Vet wouldn’t spay till 6 months

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VMait1
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Vet wouldn’t spay till 6 months

Post by VMait1 »

Why do vets wait til 6 months to spay kittens?? I was devastated to discover that my 6 month old kitten is having kittens herself. I took her in to be spayed today and was given the shocking news. I contacted 2 vets in the area 2 months ago (when she was 4 months old) to check when female cats are spayed and both told me 6 months. We tried to keep her in but with a young child in the house it was impossible and we gave up. I would challenge anyone to try to stop a cat from going outside over the summer with windows and doors constantly being opened. I feel irresponsible, I feel like I’ve let the poor cat down. She is the sweetest thing. Surely, with overpopulation, best practice must be to spay at 4 months?
Joe_Danger
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Re: Vet wouldn’t spay till 6 months

Post by Joe_Danger »

I logged in earlier to talk about this when i saw your topic :)
We're at a point where I disagree with my vets on this issue again, this time about Spaska.
My vets insist to spay a cat after her first heat cycle and not before, they firmly believe that spaying kittens before sexual maturity is 1st world propaganda for stray population control and that in reality spaying cats before they mature sexually is bad for their development in the long run, especially when it comes to URI's later in life.
All vets I've talked to here except for one agree that if a cat is spayed before 6 months of age/before the first heat cycle their urinary organs and such don't grow properly which could lead to problems with crystals later in life.
My vet says that one of the reasons Mila passed all her bladder stones so quickly and easily with the urso cat med is because she was spayed after having had kittens and that helped develop her body better.

With that said, I've read many an article that contradict this and consider it old fashioned and false, that spaying and neutering kittens at 4 months is ideal and so on and I would be inclined to agree with that, but my vets present a strong case from kidney issues to bladder/urniary issues that could develop if the cats organs don't grow properly.

They don't deny the fact that spaying before the first heat cycle reduces the chance of mammary cancer but they say it's far more rare for a cat to develop that than to have urniary issues or bladder stone issues and have trouble passing stones.

Again, I know I live in Macedonia and we're far behind in many aspects when it comes to healthcare, but my vets are fully aware of everything that's said and written online they just choose to disagree with it.
So I really don't know what to think.

My cats are strictly indoor cats so there's no chance of them getting pregnant.
booktigger
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Re: Vet wouldn’t spay till 6 months

Post by booktigger »

I'm not sure what effect neutering before 6 months old can have on their urinary organs growing correctly, I didn't think hormones had any effect on bladder growth. I have heard about it with dogs, but that is mainly larger breed dogs, so not sure if the same would happen on a smaller animal. Early neutering has been done in the US for decades, not quite as long in the UK, so I'm sure there are enough cats for them to have studied an entire lifespan by now. But of course, there are other things that can cause bladder stones - they are most common in black and white, overweight males, as they can't empty their bladder fully (no idea why black and whites are more prone, but most of the cats I've had with cystitis have been black and white)
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Ruth B
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Re: Vet wouldn’t spay till 6 months

Post by Ruth B »

I'm in the UK and it is one of the things I disagree with my vet on, and if I ever get a kitten i know there is another vet that will spay or neuter at 13 weeks, and it will be the one time i will choose to go elsewhere. I know about that vet as it is the one the charity i got my two youngsters from uses, and it means they can get the kittens spayed or neutered before adopting them out which cost them a bit more, but does mean they know the kittens are done when they leave.

I used to be all for 6 month old spay or neutering, and only knew of one kitten when I was a child that was done at 4 months, he started marking territory in my parents house including my parents bed, they took him to the vets with the 'what's wrong, how do we stop him doing it', the vet took one look and pronounced him a 'big lad' and said the answer was simple, neuter him, he was fine afterwards. I was shocked when I rirst started watching the various kitten cams transmitted from the States and Canada, when they took the kittens to be spayed or neutered at 8 weeks as long as the kittens were healthy and of a good weight, the more i watched and saw how well the kittens did, and followed some of the pages afterwards that the adopters put up, the more I have changed my views, i know have no problem with spaying and neutering at 8 weeks onwards if the kitten is healthy enough to have it done, unfortunately even the UK isn't as forward thinking as the US in that regards.

As for bladder problems, this could be interesting, i have a 7 year old black and white lad who was neutered at 13 weeks, it will be interesting to see if he develops problems later on, currently my old tabby and white girl is the one with bladder problems, but i think that is more a matter of age and problems throughout kidneys and bladder, I've no idea what age she was spayed at, I got her as a two year old ready done.

For the OP did your vet mention how far pregnant she was, I know that if they aren't too far into the pregnancy they can abort at the time of spaying, which harsh as it may seem can be better than insisting on a cat who is little more than a kitten herself go through a pregnancy. You may also need to get advice on what to watch for and any problems that might occur, unfortunately the younger a cat it the more likely it seems that there can be problems when it comes to giving birth, the cat just isn't really big enough to, particularly if they were mated by a large tom cat. You might find a charity that will be willing to offer advice or even as a last resort take in the cat for a few weeks so they can monitor the birth and have the experience of what to look out for if there are problems, if you can find one that will help then a hefty donation would no doubt be appreciated. Make sure any charity does realise it was an accident and that she was meant to be spayed at 6 months and then escaped, and you feel you don't have the experience to monitor the birth in such a young cat, and that while you are willing to sign over the kittens, you want the the mother cat back, most charities know that rehoming the mother cat is the hard part when it comes to pregnant cats so will be happy to know she has a loving home waiting for her afterwards.
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Re: Vet wouldn’t spay till 6 months

Post by Joe_Danger »

I guess the 6 month spaying thing is more of a European thing in general then.
My vet didn't say that they'd be more prone to bladder problems if they get spayed early, just that IF bladder issues pop up like they did with Mila, it would be harder on the cat to pass stones if needed due to her canal and bladder being smaller than they would have been had it been fixed after its first heat.
My vets insisted that they've seen this one too many times in cats spayed too early, they've seen the organs not developing properly and stand by their opinion that spaying should be done after the first heat cycle or for boys at around 6-8 months or so.
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