Age for neutering kittens

[MissIndecisive2023]

My two kittens are now 4.5 months. The last time we went to the vet for second vaccinations was early feb and both were almost at 2kg by that point. I was told at that appointment that they don’t tend to do neutering and microchipping until 6 months, to keep them inside until then, and that they don’t need updating flea or worming treatment until then (they had been given regular worm and flea treatments prior to this by the rescue place I got them from) because they aren’t going out.

Does this seem right?!

They will be 6 months right at the end of April, and I’m hoping to go away in May half term, so they are likely to go to a cattery then (as I don’t know anyone who could move in to look after them). I want to make sure that there is enough time between their ops and me going away in case there is a problem - is a month enough?

Is it usual to wait until 6 months to neuter? I haven’t had kittens for over 20 years but I’m pretty sure I didn’t keep them in this long last time.

our vet will do them once they reach 2kg. In our case that was 5 months.

They do the microchip at the same time, while they are under anaesthetic.

My male one recovered in a few hours. The female takes longer due to stitches. But about a week.

I found a vet that neutered from 4 months and took my boys there as my vet said 6 months and I didn't want to wait as 4 months is the age its advised to do it

https://www.cats.org.uk/what-we-do/neutering/find-a-vet

I used this database to find a vet to do it at 4 months

our vet, and several others (where the other kittens went) were less interested in age and more in weight.
2 kg is the best size for an anaesthetic.

My friends kitten was done at 4 months as he also had a hernia, and he was nearly the right weight so they went ahead.

But as neutering can be delayed (it is not an urgent medical reason to need to operate) they prefer to wait until they are 2 kg.

Yes, I'd heard that most vets wait until 2kg, which they definitely would both be now. Strange that they are going for an arbitrary date of 6 months.

My DDs vet advised 6 months for her 2 girls - mainly because at 4 months they were tiny and not 2kg.

Battersea did our latest pair at 9 weeks.

Lots of vets will insist on waiting until six months but you could just ring round and find one that does it earlier if you want.

That being said, all mine have been done at six months and it's never been a problem.

The rescue I foster for neuters all cats before rehoming. The youngest I've seen them do was estimated at 7 weeks and about 800g! A lot of the bigger rescues will do this as they consider the risks of sending unneutered cats to homes to be greater than neutering early. If it were my cat I'd rather get them up to 2kg for safety and wouldn't be letting them out when they were smaller than that anyway. But can understand why the rescues often do it earlier, we are in a bit of a cat overpopulation crisis.

I'm really surprised a vet would insist on waiting till 6 months to neuter. That used to be common practice 30+ years ago, but in the past 15 years I have never had a vet suggest waiting that long, and all mine have been neutered at 4 months except for one female who was very small so we waited till 5 months.

I know rescues neuter even earlier for the reasons the PP said.

My girl is almost 5 months and 1.6kg. Our vet is definitely not keen to do it yet. I wasn’t in any hurry but she’s in heat at the moment and has developed an unnatural interest in the dog. She keeps licking his face and ears an he’s getting a bit tired of her.

Weighed them both this morning. One is 2.8kg and the other is 2.4kg. At 4.5 months. Maybe I’ll ask again.

Or have a look on the database I linked to. You put your postcode in and it tells you vets that neuter/spay from 4 months which is the advised age to do it at

Yes I’ll do this - thank you. The only thing is that I’m with pet plan or whatever it’s called through my vet, so I pay a certain amount t a month that covers vaccination, neutering etc so if I went elsewhere I wonder if I would have to pay?

In rescue they do them at 1kg.

That's why I always get my females neutered asap. Many years ago our vet wanted us to wait until 6 months because our girl was 'petite' and then at 5 months she came into heat. Not an experience I want to revisit, and fortunately all my vets since then have agreed to neuter early.

OP - I hope you don't have a boy and a girl ...

OP - I hope you don't have a boy and a girl ...

Many years ago I stayed with someone who had boy/girl kittens and insisted they stayed out at night.

Of course I was soppy and let them sneak into my bedroom - only to be woken up by my bed shaking as they were shagging.

Following day I suggested to the owner that girl cat was going to have kittens. She asked how I could tell - didn't like to say 'well they wake me up with their shagging every night' so had to rapidly make something up.

Our vet waited until our kitten was over 2 kg but it turns out that she has a heart arrhythmia so it wasn't until her third attempted operation that she was actually operated on making her nearly 6 months old.
It was done under the agreement that if things went wrong that she would be let go while under anaesthesia and we understood that - having initiated the conversation as pregnancy would be more stressful for her heart - but happily she is fine and acting like we are all fussing about nothing!!

They spay/ neuter healthy kittens at 2 lbs (just under 1 kg) here, in the US. That's usually at the 6 week point.

Rescues here neuter at 1kg too, but that's definitely not at 6 weeks. Average weight at 6 weeks is 500 to 600 grams. It's normally around 10 to 12 weeks.

Recommended age for owned cats is 4 months. Six months is too late for females, many are pregnant before that. There is an argument for leaving boys longer. Six to 8 months for boys is fine.