting. (My mom came running in my room in a panic because she thought something was wrong.) They may not have gonads, but they still have hormones. They're going to fight and challange each other for dominance of the house.

As for the smell, it could be teething, like noni said. My vet described the smell as rotton hambuger. It could also be from their anal glands. I noticed that L.S. has quite a musk about his rear. (He's always has to stick his butt in my face. Phew.)

Hadn't thought about teething. My husband last night remarked he thought it might be bad breath when one of them yawned while sitting on his lap. We haven't noticed any baby teeth coming out yet.

I will ring the vet anyway and get the neutering job over and done with. I have a feeling it's a "male" smell. They won't get done before next week now anyway, and it would only be 2 weeks before them being 6 months. I know it's really routine, but it's preying on my mind a bit anyway, having lost 2 cats this year, the last one really sudden in September.

Have rung the vet today and been given an appointment for neutering on the 21 Jan. I know it's got to be done, but I'll be biting my nails until it's all over and they've recovered. We've noticed that when they play and romp about, the pungent smell I described pervades the air.

We've begun to find little teeth around the place as well, so they could have stinky teething breath making it worse as well.

o O (Was anyone else momentarily confused, or was it just me that thought that Jen and Jan were the same person for a moment..)

THa'ts odd that england waits to neuter.. hrmm..

We're waiting to neuter Lola even though she's already 5 months. But in her case it has to do with previous and current health and growth issues (distemper at 6 weeks, and the resulting weight loss at the time, has put her at least a month behind schedule for size, plus ongoing gastrointestinal issues). No worries here about pregnancy, though. Sammy was spayed at just under 6 months (when he began displaying....um...mature behaviour lol). There's also 0 chance of her escaping because she's so easily startled that if anyone is near the door (the only time the door is open is when someone is coming or going...we're very used to closing the doors because Sammy has escaped a couple times) she freaks out and hides. Even with me!! Yeah, she's a crazy one.

Don't worry too much (if you can help it) about the surgery. I'm sure your little guys will be just fine.