Neutering your pets.. aka.. My vet tricked me

My vet used to endorse early neutering of cats & dogs.. I had Sweetie Pie, Marvin & Chinny neutered at 4 months of age.. They are all "normal sized" cats.. Chinny & Marvin are kind of lanky & small, but that's just the way their mother was too.. All my previous cats have been neutered early, except for Willie.. He was so sickly when we took him in, that it took me months to get him healthy..

He is a HUNK...

When I wanted to get Sara spayed and Sammy neutered, the vet said that she had changed her policy on neutering.. She prefers to neuter at 7 or 8 months.. She gave in on Sara because that rascal came into heat at 5 months..

Sammy was neutered at 8 months and he is ENORMOUS.. He has so much muscle on him, and legs like tree trunks.. He's in proportion, but geeeez.. I kind of like the little bitty puny kitties... escpecally since mine like to sit on my shoulders..

Sammy must weigh 15 lbs, and he's not full grown yet..(born..Mar24)

The vet says that they "do better" when they are sexually mature when they are neutered.. I always wanted them altered BEFORE they "got naughty ideas" in their little pea-brains..

Anyone else get resistance on early neutering?? Is this a new standard that I never heard about??

I had two enormous male cats who were both neutered young (5 - 6 months I'm estimating). The only part that doesn't seem to grow is the jowl area on a fixed male cat.

When I took Pad Thai in at 5 months they didn't want to neuter him that young but I told him that my female cat at home already hated the sight of him and I better get him neutered before she killed him. So they did.

He's big now too, for a Siamese and grew a lot after I had him fixed.

Females should be spayed after they come into heat the first time (about 5 months for both of mine). Otherwise they're just in misery, I don't care what the vets say.

I'm with you - get them fixed early so they don't spray and do all kinds of bad cat behavior.

To my knowledge, most vets want to neuter or spay as early as possible.

musclature(sp) and in males they don't have urinary tract issues later in life if they are mature when neutered..:shrug:..

All I know is that my little Sammy Wammy is a big ole Bubba who is now crushing my clavicle when he lounges on me :(

Neutering is to prevent mating-realted behavior and especially to prevent unwanted kittens, it's not intended to control the size or growth of the pet.

That said, your vet's stance is news to me, and I'd always assumed females should ideally be spayed before they ever go into heat.

says to neuter at 7 to 9 months - to do so too soon isn't good. The exception being feral cats. He will do those earlier because the chances of "catching" them again may not be good.

and it took growing up with a Zoologist for a father to know that!

HOWEVER, when llamas are neutered too young, the growth plates on the long bones don't close over properly, so the long bones (legs) tend to grow unusually long. Suspicions are that that leads to early onset of arthritis.

Whether there is any similar phenomonon in cats, I have not a clue. Have you asked your vet for an explanation other than that "they do better?"



on edit: oh, I see you did get a bit more of an explanation... Cats are living a lot longer these days, with improved health care and dedication of owners, so we're still learning the long term implications of a lot of what we do.

I like getting them neutered late. I think they are calmer and healthier.

... she's an AKC ShihTzu and at the time of her surgery, she weighed about 8 or 9 pounds. It took her two days before she felt well enough to voluntarily get out of her bed and start playing.

When I was trying to adopt a pet from the shelter, they told me that even the YOUNGEST adopted kittens and puppies had to be neutered BEFORE taking them home. (Apparently this wasn't always the case. In the past, even though the surgeries were paid for in advance, some folks weren't following through with their promise to have the rescued animals neutered.)

-- Allen

You "pay" $65.00 for the free pet, but $45.00 is a certificate for a "free spay/neuter".. All the local vets accept is in payment ..

That way no one "forgets"..

If the animal is already neutered, you pay only $20.. and that includes all the shots.., so it ends up being free and neutered..:)

but too many folks never redeemed their "free" neutering coupon. Even though they had paid in advance, they never bothered... result: more unwanted animals.

It's a shame that they have to do it so young. So many risks on such tiny and fragile little bodies. It's heartbreaking.

-- Allen

more grown up.

A study recently published by researchers at the University of Florida found no significant differences in the physical and behavioral health of cats altered at 7 weeks of age compared to those altered at 7 months of age.
We neuter/spay as early as seven weeks and ALWAYS before
sixteen weeks.

This is a new policy in just the last 6 or 7 months..

I guess as long as they are healthy and kitten-free, that's what's important.. I just wish he had stayed smaller :)

if you wait until after the cat starts spraying, it will continue to spray even AFTER neuter/spay out of habit.

I think I would have had to find a new home for them if they ever did.. I had a friend whose cat sprayed.. NOTHING takes the smell away..:(

My "boys" scrap with each other, but no one ever gets hurt, and they don'y use claws, but no spraying allowed :)

and they neutered them all VERY young - like before 10 weeks. My 3 year old is a MOOSE! He's huge - tall, long, muscular and solid. My two younger ones (7 and 5 months) are both growing nicely. They're all great cats.

was neutered at 5 months. He was seriously screwed up and had awful behavior problems. His brother was neutered at age one and is the best behaved dog I've ever had.

BTW, dog #1-Chip, died just short of 11 months-got in to baker's chocolate. This was a seriously out-of-control puppy.

A cat that my Grandmother gave my Mom suddenly decided she was lonely after she spotted a Tom cattin' around. She was a very quiet kittten until that night and the next seven.

Needless to say, she was "fixed" at the first available opportunity.

it will minimize the psycho / physical trauma