frustrated at spaying/neutering- venting

she bit me earlier which she only ever does when shes feeling neglected and i felt really bad! i bought her a box of prawns to make up for it and hand fed them to her (just the way she likes it) even though they make your hands stink!

she's also very annoyed that the kitten has discovered how to climb on the bed so now she has no place to hide from him. i caught her sitting in a laundry basket looking very smug while he was hopping up and down mewing trying to climb in!

I remember just before i got Sophie from Emma, she said that Jasmin(Sophies mum) was getting fed up with the kittens always "being there" with her.

She needs some space bless her!

Originally Posted by Februa

In terms of female cats not growing after being spayed, that is just incorrect. Growth is not controlled by the ovaries and uterus, so spaying a female should not affect their adult size, no worries there.

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I can attest to that...Cody tripled her size since she was 6 months old. She's now a 20 pounder and even though I'm worried about her weight, I can't switch her food. She's prone to UTI infections so I keep her on that. She's a BIG girl! (she's not in the room so I can say that!)

Originally Posted by rosiemac

I remember just before i got Sophie from Emma, she said that Jasmin(Sophies mum) was getting fed up with the kittens always "being there" with her.

She needs some space bless her!

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thats exactly how Maverick feels. we spend a lot of time together downstairs and the kitten tries to follow her she marches him back up and put him to bed!

the poor thing must be lonely being an only child but Maverick needs to know she's still my special baby

doesnt help that the kitten is at his teeth and claws stage. he has these wonderful new weapons which he like to excercise on tails and toes!

My CJ is getting neutered at the end of this month. He will be almost 5 months old. I was going to do it earlier but the surgery schedule is so crazy at work, I'd rather bring him in on a calmer day.

Male neuters can be done earlier. It's such a quick surgery that they don't even have to tube them while they are under. The whole process takes about 10 - 20 minutes.

I would wait until a female is 6 months though because it's a much more invasive surgery.

Are you giving the kitten lots of loves as well though?!

yes but in secret when Mavericks asleep! lol

he likes to sleep on my pillow whilst she likes to sleep outside my door so he get pleanty of individual Nicky-love too!

its really hard finding a balance. obviously he needs lots of love because he's so small and on his own whilst she's used to being an only child. i dont know how you coped with Rosie and Sophie, especially as Rosie was very put out you got Sophie in the first place!

It was upsetting at first when Rosie acted the way she did with both of us but after the two weeks when she finally accepted Sophie it was a walk in the park!!!

I still put Rosie first such as giving them their food, treats etc.. even when i come home i scritch Rosie first, then Sophie

Sophies the alpha cat though!!

Most vets won't neuter before they are 6 months old. I don't know why they won't neuter Maverick.

How old is Maverick's kitten now? I love that picture of them both in your signature!

6 weeks but he's HUGE. looks more like 8 or 10 weeks! i'll post more pictures later but the computer which has all the soft wear has a virus so i dont want to risk infecting you all!

Originally Posted by fwan

When i lived in australia my 3 omnth old kitten got injured and the RSPCA spayed her but i dont think its healthy. Because she died 2 weeks later.
Plus cats dont grow anymore after they get spayed.

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I disagree with you. I have a seven month old female who was spayed at 15 weeks old (a shelter animal, bottle-raised by a fellow foster mom) she was 2 lbs then. She's 6 lbs now.

In the last three years, I've fostered dozens of little girls who were spayed once they reached 2 lbs, usually at about 6-14 weeks. I have had all of one problem and that was a little girl who licked her spay incision until it became infected. My friend's 1-yr-old also had the same problem so I know it's not an age thing. Some antibiotics, some neosporin, and an e-collar and all was well.

One of my boys was neutered at 12 weeks, the other at 6.5 months. The one neutered at 12 weeks still acts like a kitten even though he's 2. No personality changes at all. I guess I'm just used to having little ones spayed/neutered at young ages. I wouldn't adopt out any kitties without them being spayed/neutered. Just my 2 cents.

Oh fwan, cats definitly do grow after they are desexed.

Ohhhh stink, I really wanna see new pics!

I agree on the rescue thing. I think if it's your cat and you want to wait to be safe and will make sure they don't get pregnant (or get anyone pregnant) that's great and probably healthier. But working with rescues I really don't like the idea of adopting out un-spuetered animals, but it's impractical to hold onto kittens that long before adopting.

Okay, this is a topic I know a little bit about, because I'm often the person who has to take our shelter kittens to be spayed/neutered (I can't do the regular feedings or cleaning, because more than 2 cats at a time give me asthma attacks, so I do stuff like ordering food, begging neighbors, students, colleagues, etc., to adopt, or sponsoring special-needs cats), and we use four to six different vets (usually), since everybody has their "favorite" vet, and each vet is usually willing to do a certain number at the lowest possible price. The "usual" age is six months in Germany, but the veterinary schools are beginning to "rethink" the matter, and to recommend the procedure at an earlier age, i.e, two to three months. I've asked several vets about it, and all of them have told me that they neuter at six months because they weren't taught how to deal with younger kittens, as anesthesia in particular can be tricky. And they said: 1) The procedure is easier with younger kittens, because they have less body fat, and 2) Younger kittens recover faster. In other words, the vet's training plays a major role. The younger the vet, the more likely she/he will neuter kittens at a young age.
fwan, kittens definitely don't stop growing when they're neutered. In fact, males castrated at a young age are more "elongated" than those castrated at a later age. I know I have a link on that (in German) bookmarked, but I'll have to search for it.

Oh, as an added note, those of you who've seen my thread about the hare-lipped kitten in "Health & Nutrition" might be interested in knowing that Momma cat has been examined by two vets, and both estimated her age at 4 to 5 months!

That is interesting... my boy was just fixed on Friday and he came home saturday. He doesn't seem in pain or anything, he is running around like a normal kitten or seems to be normal to me. I'm not sure when my vet will do that but I would be interested to find out. I have been told that the female's surgery is more invasive than the male. So, we will see how Spook does when she comes home Wednesday. Her surgery is Tuesday. She is also 10 weeks old.

I would not worry about having a kitten done as long as they are about 2lb. It is common in the US to have kittens fixed at MOST rescue orgs / SPCA sites across the country before they are adopted out because too many poeple do not keep a close enough eye on their pets before they start mating.

We have breed Siamese, fostered cats, rescued, you name it since I was little and I do not know of one instance of a kitten dying, having issues or not growing after it has been fixed.

We work with 2 foster agencies and they routinely work with vets that fix all kittens at 2lb, whenever that may be, usually around 9-12 weeks.....if there was a high death rate, I really doubt the rescues would continue doing it.

And there was a reply above about the training vets have, from what I have been told, by the people who investigated this and run the foster agencies we work with, this is true. It is NOT a matter of safety, but a matter of that is what many vets in other countries are used to doing, so that is what they do.