What Age Do Kittens Have To Be Neutered
If you bathe your cat don t wash him for at least two weeks after the operation so the incision can completely heal.
What age do kittens have to be neutered. If their mother returns leave them be. Recovery for kittens is usually minimal your boy may not realize he s missing anything and he s home from surgery the same day. Thus the best age for a kitten to get neutered or spayed is before it reaches the age of 6 months. In general a kitten that is two months old should weigh approximately two pounds as long as it has had proper nutrition and care.
Learn more about kittens and their needs as they grow in our kitten guide. Our report tackling the cat crisis. Kittens can be neutered as soon as they are man enough meaning that both testicles have descended. In order to prevent unwanted pregnancies it s recommended that cats are neutered at around four months old after they have completed their primary vaccinations.
If you want to get your kitten spayed or neutered when it is two months old then look for signs that it is that age. It needn t be an early neuter. You can safely have a male kitten neutered at eight weeks of age if your veterinarian determines the cat is sufficiently healthy. Two pounds is the weight that is required for your kitten to get desexing surgery.
There are three general options. This means they are now fully capable of reproduction. As a vet who has done thousands of spays and neuters i still perform them at five months of age. Learn what to do when you find kittens outdoors.
Traditionally male cats were neutered between the ages of six to eight months old and it was not considered appropriate for them to be neutered before this time due to concerns that they were potentially too small or not fully developed. Really any opportune time between. What age can cats be neutered. Since one of the inherent aims of neutering is to induce infertility or sterility in the cat neutering should be done before the kitten achieves full sexual maturity.
You can find out more about what cpcg are doing and access a database of vets who will neuter cats under four months old on the kitten neutering database website. If you don t see her monitor the kittens from a distance for a few hours. Becky robinson the founder of alley cat allies cites research that kittens neutered prior to reaching 12 weeks of age have fewer complications from surgery than kittens older than 12 weeks. A collaborative approach to neutering pdf 2 73mb found that owners delay neutering because of the myth that cats should be allowed to have a litter of kittens.
Early or pediatric spay neuter is done at six to eight weeks of age. Any lighter than that and the veterinarian performing the surgery may be worried about the kitten s ability to survive the surgery. Finally waiting until after the first heat somewhere between eight to twelve months of age he says. The pets are a good size the owners have already trained and accepted them and the anesthesia and surgery are usually safe.
Standard spay and neuter at five to six months. With most kittens this is sometime after 8 weeks old and certainly by 12 weeks. On the average kittens reach sexual maturity around 6 to 9 months of age.