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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

Neutering kittens

27 replies

MissTeBe · 30/08/2018 10:46

I have just refined two male kittens from a rescue/rehoming charity

They are about 3 months old

At what age should they be neutered? Does it make a difference that they’re both male?

OP posts:
Original poster
MissTeBe · 30/08/2018 10:46

*rehomed

OP posts:
QuestionableMouse · 30/08/2018 10:48

My vet wanted them to be over a certain weight. Iirc 3kg but if you ring your vet they should be able to tell you.

SuburbanRhonda · 30/08/2018 10:49

Agree - phone your vet.

Original poster
MissTeBe · 30/08/2018 11:52

My vet says 7 months

Everything I’ve read on the j Turner says earlier is better, ideally 4 months

OP posts:
viccat · 30/08/2018 11:54

Ideally before they reach sexual maturity so around 4-5 months of age at the latest. Some vet's still have outdated views on this though and want to wait longer...

If they reach sexual maturity they can develop some behavioural issues and start urine marking as they are male. (For female kittens you want to neuter before their first season to avoid some health issues and prevent the frustration of being in season.)

cricketmum84 · 30/08/2018 11:54

Usually between 4-5 months - although my new kitten was nowhere near big enough at 4 months so we ended up waiting until her weight had gone up a little before it could be done.

serbska · 30/08/2018 12:03

You should be able to have it done at 4 months if they are big and healthy enough. Its a super easy op for a male.

Vinorosso74 · 30/08/2018 12:07

Yep 4 months is recommended. Our vet says they should be done by 5 months. Obviously if they are too small you may need to wait.

cricketmum84 · 30/08/2018 12:18

@MissTeBe you are aware that you aren't allowed to use the word kitten without an accompanying pic of the wee bundles of fluff don't you?? Grin

Original poster
MissTeBe · 30/08/2018 12:23

Smokey and Simba

Neutering kittens
OP posts:
thecatneuterer · 30/08/2018 12:36

4 months

Vinorosso74 · 30/08/2018 13:01

Toe floofs! They are very cute.

Vinorosso74 · 30/08/2018 13:03

As an aside I saw some of the Yorkshire Vet TV program this week (staying with my parents) and he seemed late neutering his own young cat who he'd acquired as a young kitten. My point being it wasn't sending out a very responsible message.

cricketmum84 · 30/08/2018 13:07

😍 very cute!

dementedpixie · 30/08/2018 14:11

My 2 boys were done at 4 months. I had to use an alternative vet though as mine said 6 months

WickedGirl · 30/08/2018 20:20

Because mine are from a charity, I need to use the vet they’ve already paid for the neutering

Whatsthisbear · 30/08/2018 20:29

My vet said 6 months and a certain weight

AveABanana · 30/08/2018 21:07

We had boy/ girl sibling set. He was a right porker so was done on the dot of 4 months as was well over the lower weight but we had to wait until almost 6 months for her as she was only close to 2 kg even then - but not going out so safe from pregnancy.

Cailleach1 · 30/08/2018 21:25

I have brother and sister cats. The vet told us 6 months. However, at around 4 to 4 and a half months, the boy got very frisky, physical and domineering with the girl cat. We were very nervous, as you can imagine with a male and female, and really pushed to get them done at around 5 months.

We were very glad we did as you could see the difference in his behaviour straight away. He had been sexually maturing. And all were safe from inbred kittens. Ours were/are strong, healthy and great eaters. Maybe this helped their (what we thought seemed premature) sexual development.

Cailleach1 · 30/08/2018 21:26

Ave, I'm laughing at your porker. Describes my boy, too.

hartof · 30/08/2018 21:29

16 weeks was the youngest our vet would do and he went in at 17 weeks. Mum has a kitten about 2 weeks younger, took her to pets at home vet for scheduled neutering and they said kittens have to be at least 2kg.

AveABanana · 30/08/2018 21:31

And you've described the frisky incestuous humping very well too!
Would two boys fight instead?

emelsie · 30/08/2018 21:32

Yep did my 2 (brother and sister) both at 4 months .

dementedpixie · 30/08/2018 21:47

Cats protection have a kitten neutering database that I used to find a vet to do my boys at 4 months:

www.cats.org.uk/what-we-do/neutering/enr

maZebraltov · 30/08/2018 21:56

I think I read that feral cats are often neutered about 2m old. Boys, anyway "If we can see 'em we can snip 'em." One of my boys was humping his brother by 5m old. I lied to the vet about their age to get mine done quick after that (vet was saying 6m). Phone around to see what other vets say?