kitten too young for 'the op'?

clur84

Hi I have 2 four month old kittens who are expressing a great interest to go outside, we let them out at the moment under constat supervision just on the front step but I think they would really like to go out for longer, they tear around the house which whilst is funny to watch I jusst think they would get more fun anf freedom outside.

Ideally i want to wait as long as possible but having 1 boy and 1 girl this needs to be done sooner rather than later. I was aiming for last week in feb as i am home all week to look after them and provide after care but they will only be 5 months old then.

Do people think this is too young?

we dont have an enclosed garden and a few naighbourhood cats around.

thanks

lynnemcf

You need to ask your vet. I adopted a kitten from a rescue home and the vet had a "rule" of 6 months old, other vets have a "rule" of 4lbs

gettingready

My 4 kittens are just over 5 months old now and having 2 boys and 2 girls.. I am too looking at having them all done as soon as possible to avoid extending the family (would end up keeping them all LOL)

At last vet visit I was told +/- 6 months, also depending on the weight and as they are all over 2kg in weight (around 4lb) they should be ok so will have them done next week or week after.

lisawood78

We had 2 kittens together many years ago, boy and girl.
At 5 months old (whilst waiting for the 6 month marker), despite watching them vigorously girl had 2 kittens, one was deformed and had to be PTS as it could not feed.
I'd say get them done ASAP (but obviously within vets recommendations) as the danger of them having kittens between them at this young age is quite high.
All IMHO.

picklepick

You should be able to get your boy done as soon as he has the 'bits' there to remove! Sometimes they this can be done from 4 or 5 months.
There's girl spey is much more complicated so my vets only do this from 6 months old.

Make sure you also get them microchipped before you start letting them out alone.

gettingready

O yes, microchipping is best done while thay are unders anestetic while being neutered - good point. It does not hurt them then, it is a pretty big needle after all.. brrrr

spookylukey

My two male cats were done at 5 months with no issues. The six month 'rule' from some vets is a bit silly - what would the vet say if you didn't know when they were born and were guesstimating their age?

The Cat Group (made up of Cats Protection, RSPCA, PDSA, Blue Cross + others) recommends neutering from 4 months.

Traditionally both male and female cats have been neutered at six months old. For social, health and population control reasons, there is a strong case for neutering earlier. People working with feral cats may already be neutering at a much earlier age – often around eight weeks old, but basically when they can catch the kittens as they are unlikely to get a second chance. This is often referred to as ‘early neutering' and is touched upon in this paper. However the main thrust of this statement is aimed at owned and rescue kittens which are going to make pet cats rather than survive in the wild. For this The Cat Group is arguing a case for ‘earlier' neutering at around four months rather than the traditional six months.

http://www.thecatgroup.org.uk/ - click on policy statements on the left.

Sagz_2

Some Vets will do the op from 8 weeks, my own kittens were done at 16 weeks.

Best ask you Vet for advice.

bouncydog1

Our 2 girls and boy were done at 4 months, after we had to remove the brother from one of his sisters, who was very interested!:eek:

We explained the situation to the vets who took them in the very next day and neutered and speyed them all, and also chipped them at the same time.

clur84

Thanks for all the advice, I of course will get them chipped at the same time. Will ring the vet as see what they say.

Thanks again

Waterfalls

at the vets i work at we do the neuterings from 4 months old, and we are finding the surgery much easier to perform (in females). and noticed that both sexes of patients recover alot faster!!