Thread: Neutering

Hi Osiris, six months is a perfectly good age for neutering. I think most people on here have their boys done around that age ... El Monto was even neutered at two weeks younger.
I don't know of any issues which would make this age too young. But if you wait too long you run a risk he starts spraying and the neutering won't remedy that.

How did the situation with your boy's paperwork develop? He is getting stunning btw.
Edited to add: Oh, and what name did you give him?

WOW!!!!!He is gorgeous,i do love the brown tabbies!My boy was done yesterday, he is 6 months old.All went fine and was charging round the house the same evening!

Both males look pretty good to me...
I am one of the few on here who doesn't believe having MC's neutered at such a young age,I had one done at 6 months & he is the only one I had a weight problem with or who didn't seem to have his head grow to its full potential,perhaps thats how he was meant to be,will never know now but the others were done at 8 months & over the year,never had smells or problems but seeing more pictures of them on here that were done earlier I have to say it looks as if it doesn't make any difference ......

I had my 2 lads done at 8 and a half months. This was only because Larry started weeing in the house (puddles, not spraying). He was also getting too boisterous in games with his brother, bordering on the aggressive. Monty was showing no such behaviour but I followed the advice to get them both done at the same time. They were fine afterwards, no more messing, and best of friends again.

I agree with Jackie, and I felt I should leave it as long as possible to allow full development. They do take up to 4 years to reach full maturity, after all, which is unlike other cats. I checked with my breeder and she said it's up to you, but as long as you have it done before 12 months, (which is stated in my contract).

I don't like the idea of having them done as very young kittens, even before they leave the breeder. But I suppose there are issues of trust there.

Originally Posted by Howlinbob

I don't like the idea of having them done as very young kittens, even before they leave the breeder. But I suppose there are issues of trust there.

While trust may be an issue, there is also the stress that a fairly new owner goes through having to have surgery on their kitten. If something goes wrong in surgery while the kitten is still with the breeder then there won't be great sorrow for a new owner as well as questions of who pays medical bills and so forth.

We had one male done at 7mos. and he sprayed the wall the day before the surgery (which had already been scheduled). Our older male now was done by breeder and the younger was done at 4mos since he needed to have surgery for something else anyway. My impression is that current consensus among vets is that early neutering doesn't affect growth, but there is still some uncertainty. The older male has a very nice large MC head now, so do not see any obvious effect from early neutering. Of course the opposite concern is that once they become mature they will begin spraying in your house and destroy furniture, etc. Unfortunately you really cannot have any idea whether a cat will tend to spray or not. We were just astonished when our 7mos old out of the blue sprayed a wall. Luckily he didn't have hardly any male urine odor yet because I think we then would have had to have a piece of wall torn out and replaced. As it is, even four years and many cleanings later, a cat will occasionally sniff the wall there! A mature male could potentially do thousands of dollars of damage in no time if he sprayed couches, beds, walls. I would be unwilling to take that risk.

A lovely lad you have there, Osiris.

My breeder recommends neutering boys at 10 months, but after reading the above, I'm beginning to think I might do it earlier.

Originally Posted by Walter Coonkat

My breeder recommends neutering boys at 10 months, but after reading the above, I'm beginning to think I might do it earlier.

Would be curious to find out why 10 months? Seems rather arbitrary. Perhaps you might ask the breeder what the reasoning is behind it.

Somewhat off-topic...I was talking with a guy who's male cat has been coming and bugging our neighbor's small female cat who has been living on our porch for months, and he said, "I think he is neutered." I had to laugh as I told him that he would definitely know if he wasn't (the cat is inside and outside, so uses litter inside). Male cat urine has a level of odor that is difficult to believe.

Lol, yes my dads worried about Osiris spraying. I also have a female spayed cat called Winter, shes coming up to 3 years old and dotes on wee ozzi. I was wondering if it would make a difference to him spraying if she was there.

Also he has started being naughty lately by shredding up toilet rolls and I've discovered this morning that it doesnt matter where it is, he will still shred it!!! Apart from that hes okay, a bit mad when hes playing and can sometimes be rough with Wints but she usually puts him in his place. He's staring up at me right now like butter wouldn't melt.

The other issue is money at the moment. I'm unemployed since August and have been desperately trying to get a job with no avail so I'm wondering if I can even afford to have him neutered at a decent vets or if its something I'll have to save for, which will mean leaving it a few more months. He'll be 7 months at the end of Jan. I'll have to go back and read everyones posts again to weigh up the pro's and con's although I won't be able to show him as my breeder didnt register him and refuses to do so. I've had my struggle there and decided that I just want Osiris to be happy and thats that but I learnt my lesson about bad breeders.

Originally Posted by jckkerrison

I had one done at 6 months & he is the only one I had a weight problem with or who didn't seem to have his head grow to its full potential

Funny you should mention the head Jackie. When visiting our breeders last Saturday I couldn't help noticing all three of their intact boys have huge heads. I remember thinking how they reminded me of tadpoles.