What age/size was your kitten spayed?

[Coffeefirstthing]

Our new addition to the family is a ~5 month old kitten, we have had her for a month now.

She is a rescue and was born feral, and is quite a scrawny little thing.
Our vet only spays them when they weigh 2 kg. I was hoping she'd be big enough now but she was still only 1.7 kg when checked by the vet this week.
She has a big appetite and eats more than our older cat but just seems to put the weight on quite slowly. She was 1.5 kg when we got her.

So what age/weight were your cats spayed? Anything we can do to help her gain weight faster?
As she is so small the vet will only microchip her when she gets spayed and is under GA.

Attached a photo for reference. She may not be the prettiest of kittens but a true character and really lovable.

Neutering when they are less than 2kg isn't generally done in the UK (though there will always be exceptions as it is at the vet's discretion) as there is a perception that there are increased anesthesia risks with lower body weight. Also, vets aren't used to neutering such small cats so the risk of complications is potentially higher. Most cats are spayed at 6 months and will be between 2.5kg and 3.5kg at this age.
I once spayed a 1.5kg kitten and the surgery took longer and was more fiddly due to their small size. Since then, I've always strongly recommended clients wait until the 2kg mark. However, if a client was very worried their cat would get pregnant, I would probably go ahead earlier if the cat was in good health.

Everything I've read says it should be done at 4 months. There are vets that will do it routinely at that age

Im not sure what our boy cat weighed but our girl was just under 2kg and we had to sign a waiver to say we were happy with the associated risk.
We wanted to get them done sooner rather than later with them being a boy and girl and had to change vets as our original one wouldn't do them until they were over 2kg and 6 months. We got them done a day before they turned 4 months.

Oh and your wee kitty is so cute!!

My veterinary practice initially refused to do BastardCat until he was four months old; a nurse said it was 'unethical'. However, BastardCat was shagging his blankie and achieving a happy ending (followed by exhausted collapse) at about 10 weeks so had 'em off early. He's now massive - over 8kg - so that may have been a factor. He was also a feral - vet thought about 6 weeks old when we adopted him.

You can only give Metacam or other NSAIDs to cats over 2kg. This is why your vet has said this. You can spay them under 2kg but they won't get as much pain relief or be sent home with pain relief, I would say the same as your vet

7 months, 2.5 kilos.

We were surprised when she came home with her hip shaved. Somehow we thought it would be her tummy! I wonder how long it will take the hair to grow back. She looks rather silly.

@dreamimgincolours I always find midline easier for pre pubertal spays, I'm sure I've seen research papers on this as well but the names escape me at thisnhour. I have done a lot of feral neutes. Also definitely use the quad protocol (you can get a free app) for the anaesthesia.

Sorry, I meant his huge weight now may be a result of early castration; I have just assumed this by reading Mary Renault but am probably wrong!
BastardCat does have an unfortunately large primordial pouch; I imagine he stashes extra food plus weapons there - you would think the same if you came across him too. ..

@Maltay, yep the issue was that I went in via the flank and it was very tricky exteriorising the right ovary. Live and learn!

Oh wow so many responses, thank you so much everyone!
Seems to be slightly mixed views there. Think I will ask the vet if they would do her a bit sooner if she started showing signs of heat, but otherwise wouldn't want to risk it. She's indoors full time and don't think she would be able to escape..we hardly go out at the moment and in this weather all windows and doors are shut.

@cricketmum84 Aawww lovely to hear there is another little alien cat around!! Ours can meow as well but only when she's unhappy, like if she's shut into a room and wants out. And when I take her to the vet's in the carrier she meows non-stop.
But when she's happy she or chatting to us she just makes the funny little alien-noises.

Mine chirps sweetly at the big boy, but miaows at us for attention. I had a batshit crazy vet who didn’t like to neuter under a year and definitely not before her first season. Thankfully her first season didn’t last long and she was booked in to be done as soon as she had finished.

The neutering specialist charity I'm with does it at 1kg (so around 10 or 11 weeks) for kittens to be homed, and at 4 months for clients' kittens.

Waiting till 2kg isn't necessary and the advice from the BVA changed to 4 months from 6 months many, many years ago.

