Is it true that waiting to neuter/spay a cat defines them more as their gender type?

xxpunkkittenxx

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My boss tells me that the reason why he has yet to neuter our 5 month old hospital kitten is becasue he wants his gender type to define him first... he wants a manly cat before he "snips" him. I agree that unneutered cats are flashy and handsome specimens, but he has such a big head... he constantly "goes" in corners like a ferret, and walks up to dogs like TOP CAT when they are walking into exam rooms, down the hall, out the door, in the door, etc... he doesn't care and is constantly everywhere! IS THIS TRUE!?
 
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xxpunkkittenxx

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my cat Tai was neutered at about 8 or 9 months of age and looks like a male cat, and my Munchkin was spayed at 10 months of age... i had to save up the money for both... they look like their genders... especially Munchy, who is a ROYAL PAIN IN THE BOTTOM! Tai is very social and socialized though, and never fights or growls at anyone... unless it is for play or at the random moth that flew into the house...
 

arlyn

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In truth, the only thing (visually) I've ever seen different on an unaltered tom was jowls, and I think it takes 2-3 years for them to develop.

But really, who cares about the 'manliness' of a cat's appearance, the animal's health should come first, as well as controlling the population and preventing spraying before it ever starts.
I can tell you from experience, once a tom starts spraying, neutering certainly does not guarantee an end to the behavior.
 

tru

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I think your Boss is acting more on his own inner issues about emasculation than on common sense about neutering your hospital kitten.

I guess the benefits he wants from a cat not being neutered young are...territorial issues, spraying all over, aggressiveness and fighting, mating and causing more possibly homeless kittens and also the possibility of testicular cancer.

Is that the kind of "manliness" he is after?
 

zissou'smom

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My sister has two male cats. One was neutered at five weeks, the other sometime between one and three years (he was stray).

There is no difference in the manliness of the two. They have very different personalities, but they're both boys. IMO, the personality differences come from one being always an indoor cat, and the other having a few years on the streets first. The pediatric neuter looks more like a tom cat than the other one, and is substantially bigger.

My little girl was spayed around when she was about to go into heat, at five months or so. She acts very feminine, very dainty, and she's very small. People are astonished that she's over a year old, and she weighs about as much a a gallon of milk.

Honestly, I don't think gender has much to do with sex hormones. Women who have had total hysterectomies are still women, right? Men who have lost their testicles to cancer are still men, right?

Maybe the vet is having some issues about himself (as has been suggested)... I'd think a vet would know better. Even so, he can wait a month if he wants to and it's still the normal time. If he doesn't want to despite all the obvious problems it's causing, don't push it. Hopefully we can assume that the little guy won't knock up any of the girl cats, with you there to keep a watchful eye!
 

booktigger

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i know that cats have jowls and bigger heads if neutered late, and some people really like that look, but i wouldn't want to wait till a cat was a few years old to get that look.
 

krazy kat2

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My Leo was neutered at 4 months old, and he was a very masculine looking cat. He had a huge head, huge paws, and weighed 22 lbs, very little of it fat.
 

deni

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Both my cats were neutered at 5 1/2 months, to me they seem normal size, but everyone who sees them thinks they are huge, they are not fat, Macavity the tabby slob has a large head with huge jowls, Roly whilst smaller is still a long cat, when they stand on their hind legs they easily reach the kitchen counter! 6 months would appear to be the average for neutering, I don't believe it affects their gender persay. Cats like people come in different sizes.
 

nelle

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I've adopted strays that were snipped at 3 months and a few that were not neutered until they were several years old. I was fortunate that the spraying behavior did not continue (if it ever was there) with the 2 older boys. They are both very sweet, docile, but look like tomcats. It's not a look that I think is especially to be desired, it just is what it is.

On the other hand, the early neuters are hardly effeminate looking, or acting!


I'd think the plusses and minusses are way on the side of, "why wait?"
 

lionessrampant

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Raphael was neutered at about 9 months-1 year old (he was a street cat until then) and Leo was neutered....well, I actually have no idea when he was neutered (it was prior to him being dumped). Gracie was neutered shortly before Hurricane Katrina hit...she still had her spay stitches in when she was rescued in late October and is estimated to have been between 8 and 18 months when she was rescued. (If I was really curious, I could call her former owner and ask, but that would reallllly cross a lot of lines.)

Anyway, they all act about the same in terms of "gender". I really don't think cats internally conceptualize gender like we humans do- and gender identification in humans is a much more complicated a fluid thing than most people realize. Cats are not as complex in their contructions, methinks, and they pretty much just operate as their hormones tell them to.

So my conclusion is this: waiting to get a cat neutered probably won't have any effect on how they ID in terms of gender. What waiting to get a cat neutered WILL do is have the potential to create more litters of unwanted kittens. The moral of teh story? Get them in for the proceedure as soon as you possibly can!
 

jen

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Sounds like your vet has some inner issues as mentioned earlier...
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by Jen

Sounds like your vet has some inner issues as mentioned earlier...
I agree ... I have had a few males all fixed by age 8 months and none were any less masculine
 

jen

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my male cat Da-Ku was neutered at 8 weeks old. He is the hugest cat I have ever seen. And full. He has a little pooch on his belly of chub but all around her is not fat, just a big guy.
 

hopehacker

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Well, I had my Simba boy neutered at 4 1/2 months. He's not big or burley, he is slender and sleak. But he is ALL boy. In fact he reminds me of the naughty boy in school who would always sit behind a girl and pull her pigtails just to get a rise out of her. Not only that, but he is constanty trying to Mount my female spayed cat, SunLee. I don't think Simba has any gender issues at all.
 

dawnofsierra

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Originally Posted by tru

I think your Boss is acting more on his own inner issues about emasculation than on common sense about neutering your hospital kitten.

I guess the benefits he wants from a cat not being neutered young are...territorial issues, spraying all over, aggressiveness and fighting, mating and causing more possibly homeless kittens and also the possibility of testicular cancer.

Is that the kind of "manliness" he is after?
Perfectly stated, my thoughts exactly!
 

shengmei

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I personally am not too crazy about big, late-neutered tomcats. They always look like their heads are too big. LOL.
 
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xxpunkkittenxx

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Correction to post! We neutered hi m yesterday... he is soo much better!!! he is less frisky and stuff... i guess we just didn't have the time to do it before... but i am happy now!!! LOL and yes! Cats heads do get bigger!!! its soo funny!!! LOL
 
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