Yes, you do. Kittens can be spayed quite young. I adopted my two female kitties at 8 weeks of age, and the shelter spayed them right before they came home with us. NOW would be a great time.

Yes, some kittens mature early and can get pregnant at 4 mos. Speak with your vet and ask him/her the earliest age at which (s)he will perform a spay. Different vets have different requirements. The only way to assure that your little girl won't get pregnant is to keep her in the house with no outside privileges until she has been spayed.

Laurie

FYI, another reason not to put it off: It's relatively inexpensive and straightforward to spay a cat that has never been pregnant. It's a whole other story to spay one that has had a litter. Learned this the hard way when I adopted a cat at a shelter who had come to them with a litter at around 9 months old. The spaying cost over $300, and the vet explained to me that during pregnancy, the blood supply to the uterus increases significantly, making spaying much more complex and labor-intensive.

She's a great cat, but I might have chosen otherwise had I known about this ahead of time :o) It has been pretty funny to watch her catch mice and bring them (alive) to the 3 Jack Russell Terriers, as if she is still feeding her kittens!

Susan

How much does the kitten weigh? My vet wanted to wait until mine weighed 4 pounds.

Thanks for the info. I'll call the vet today.

I have 2 cats that were wild kittens born to a wild mother, and trapped by an organization that trapped and neutered cats. These 2 were spayed, I think, way too young - they were probably about 4 weeks old, and only a pound and a half. That's the minimum size this organization spayed, and actually insisted on spaying. One of the cats developed an infection in the incision, but recovered. Other than that, they are, at a year a third, doing well now. I had a cat once, years ago, that managed to get pregnant at less than 6 months old. Her pregnancy ended very badly, with the kittens all dying inside her womb, and her developing a high fever and infection. We had to take her to the emergency vet, since this happened, of course, on the weekend. She survived, but was never the same after that, and died at a fairly young age. This all happened before I knew much about cats.

One thing, though, is that I've never heard of a vet charging more for spaying a cat after it's had kittens than before it's ever been pregnant. I'm very suspicious of that. Years ago, I worked for a vet, and that was never an issue. If a cat's pregnant at the time of spaying, it costs more, but if it's a cat that has been pregnant, but is not currently pregnant, there shouldn't be any extra charge. I've fostered cats, too, and had them spayed, and not been charged extra, even when I had a cat spayed that was just weaning her kittens. In fact, I was able to use a reduced fee coupon for the spay, which a local shelter provides.

Sally

We adopted 3 kittens about 2 years ago now. All 3 were neutered when we got them (10-12 weeks), we could still see the pale scar on the little girls.

Do it now!

Our vet said 5 pounds of cat or 6 months. Guess her days of gardening are over until November's surgery. She's a totally indoor kitty now even if I am outside with her.

According to the American College of Veterinary Medicine, it's ok to spay/neuter at 2.2 lbs or 8 wks old. For males, it is when both testicals have descended (which about that time as well).

Our shelter did them at that, and all kittens were weighed before being sent to the vet if adopted. However, no kitten not old enough (or weighing enough) to be fixed *first* was ever adopted out.

It's sort of akin to humans actually. Though a bit of an "indelicate" subject, it's rather like this... I'm sure we all knew a girl or two in school who started her period when she was 9 or 10 rather than the average 12 year old. Same with cats and dogs. Not every animal comes into heat at 6 months old -- that's why shelters see so many pregnant 4 or 5 month old cats and dogs, and why some animals don't come into heat as early as 6 months old at all. It is however a huge reason why us shelter folk push safe pediatric spays. We simply see the consequences far too often of "early bloomers".

I have a 5 1/2 month old tortie who is energetic, sweet and totally trusting. Had her now since Thanksgiving. She is scheduled to be spayed (and get rabies shot) tomorrow. I am having second thoughts. Just nervous her personality will change, her recovery will be difficult. Not sure how best to keep her comfortable when recovering either. We have a 3-story house (litter box in basement); then 1st floor is where we "live" most; and we sleep upstairs. She travels all of it with us all day. Dog is usually just first floor. They look out for each other though sometimes the dog is a little pushy. Not sure how to keep her after the surgery - from hurting herself. Bring up the box and put her in one room for a day or more or what. She is running around now. Hate to see things change for her - but also trying to keep her safe. She is anxious to go out and I know in the Spring it will be hard to keep her in. Other cats abound so this seems to be the best thing to do. Your input here really helps. Anyone have personality or after-care problems with a kitten? Thanks.....

The recommendations used to be six months and that's when mine were done but in the last years when I adopted thru rescue groups and rescued my own they were "done" at an earlier age..both sexes. I think it was the five pound weight. It makes a nicer pet ..mellows them out. But then i have never had an unneutered animal. ..I would confine the kitten to a room w/ food and litter and water for a day or two . She shouldn't be running up stairs for a day or so. But they they usually just want to rest.

I didn't notice much of a personality change in my calico. She was a handful before her spay, and a handful after. She did eventually mellow out around a year old, but I'm not sure if that was due to age, or the spay. However, her personality didn't change one bit.

You don't have to confine her, unless you notice her trying to jump up or off of a lot of things, or doing the stairs a lot. Generally these things are too hard for them to do for the first day or two, so they won't even try...but if she does, you may want to confine her. However, when I confined my rescue, I had problems with her licking her wounds, and I think it was because she was mostly bored. But she had to be confined since she had a cold she could spread to my other cats. Also, she was new, so we didnt want to introduce her right away.

I've never noticed a personality change with any of our cats or our one dog, whether male or female, whether weeks old or months or adult. (We've taken in 7 rescues over the years.)

Our latest addition is scheduled for spaying (+ microchip while she's out) next week & we plan to keep her in a smaller space & pamper her for 2-3 days, as suggested by the vet. munkos makes a good point about bored animals picking at stitches! So far, our spayed friends have been pretty tired for a bit after surgery. Then they bounce back to normal.

I've read some interestihng stats on the lifelong good health effect of spaying/neutering. Thumbs up all around, good for the cat (& dog) community, good for the individual animal. And I sure wouldn't want to deal with a cat in heat! Years ago I adopted a stray dog that had to double her weight before our vet would spay (she suffered from malnutrion) & I endured her first heat while living in Manhattan & walking her seveeral times a day. Oh my! Once we were trapped in a phone booth while I frantically called my man to come with reinforcements to rescue us. I learned there are many strays in the big city & being in heat is a powerful thing.

BTW, it's easier on the animal, and less expensive, to spay before that first heat.

I just last month had my 15 week old kittens spayed and nutered. The hard part for me is when they come out of the drugs because they seem to have such bad dreams.

All three of my cats were altered at 8-10 weeks, three different vets, with no problems. 6 months is WAY too long to wait, and younger kitties bounce back from surgery quicker.

Shelters and clinics will spay/neuter at 8 weeks and 2 pounds. Their goal is to get all pets sterilized, earlier the better for controlling populations. My vet says wait until 16 weeks (4 months). Male kittens neutered too young can develop life-long complications. Our family pet suffered from urinary tract issues that were attributed to being neutered too young. Females seem to do better with their type of surgery.

I've had cats and kittens all my life and usually spay them around 6 months. Imagine my horror when I entered the kitchen just now and discovered a couple of litter mates that we rescued trying to have a little "play time" with their sister. They aren't quite 4 months old yet. She doesn't appear to be in heat, but apparently they know something I don't. She's gonna be mad since she loves to play outside during the day. Poor baby. She's going to have to have to hang out in another room by herself for a few days I guess. I hope the vet can get her in soon!