@DreamingInColours

Neutering when they are less than 2kg isn't generally done in the UK (though there will always be exceptions as it is at the vet's discretion) as there is a perception that there are increased anesthesia risks with lower body weight. Also, vets aren't used to neutering such small cats so the risk of complications is potentially higher. Most cats are spayed at 6 months and will be between 2.5kg and 3.5kg at this age. I once spayed a 1.5kg kitten and the surgery took longer and was more fiddly due to their small size. Since then, I've always strongly recommended clients wait until the 2kg mark. However, if a client was very worried their cat would get pregnant, I would probably go ahead earlier if the cat was in good health.

The vet guidelines changed from 6 months to 4 months many, many years ago.

@thecatneuterer I'm not sure exactly what you mean by 'the vet guidelines'? What the RCVS suggest? What universities teach?
In reality, most clinics have a standard procedure they follow and this is usually dictated by the Head Vet or practice owner.
Where I work in West London, the vast majority of clinics neuter at 6 months old as standard (but by no means all). If a client specifically wants to do an earlier surgery, they can usually be accommodated.

@thecatneuterer My apologies, I just read your comment below and you are referring to the BVA. To clarify, they recommend neutering FROM 4 months, not AT 6 months i.e. that is the youngest they would recommend.
Certaibly, in certain cases such as feral cats this is what should be done. However, for indoor pet cats who aren't displaying nuisance behaviours, it is often easier to wait.

Our first 2, male and female, were done by the breeder's vet at 12-13 weeks. They have to weigh at least 1kg for the surgery.

Pepper has just been done a week ago and was 4.5 months and weight 2kg exactly. Vet said the younger the better as they recover quickly.. a week later and she was back to normal. Pic of her in recovery suit!

@DreamingInColours All welfare organisations recommend doing as soon as possible, ie four months, as many females come in to heat very young. Even if they are kept indoors a female in heat will do anything to get out. And if it's a house then doors are opened from time to time, as are windows.

Most rescues do ferals and kittens for homing at 1kg without problem, and that is normally around 10 or 11 weeks.

The welfare case for advising everyone to have it done at 4 months is overwhelming.

@thecatneuterer it's easier to wait til the 2kg mark for owned pet kitties as you don't have to obtain the explicit consent for using meloxicam and midazolam off licence. I do have that conversation with owners if they need the spay before 2kg but it'd be difficult to get informed consent for every cat neuter. You don't need to do that for the shelter neuters so it's much more straightforward and less paperwork. The added reason for pre pubertal neutering is so that the shelter can rehome at a young age but know that their charity is not supporting back yard breeders -this point doesn't apply to an already owned cat. @dreamingincolours isn't wrong about what she has said - if there was one right answer then the whole profession would be doing the same thing!

@Maltay. I haven't said anyone is wrong. I've said there is a strong welfare case for doing it at four months (which is why all the welfare organisations recommend it). And I know shelter kittens are a completely different thing and I'm not talking about those.

Owned kittens get out of houses all the time, especially if they are in heat. Often owners are a bit stupid and let them out. The only way to prevent lots of unwanted pregnancies and yet more kittens being born is to neuter as soon as possible. Many vets do it at four months as standard. If all did then we wouldn't be dealing with quite the scale of the unwanted kitten/cat problem that we currently do. Although of course the main problem is owners simply not bothering at all, but it would at least make some difference.

@thecatneuterer I think it's incredibly unreasonable to lay responsibility of feline population control at the feet of vets.
I have to disagree with your sentiment. My practice offers early neutering and cats protection subsidies for neutering and yet still owners won't neuter.
There isn't anything more I or my colleagues can do. For responsible owners neutering at 6mo is perfectly acceptable.

@BadEyeBri - I entirely agree with you. The main problem is the owners - as I said in my last sentence above. But neutering earlier would make at least a small difference - because cats get out - even when owners are responsible.

It’s an interesting discussion. Our vet wouldn’t spay our kitten until she was 2.5 kilos. We’ve just had to keep her in until then.
This is the first weekend we could let her out in the garden. She loved it.