best age to spay/neuter kittens.

[dinky]

Hullo to all on Catsey and Happy New Year to you all from Christchurch, New Zealand. Thanks for making me feel so welcome when I joined a couple of weeks ago. I have a slight problem and was wondering if you could help me. As you may know, I have 5 cats- mum and dad and their 3 kittens that are now 4 months old.( the result of an accidental mating due to my ignorance).Mum and dad have now been spayed and neutered of course, and I am left with 2 male kittens and one female wee one. My vet has refused to spay and neuter them until they are at least 5 months old as they are too small. Granted they are rather small, as their mother, Miracle, refused to feed them and we hand reared them ourselves. I am worried that these babies may mate with each other. I have see one of the males on top of the wee girl and biting her neck but my vet assures me that it would be impossible for them to produce offspring. I do not want to let these babies down , like I did with their mother. Luckily she is fine now, but was only a kitten herself when she had these wee ones.I will not take that chance again with these wee bundles of white fluff. Should I look for another vet or keep the female kitten separate from her brothers for a month?I have been with this vet for a long time and she is excellent with my mastiffs, but I really would like these babies spayed/neutered as soon as possible. What do you think?

[Elaine]

Hi.
I am in disagreement with your vet I am afraid, it is not unheard of for females as young as 4 months to become pregnant.
Generally cats reach sexual maturity between 5 and 9 months, so really, given your circumstances, the sooner the better.
Maybe talk to your vet again about getting the female done first which would take an unwanted pregnancy out of the equation.

[angieh]

Yes, I think that's your best bet at least until the males are big enough to be done. I know there can be a problem if the kits are too small and the tubes difficult to find.

[dinky]

Hullo and thanks to both of you for getting back to me.I will be getting my wee female kitten, Betsy-May, spayed this week.In the meantime, I will keep her apart from her brothers at night for her own safety.I am making an appointment with my vet tomorrow morning. Although she is small, she is very healthy and has been well looked after since her birth so I feel that she will be fine.At least then, her 2 brothers can be neutered when they are a little bigger, as soon as the vet will do them. My cats are indoor only , although they do have a huge compound running the length of the back garden, that they can access via the back conservatory window. . They cannot get out of the compound so the 2 male kittens will be safely kept away from any wandering females anyway..I'll post some pictures of the kitties when I can figure out how to do so. .Many thanks for your help.

[dinky]

Well, wee Betsy-May was spayed this morning and is now home and quite miserable. She is lying beside her mum, Miracle, and has not eaten or drunk anything since last night. Hopefully she will be feeling a little better tomorrow. Don't know what else to do with her except keep her quiet and keep her brothers away from her.Her blood pressure dropped very low during the operation and gave the vet a bit of a fright, but they were watching her closely all the time. AND she was not pregnant so thank goodness.That's one kitten done and the 2 wee male kittens will be neutered as soon as they get bigger.What a relief that there will now be no risk of pregnancy for young Betsy-May and she can look forward to a wonderful gentle life with us.

[alexgirl73]

Oh bless her :) Glad the op went well and the worry of more kittens is gone now. Gentle tummy rubs for Betsy-May x

[angieh]

Poor wee one. Glad op went OK and hopefully she'll feel better tomorrow once the anaesthetic wears off. Hopefully she will have a drink soon.

[yola]

I hope the little one has started to get over her op now., it must have been a relief to have her spayed, but replaced with worrying about her return to full health. x

[PoshPuss]

Cuddles for Betsy-May for being brave and I'm sure she'll be on top form soon. Glad to know the boys will be 'done' soon too. Good on you for being a caring and considerate 'mum'.

[Elaine]

Aw bless her, poor wee toot, but you have done the right thing and am sure once the anesthetic wears off she will want a little something to eat and drink. xxx