Female kitten neutering

[Paraskevi]

Hello guys!
Once again I came here to ask for advice. My kitty is 6 months old and female and when I asked her vet about when we should get her spayed he said he recommends for it to be done once she's one year old. He explained he wants to postpone her surgery because females produce some kind of hormone that helps with the strength of their bones, while they're in their teenage years and since she's a strictly indoors cat it wont be a problem. Is it okay to spay her once she's one year old or should I do it now?

 

[Talien]

If you plan to wait be fully prepared for her to escape at some point and come back pregnant, when females go into heat they will do everything possible to get outside to breed. She will tear through the screens of any opened windows (a few inches is all that's needed) and camp near doors to run out as soon as they're opened enough of a crack to fit through.

Males being attracted to your yard and spraying is also another possibility.

 

[arr]

I don’t know if I believe that, but I’m going to do some research on it. We got our female spayed at four months because we also had her brother so we couldn’t take any chances. She is now a lean muscular 12 pounds which I think is quite large for a female, so I don’t think the early spay stunted her growth. She eats more than her much larger brother so I wouldn’t be surprised if she gets even bigger. Her brother is almost 16 pounds and you can just see his huge bone structure so his early neuter didn’t seem to cause any problems for him either.

 

[Paraskevi]

If you plan to wait be fully prepared for her to escape at some point and come back pregnant, when females go into heat they will do everything possible to get outside to breed. She will tear through the screens of any opened windows (a few inches is all that's needed) and camp near doors to run out as soon as they're opened enough of a crack to fit through.

Males being attracted to your yard and spraying is also another possibility.

I live on the fourth floor and it's really not easy for her to escape, I don't leave her out on the balcony unsupervised and i dont think she would jump four tall stories anyway. Escaping is not really an issue and I'm monitoring her behaviour cause if she does go on heat I will go have her procedure done. Plus she is a really scardy cat and she goes nowhere that she doesn't recognize running. That's not really the issue it's more about her health cause I have heard that neutering your cat gives them more years to live.

 

[verna davies]

I haven't heard of waiting a year. I've had all my girls spayed at 6 months without any problems.

 

[Paraskevi]

I don’t know if I believe that, but I’m going to do some research on it. We got our female spayed at four months because we also had her brother so we couldn’t take any chances. She is now a lean muscular 12 pounds which I think is quite large for a female, so I don’t think the early spay stunted her growth. She eats more than her much larger brother so I wouldn’t be surprised if she gets even bigger. Her brother is almost 16 pounds and you can just see his huge bone structure so his early neuter didn’t seem to cause any problems for him either.

Hm yeah to be honest I didn't read that anywhere that's why I came here to ask but I'm just worried cause what if I ask him to do the surgery now but he's only experienced on adult cats. Ugh I don't know what to do!

 

[Paraskevi]

I haven't heard of waiting a year. I've had all my girls spayed at 6 months without any problems.

That's what I usually read on the internet but it seems like vets here in Greece want to postpone it for some reason. That wasn't the first vet who adviced me not to spay her now.

 

[Willowy]

There's no reason to wait; studies have shown no ill effects from spaying as young as 7 weeks. But if your vet isn't comfortable with spaying until 1 year, there's no risk of escape, and you're willing to live with a cat in heat (ugh), go ahead and wait. Or you could try to find another vet who will do it sooner if you prefer.

If you have to wait, read up on the symptoms of pyometra. It's not very common in young cats but it's not unheard of either.

 

[Paraskevi]

There's no reason to wait; studies have shown no ill effects from spaying as young as 7 weeks. But if your vet isn't comfortable with spaying until 1 year, there's no risk of escape, and you're willing to live with a cat in heat (ugh), go ahead and wait. Or you could try to find another vet who will do it sooner if you prefer.

If you have to wait, read up on the symptoms of pyometra. It's not very common in young cats but it's not unheard of either.

Okay I will look it up! She doesn't look like she started being in heat and the period in which cats are in heat is almost over. Right now almost all vets here are on vacation and will be for at least 10 more days so I will try to talk about this with my vet later. But thank you for your answer!

 

[LauraAnne15]

I haven't heard of waiting a year. I've had all my girls spayed at 6 months without any problems.

I agree with you.