[Sol]

I´m gonna nag about "how we do in Sweden" again

In Sweden it is not recommended to spay/neuter a cat before the age of 6 months and when it comes to females it´s recommended she´s gon into heat at least once.

Research has shown that cats that are spayed/neutered to early can get problems with the skeleton. Testosterone and estrogen (correct spelling?) are important hormones when it comes to growth.

I would recomend you to spay/neuter your cat at the age of 6 months, at the earliest. It works for us in Sweden so why shouldn´t it work for you americans

My youngest female wasn´t neutered until the age of 14 months.

 

[Sol]

It is also proven that the more heat cycles the cat has the higher the risk for cancer and Uterine (pyometra) infections. So how can that be benificial? You see? Letting the cat grow to be more stockier isn't really worth the risks involved. Plus when cats go into heat.. some spray and pee everywhere plus the fact that they constantly cry out. Now I can deal with it because I am a breeder. But I highly doubt the average pet owner wants to put up with that kind of behavour. For males once they start spraying say goodbye to a nice clean smelling house. Thats a habit that is hard to kick. I wouldn't wait more than 6 months to fix a cat.
Hello beautiful: I know some vets do say that the female should go into heat first but it's proven now that it is not necessary and the reasons arestated above. I wasn't trying to make it sound like you don't know what your talking about but I'm just sharing my knowledge since I had to do resent studies on the matter. :wink:

Of course you shouldn´t keep your cat fertile if it´s not ment for breeding. Few cats get into heat before the age of six months though so I believe six months is the perfect age for spaying/neutering cats. Risking the growth of the skeleton can cause the cat a lot of pain and unnecessary veterinariancare not to mention the economic side of it.

The reason why my youngest cat wasn´t neutered until the age of 14 months was simply because she didn´t go into heat until she was 14 months old.

I still claim that six months is the ideal age for spaying/neutering, but if the cat goes into heat before the age of six months (which is very unusual) you can spay/neuter the cat earlier.

 

[Sol]

You have your opinion I have mine. I personally would rather have it done earlier than later. As a breeder I would rather place my pet quality kittens already altered at 12 weeks so I know that they will not be producing and the owner won't have to worry about it later.
Here is a study that was done it's pretty interesting.
http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/reports ... euter.html

It´s very important to keep as many animals as possible availible for breeding when it comes to my breed, devon rex, since it is a very small breed here in Sweden so we wait as long as possible to neuter them. The only things I would do if one of the kittens showed to be "bad for breeding" is keep the kitten myself until the age of 6 months then neuter it and sell it or sell it and register in the swedish cat association as "not allowed for breeding". The new owner can breed but not register the offspring from that cat.

I rather wait a bit longer to neuter cats than doing it to early, but thats me (and most of the people in Sweden). My personal point of view is that if a person buys a pet, they should be prepared for a little bit of annoyance when the animal goes into heat. Most animals stop with their annoying habits such as marking territory after they´ve been neutered.

 

[Sol]

"Increased long bone length was observed in both males and females in Groups 1 and 2. This appeared to be due to the fact that physeal closing (closure of the bone growth plate) was delayed in Groups 1 & 2. This explains why cats neutered and spayed as kittens are frequently larger (longer and taller) than unaltered cats or cats altered later in life. This seems to be particularly true for males." (From the link given by bengalsownme.)

This what I´m talking about. It does not only make tha animals bigger but it can also cause weak skeleton.

 

[Sol]

I have no reports to refer to one of Swedens most skillful vets has written a book about cats and their diseases where she in on chapter concentrates on early neutering and it´s consequences. The bone growth plate doesn´t always close and this causes weak bones. Early neutered cats also tend to grow faster than others which can cause pain.

I don´t know how americans are but swedish ordinary people keep their animals unaltered until the age of 6-7 months simply because few swedish vets neuter cats before the age of 6 months. Few people get problems with their cats, though because of the simple fact that very few cats goes into heat before the age of 8-9 months.

 

[Sol]

yeah 6-7 months is about normal here too but you were mentioning waiting longer until they have a heat cycle.
I think 6 months is definately appropriate its just that you were saying that you wait to the cats go into heat when that is not neccessary. It is proven that they do not need to go into heat before they are neutered. It makes no difference except the fact you are increasing the risk of breast cancer and uterine cancer and possible infection. Whats the point of that?

Most people here wait until the cat goes into heat just because that´s when they notice that it´s time for neutering, this mostly goes for females though. Males are somehow automatically neutered at the age of 7 months, probably because everyone knows how bad it smells when they start to mark territory.

So, we agree that 6-7 months is a good age?