4mth kittens will mate??

chupi · Dec 21, 2005

Hi all - I have 3 kittens, 2 male and 1 female. They are siblings. They fight and play a lot, however I noticed 1 of the males (the bigger one) grabbing the female at the back of the neck - I think it was in play as he didn't try to do anything else at the time. But anyway, I'm in the UK, and I think we don't spay or neuter cats til they are 6mths old, so what can I do in the meantime if they really do start trying to mate with her??

Oh, and does anyone know how I can insert an image in my sig??

tnr1 · Dec 21, 2005

Originally Posted by chupi

Hi all - I have 3 kittens, 2 male and 1 female. They are siblings. They fight and play a lot, however I noticed 1 of the males (the bigger one) grabbing the female at the back of the neck - I think it was in play as he didn't try to do anything else at the time. But anyway, I'm in the UK, and I think we don't spay or neuter cats til they are 6mths old, so what can I do in the meantime if they really do start trying to mate with her??

Oh, and does anyone know how I can insert an image in my sig??

Is there any way that you can get the males fixed BEFORE 6 months? I had my male fixed at 5 months. The only other thing you can do is to keep the males and females seperate unless you are supervising them. I have read of cats getting pregnant as early as 4 months of age.

Katie

dragonlady · Dec 21, 2005

If the female isn't in heat you will have time to work out what to do. Have you talked to your vet? they can tell you one way or the other what age is best. You might want to seperate them until after the surgery.

maverick_kitten · Dec 21, 2005

i got my male fixed at four months.

maybe speak to your vet and ask them if it possible to get early neutering?

hissy · Dec 21, 2005

They are being typical kittens with dominance behavior, and it may be if you wait to get them spayed, the females might already be pregnant by 6 months. I have had this happen twice to me in rescued litters, and I just went ahead with the spay anyway. There are vets that spay earlier than 6 months.

chupi · Dec 21, 2005

Hi - I haven't checked with my vet yet, but I will ask. It will be really difficult to separate them as our house in fairly open plan - is there any chance the girl could get pregnant if shes not on heat (ie forced to mate)?

smokiethecat · Dec 21, 2005

AAARRGGHHHH I have a male and female that are four months old. They'd better not mature/come into heat before I get them fixed next month!!!!I really don't have any advice....sorry...other than trying to get them spayed neutered ASAP!.

jennyr · Dec 22, 2005

Most UK vets will neuter males earlier so I would ask asap.

jen · Dec 26, 2005

my cats are spayed or neutered at 8-12 weeks, ask around and if you tell the vet your situation they may do it sooner. Plus if she does come into heat and you have them both done, he can still get her pregnant for a couple weeks until it is all out of his system. That is another reason to do it earlier because then you don't have to worry about anything like that.

booktigger · Dec 27, 2005

My friend had a brother and sister, so her vet recommended they were done at 5 months - she asked them to wait till 5 1/2. So it is done, and prob more so when you have a male and a female. And there are a few vets that will spay at 8 weeks (one of the local rescues do that)

bengalsmum · Jan 4, 2006

hi there,
Im also in the UK, Yorkshire, and the vet said we could take simba in for neutering at 5 months, but they would need to check he is big enough first, so book yours in for a check up with the vet and they should advise you when they will be ready.

leesali · Jan 4, 2006

I have 3 little ones also...2 males and 1 female.

The males little nuggets

have dropped at now at 5-months they are scheduled this coming Monday for neuter. My little Elsie is 4-months and will have her spayed next month.

Have definitely noticed aggressive behavior on the part of my little boys...it is time!!

chupi · Jan 4, 2006

Thanks - I think my boys are a little on the small side actually - I am taking them in this month, hopefully they will be ok for the op.

