Our Dylan was spayed by the SPCA the day before we met him, at eight weeks. At the time, we didn't know enough to even question whether that would affect his development.
But rather than being smaller than normal, Dylan has grown into a huge, lanky cat, so heavily muscled that he moves with the ponderous grace of a lion. He weighs about 18 pounds, and he's mostly a great big mush who climbs into Mom's lap during the evening news and sleeps sprawled on his back in the middle of the floor... but of all our cats, he's also the one who is the most "wild" -- the one who can genuinely frighten you if something upsets him. He rarely gets angry, but when he does, he's capable of real violence. We all know to back off if Dylan snarls.
Whether all of this has anything to do with his pediatric neuter, I don't know -- but it has always been my suspicion that he has a lot more testosterone than a neutered kitty should!
All of our other kitties were neutered between four and six months, except for Abby, who came to us at almost two years old, after having a litter of five (one of whom was my Clydie). They're all at least ten-pound kitties, but smaller than Dylan -- and none of them are wildcats like Dylan, either. I don't know whether that means anything or not, but it's always made me wonder about the efficacy of pediatric neutering.
But rather than being smaller than normal, Dylan has grown into a huge, lanky cat, so heavily muscled that he moves with the ponderous grace of a lion. He weighs about 18 pounds, and he's mostly a great big mush who climbs into Mom's lap during the evening news and sleeps sprawled on his back in the middle of the floor... but of all our cats, he's also the one who is the most "wild" -- the one who can genuinely frighten you if something upsets him. He rarely gets angry, but when he does, he's capable of real violence. We all know to back off if Dylan snarls.
Whether all of this has anything to do with his pediatric neuter, I don't know -- but it has always been my suspicion that he has a lot more testosterone than a neutered kitty should!
All of our other kitties were neutered between four and six months, except for Abby, who came to us at almost two years old, after having a litter of five (one of whom was my Clydie). They're all at least ten-pound kitties, but smaller than Dylan -- and none of them are wildcats like Dylan, either. I don't know whether that means anything or not, but it's always made me wonder about the efficacy of pediatric neutering.
