Fertile Age

What age is it when a female cat is able to have kittens?

A male?

I'm just curious because we have decided to keep Nox. The female kitten I had found.

And well, I already have a male kitten named Tritan. I was told to wait till they're about 6 months to have them fixed.

Females can get pregnant as early as 4 months. You can get them fixed before 6 months, they can be done at 2lbs/8 weeks.

Just a warning... we were told that we could wait until Ziggy (our male) was 6-8 months to get him neutered and he wouldn't be fertile yet. We waited until 7 months.

And now, Sneakers, our unspayed female (that we thought would be safe) is probably preggers (and we JUST got Ziggy fixed)!!

I have heard that as long as it isn't super early (like the first two or three months), then it doesn't matter. How old is your girl kitty? I bet it's safe to get her spayed. Call up a vet tomorrow and see what they say.

Okay then, what about males? When are they able to reproduce?

And thanks for the reply!

Originally Posted by Shia

What age is it when a female cat is able to have kittens?

A male?

I'm just curious because we have decided to keep Nox. The female kitten I had found.

And well, I already have a male kitten named Tritan. I was told to wait till they're about 6 months to have them fixed.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't wait that long....females can become pregnant as early as 4 months of age. I had my boy fixed at 5 months and my girl fixed at 6 months.

Katie

A female can become pregnant as early as 4 months of age, even if they have not experienced estrus. Males are fertile at about 5 to 7 months of age, but some have been known to mature earlier.

While waiting until 6 months of age is recommended by a lot of folks, I would check with your vet to see when he/she is comfortable with it. Some will tell you as long as the kitten is of a certain weight and size, they will alter. Check around locally with vets and if you need assistance finding a low- or no-cost clinic, let us know where you are and perhaps we can help you find one which suits your needs.

Nox (my girl) is around 5 weeks old. We are still getting her healthy again. She has a vet appointment next week. My friend got us in as early as she could.

Tritan(my boy) is around 7 weeks old. We got him directly from the breeder.

I would recommend spaying and neutering around 10-12 weeks old. While it may be "rare", I have had a few female kittens come in heat as early as 4 months.
I also had a 6 month old male become sexually mature, and bred a litter of kittens. It was a pure breeding, but still an oops.
I do believe that pediatric spaying and neutering will start becoming more widespread. There are becoming more and more vets in my area who are becoming more familiar with the protocols for anestesia and such. There is also more and more research being offered that shows the benefits for early altering, proving many of the old theories wrong.
If your vet doesn't feel comfortable though, I wouldn't press it, he may not feel comfortable with early alter, and that should be his decision. I would try to get it done at the earliest that he will perform a spay or neuter. There is a lot of accredited research on pediatric spay and neutering, that you can find by googling. My favorite articles being with The Winn Feline Foundation and Dr. Susan Little.
My vet will perform at 2 lbs and 8 weeks, but we typically do it at 10-11 weeks old, and they go home at 12 weeks old. They are also 3+ pounds by then.
I do also believe that certain anesthetics can cause problems in young cats, I would get your vets opinion as to what he is comfortable using, and if he has ever had problems using it with young kittens.

My vet does her work from her own house. She turned half of her house into an office. She's the one who fixed my dogs. I'm going to talk to her about it when I take Nox to get checked out. Thanks for all the help! I love kittens. I had litters before with little to no complications, it's just I never had a male and female at a young age. I don't want a kitten having kittens.

Originally Posted by Shia

Okay then, what about males? When are they able to reproduce?

And thanks for the reply!

Click to expand...

I was told not until 6 or 8 months, so I guess Ziggy was very early or on the early end of of the spectrum... but from what I've read, that's still the normal age given. Sometimes 5 months is included for males.

Originally Posted by FamilytimeRags

I also had a 6 month old male become sexually mature, and bred a litter of kittens.

Click to expand...

Like Ziggy? I'm glad to hear you bring it up that way, because it makes me feel a little better knowing that we weren't sold a bill of goods by a vet who didn't want to do one earlier... and that perhaps Ziggy was way early compared to the average.

Do cats of wild ancestry mature faster? We found out Ziggy is part Savannah, which is part African Serval. (The people who gave him to us said they caught the dad and got him scanned for a chip...he was a stud from a Savannah breeding program around here).

Sissy went into heat a few times before Buddy got it right. The first couple of times he did not know what to do and after that, he wasn't very good at it. He would let go and Sissy would just crawl away. So it was over a year before Sissy got pregnant. We did want them to mate and got Buddy fixed after the kittens were born. Sissy was spayed when the kittens were 8-9 weeks. We have gotten Scamper and Princess fixed at 7 months and we just need to get Stinker spayed now. She has yet to go into heat (she was the runt) We will get her done as soon as the money is available.

Depending on when they are born, you can have females come into first heat at 4-5 months and get pregnant! Most come in around 6-8 but its spring and it will trigger heat cycles.

I'd get her done as soon as possible so you don't have an "accident" litter!

Males can breed at 5 months - I know a siamese breeder who was letting her male 5 month old run with adult females thinking he didn't know what to do....well he was a daddy at 7 months

My Skittles is a yr old and pregnant. I never noticed a heat from her till I brought her inside one night she wanted out. That was her last trip out she is do anytime now... You might never notice a heat. Better to fix ASAP...