To nueter or not?

[artgecko]

I guess I'm another voice "in the chorus"...

I've got two brother kittens, (18 months now) that were neutered at ~ 14 weeks old. One is taller/lankier and about 13 lbs. The other is "cobbier", but doesn't have the massive head of a tom (still has a "round" head) he's about 15lbs now and they're not done growing yet

I have had none of the male-associated behavior problems with them...no agresion, no wanting to "bolt" out the door to escape. No major fighting, no sparying/mounting behavior.

My cat from the shelter on the other hand (assume he was neutered as an adult, or at least past when the hormones kicked in)... He has a larger head, but.... He tries to bite/mount the other cats and can be quite agressive with them, he tries to bolt outside. I have been lucky that he hasn't sprayed inside though (crossing my fingers). Because of the difference in his behavior and the other cats, I can only assume that he acts the way he does due to being neutered later.

IMO, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages... I believe the number one reason for cats getting turned in to shelters is spraying / improper urination, so please consider whether or not you'd be able to tolerate that...as the odds of an intact male spraying are probably 99.9%. I've had to clean up pee spots from my cats UTI before...and believe me, even with a good cleaner (and considering that altered cat pee doesn't stink like intact male pee) it has been awful trying to get it out. I'm about given up on my futon cover...

If I were you, I'd get the kitten neutered, and if you really, really want a cat that looks like a tom...go to your local shelter and get a neutered adult male...but make sure you ask specifically if he will spray inside and/or be agressive with the other cats. Also, getting even a kitten with a rounder head and wider muzzle will give you at least a better chance of getting an adult with a larger head.

HTH,
Art

 

[laureen227]

btw, funny 'big head' story - took Pixel & Firefox in for vaxes last week [they're quite disparate in size - Pixel weighs around 13 pounds, Firefox about 1/2 that] & the vet tech commented on Pixel's head size - asked if she'd been neutered! i said yes, & then she said, "well, it must've been late in life" to which i responded, "not really - she was 4 months old"... & then the tech said, "she's a girl?"

it was on her form that she was female! poor Pixel - i guess she's just too masculine!

anyway, head size doesn't depend on when the cat's fixed [or, evidently, even on gender!] - but on the genetic inheritance of the cat.

 

[mimosa]

Neutered cats often get bigger than cats that are not neutered. That is because their long bones, like in their legs, grow as long as the growth plates on the end of the bone are open. Neutering delays the closing of the growth plates. (I have been to a lecture by an orthopedic surgeon for cats and he found that this can cause fractures in large cat breeds, but he said you'd otherwise have to delay neutering until 1.5 years of age and he strongly advised against that for the reasons stated by other posters.)

So your cat will not be stunted in his growth. Neutered cats truly make better pets, did you know that cats that were not neutered are for more likely to end up in a shelter ? Either because they tend to roam and get lost or because their behaviour is difficult to live with.

 

[baloneysmom]

O…M…G get him neutered. I donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t know if yall remember the stray (thought he was a stray, turned out he was just a neglected cat with a crappy owner) I took in. He wasnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t neutered. He didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t even spray, he was a good boy… but oh gosh!! His urine smelled so bad! We had him in the back of the house, in a room with the door closed and you could smell it all the way from the front door…even the front porch… I remember chatting with my neighbor on the porch... outside! and him asking me what the hell that nasty smell was lol. He didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t even spray…it was just when he went pee in his litter.

 

[cococat]

It is a great idea to alter your male kitten. He will be a pet pet and a better companion to you for many years to come.