Does anyone know the effect early neutering (ie before adolescence) will have on their growth? Will they be as big as they would have been if we'd waited til they were fully grown (though this is impossible because of their sister plus they'll be outside cats)? I read somewhere that they don't develop a 'shield' around the face so their faces look more feminine...?

tnr1 · Jan 4, 2006

The following report gives good information regarding early age spaying/neutering:

http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/repo...ly-neuter.html

Katie

semiferal · Jan 4, 2006

Originally Posted by chupi

Thanks - I think my boys are a little on the small side actually - I am taking them in this month, hopefully they will be ok for the op.

Does anyone know the effect early neutering (ie before adolescence) will have on their growth? Will they be as big as they would have been if we'd waited til they were fully grown (though this is impossible because of their sister plus they'll be outside cats)? I read somewhere that they don't develop a 'shield' around the face so their faces look more feminine...?

Actually, animals neutered before puberty end up larger - longer and taller - than those neutered later. However, there is no real difference here between neutering at 2 months vs. 6 months since most (but not all!) cats are still pre-pubescent at 6 months. So in terms of physical characteristics, there are no long term differences between early age vs. "tradition" age neutering.

The reason for this is because exposure to higher levels of estrogen or testosterone is what stimulates the growth plates to close. This is the same reason why (human) girls only grow about another inch after their first menstrual cycle. Animals who have their gonads removed before puberty never have the exposure to high levels of sex hormones so they grow a bit larger than they are otherwise genetically programmed to be.

Males who are unneutered until about age 2 grow large jowls. This is one of the last physical signs of sexual maturity, though they are capable of mating for over a year prior to that point. To put it mildly, it is an extremely bad idea to let a pet cat go unneutered until age 2. The big-headed boys are handsome but it is in no way worth the trade-off.

semiferal · Jan 4, 2006

Originally Posted by chupi

Thanks - I think my boys are a little on the small side actually - I am taking them in this month, hopefully they will be ok for the op.

Does anyone know the effect early neutering (ie before adolescence) will have on their growth? Will they be as big as they would have been if we'd waited til they were fully grown (though this is impossible because of their sister plus they'll be outside cats)? I read somewhere that they don't develop a 'shield' around the face so their faces look more feminine...?

Actually, animals neutered before puberty end up a bit larger - longer and taller - than those neutered later. However, there is no real difference here between neutering at 2 months vs. 6 months since most (but not all!) cats are still pre-pubescent at 6 months. So in terms of physical characteristics, there are no long term differences between early age vs. "traditional" age neutering.

The reason for this is because exposure to higher levels of estrogen or testosterone is what stimulates the growth plates to close. This is the same reason why (human) girls only grow about another inch after their first menstrual cycle. Animals who have their gonads removed before puberty never have the exposure to high levels of sex hormones so they grow a bit larger than they are otherwise genetically programmed to be.

Males who are unneutered until about age 2 grow large jowls. This is one of the last physical signs of sexual maturity, though they are capable of mating for over a year prior to that point. To put it mildly, it is not in your cat's best interests to remain unneutered until age 2. The big-headed boys are handsome but it is in no way worth the trade-off.

obi · Jan 8, 2006

semiferal said:
The reason for this is because exposure to higher levels of estrogen or testosterone is what stimulates the growth plates to close. This is the same reason why (human) girls only grow about another inch after their first menstrual cycle.QUOTE]
Not to get off topic, but the average girl in the U.S. has their first period at around 12 years old, so they certainly DO grow much more than an inch after that! LOL!

fluffysimba · Jan 11, 2006

My male persian already knows what the female kitty in the house is for. *sigh* She doesn't have a clue but he's already wishing.

gayef · Jan 11, 2006

Be real careful with that Fluffysimba ... your female does NOT need to be in heat to become pregnant.

semiferal · Jan 11, 2006

Originally Posted by Obi

Not to get off topic, but the average girl in the U.S. has their first period at around 12 years old, so they certainly DO grow much more than an inch after that! LOL!

I don't think so, actually. I didn't grow at all after age 12 and neither did any of my friends. The boys kept growing for a few more years but the girls were done growing by about the 8th grade.

4mth kittens will mate??

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