Can i ask you about neutering?

My kittens are now 8 Weeks old when i took them in to start worming (3 weeks treatment i asked him about Early Neutering.
I asked my Vet about it and he said that is only done in America. I told him that i had heard of breeders in britian that does it before they go to their new homes. He shrugged off the idea and said it could be fatal to the kittens!
So i dismissed the idea (was intrested as i don't want to sell for breeding just quite yet) He said i have to trust the new Owners to do the 'Right thing' And that i cannot put any restrictions on the agreement of sale. Knowing alot of Breeders have a contract of sale i didn't know why he said this.

I have googled early neutering and i agree with the benifits of doing it young.
Why can't my Vet see that???????

cat2.jpg

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The lesson a kitten learns early in life is:
When you fall off,
over,through or out of anything,
look as though it was intentional.

Hi Rebecca

It is still not quite the norm to have it done here, In the large practice we use there is only one vet (fortunately he is a partner) who will do it on kittens who are 14 weeks and he says it is size not age that matters. He is from New Zealand and they have been doing early neutering there for 30 years he says. (I have to say initially when I booked our first and second kitten in for spaying we met some resistance from the receptionist at the surgery!) We were against early neutering initially but looking at how many bybs were springing up decided we would take no chances so after many discussions with the vet we decided to go ahead. We have had 3 girls done at 14 weeks and I was amazed by how quickly they recovered compared to say a kitten of 6-7 months. We hold onto the kits for an extra week or 10 days after the spaying and take them for a final check up prior to them going to their new homes. It may be worth phoning a few other local surgeries in your area and asking them if they early neuter? Just as a guide our female kits were spayed and had a midline and it cost £47.

You can put what restrictions you want in your contracts - I don't know what your vet is talking about! Just make sure your new owners understand prior to them taking the kittens what you are putting in the contract.

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Kaz

For kittens, joy is for the asking and smiles are for the giving

My experience with vets is that they all seem to have their own theories and it's impossible to get them all singing from the same song sheet There are no where near enough vets with a special interest in feline physiology. Perhaps your vet just didn't feel confident about performing the op?

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My kittens have been neutered at 13-14 weeks since 2003. It hasn't proved fatal to any of them! I'm not sure exactly how many kittens I've had neutered but it must be close to 50. I had 3 done yesterday in fact, and one little girl had a hernia repaired at the same time - they all went straight to the food bowls as soon as they got home, and were playing afterwards. They recover very quickly and it hardly bothers them at all.

as has been said, early neutering has been done in other countries for around 30 years now. No adverse effects have been reported.

It does seem that far too many UK vets are completely ignorant about it, and can't be bothered to find out.

I pay £35 for boys and £45 for girls - they go to their new homes a week - 10 days after surgery. (sometimes boys go a bit sooner as they don't have stitches). Girls have a flank incision with 1 or 2 stitches.

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I would love to buy an early neutered kitten as a pet. Willing to pay little bit extra.

I don't charge any extra, I just include neutering and microchipping in the kitten price
I did increase the price accordingly 5 years ago but haven't increased it substantially since then. Most new owners are very happy that they don't have to worry about neutering, but i once had a prospective owner tell me it was cruel and "not good practice". Some people are just plain ignorant!!

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I early neuter my boys at 12 weeks, even though my vet is willing I don't early neuter the girls as I don't want them going to their new homes shaved.

I agree with KK most vets in the UK are ignorant when it comes to new processes and proceedures especially around cats. My vet is from South Africa and when he does the boys when the get home at around 12pm they act as if there is nothing wrong and are bounding over the place. I have probably had 25 boys done in the past few years. I don't charge extra it is included in the price. It does ease that restriction business.

People like the RSPCA, PDSA and FAB should be pushing this as a way of reducing the cat population and using their marketing might to educate vets and cat owners of the benefits.

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Karen

www.kiskasiberians.co.uk - The home of Hypoallergenic Siberian Cats


www.rawfed.com - Information on Raw Feeding

Yes Im all for it too. It takes away all the worry of a kitten falling into the wrong hands and the genuine pet lovers are happy that this has already been done for them.

Vets really do need to bring themselves up to date on this issue and begin to realise that it will go a long way to solving the problems we have with irresponsible breeders.