I shall be having both of my cats neutred later in the year. One is male, one female.

I have been advised by some people at the last show I went to, to wait as long as possible with my boy BSH so that his BSH face develops before I have him castrated. I am happy to do this. He is an indoor cat so wandering is not an issue. But obviously spraying is! So I have some questions:

What time frame after neutering should I give before allowing him to enter a show again?

The longer I delay the op, is it more likely he will continue to spray as an adult neuter?

My BSH girl will be speyed when she is 6 months old. This is what is recommended by the breeder and my vet.

How long will it take for her fur to grow back to a standard where she could be shown again? I know most vets operate via a loin incision, so a significant amout of hair is shaved off. She is 6 months old at the end of October. I intended to enter her at the National on 11 December and/or the West Country Show mid-January. Obviously I do not want to enter her and then loose the entry fee because she is still bald! Any opinions?

Thanks.

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MY two BSH girls, one I had from kitten, she was neutered at 9 months old, the other one came from my breeder friend and had a litter of kittens, she was neutered at 2½ years old. I see no difference in how these two have developed…. They both “look” the same. Incidentally though, 2 friends of mine who both breed BSHs both recommend neutering females closer to the 9 months than the 6 months, they both say it’s because as a breed the BSH matures slowly. So that does differ from the advice your breeder is giving you. I wouldn’t pay that much attention to the vet (on this one issue, lol) when it comes to breeds and their different rates of maturity, I think the breeders within that breed know a lot more than the vets do.

My male, I waited with him literally until he sprayed once…. Then I got him done two days later. He was just over 9 months old at that point. And he did mature a lot in those 3 months. I am so happy I didn’t get him done at 6 months. Although he didn’t have the big jowls a complete BSH male has, he looked a lot more like that than his brother who was neutered at 5½ months – he did really “fill out” between the age of 6 and 9 months.

I can’t really help you with the showing, as I have never shown mine. But you don’t have to wait till after the neuter to show them, you could start now. I find the judges judging the kittens to be that much more forgiving than when they are judging mature cats. It also seems a great way to get them used to shows.

ohhhh and the best of luck showing your pair!!!! I love going to shows. I hope your kitties enjoy the whole show experience!!

Thanks Tje. That's helpful.

Mine have already been to a show and we had a great day. There are pictures on my profile of them there. We are off to another soon

Talking of big jowls, this is one stunning Blue BSH:

Male Cat Neutering | VetBlog - The Web Magazine For Pet Owners

I think my Darwin may get that big...he is 2.6 Kg at 20 weeks!

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We don't have British but do have Selkirk Rex with, obviously, a fair amount of British in their pedigrees. One was early neutered by the breeder at 14 weeks and, although I didn't think so at one time, I do have to say that he is the lightest of the 3 boys, despite being the largest in stature and I DO think it has affected his development.

The other 2 we neutered at 11 months and 16 months (both with the breeders' blessings), the one at 11 months has more Pesian than British in him and was never a problem before or after, never sprayed or anything. The other we left to 16 months to try to get him to champion first, as the breed only gained Champ status from June 2009 he was 14 months old before he could win his first CC. We were lucky in that he never sprayed but he did develop a habit of weeing on chairs and beds. We coped by covering chairs with waterproof coverings whern we weren't around and banning him from the bedrooms. He entered his first show as a neuter 2 1/2 months after being neutered and stopped his inappropriate weeing about 8 months after being neutered.

Their sister we got to Grand Champion before neutering and she was neutered in late June this year at 14 months old. We are very lucky in that one of our vets is a brilliant cat vet and she did the minimum amount of shaving and a tiny incision that took just one stitch. (Photo attached) The fur is growing well and we have entered her in a show at the very end of this month so that is 3 months after the op. I doubt the fur will be fully back as she is a LH Selkirk but I feel that at PC level it will certainly be back enough not to be marked down as it is very obvious from where it is, what it is.

Hope that helps

Carol

Lovely cat!!!! Tho the angle the pic is taken makes him look HUGE, lol. It's my 20 odd year long dream to own a British Blue complete male (well, a retired stud) with the whole imposing face and massive big jowls and neck like a horse. All going well when my friend's boy retires he will come to us. Mind you... still about 2 years to go, he is only 2 and a half years old. But he is Grand Champion already and he is OH SO gorgeous!

I am definitely happy that I gave my boy those extra few months to mature, it did make a big difference to him (appearance wise).

I will go now and have a nosey in your profile, lol.

Thanks Carol.

Your experience certainly adds weight to the argument to leave his castration for as long as possible. Though I could not cope with the inappropriate weeing! Any sign of that and he will be hot footing it to the vets!

I shall be seeing his breeder in a couple of weeks so I shall discuss with her how long she thinks we should wait. I only intend to show them as neuters once they get too old for the kitten classes.

So her hair should be re-grown in 4 weeks being a shorthair? I shall ask the vets if they can do as small an incision as is practically possible.

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awwwww they are two gorgeous cats!! Same colours as my two, except my current two are both ladies. I am no expert in breeding or showing (far from it, have never bred or showed... so don't take my advice with a pinch of salt, take it with a bucket load, lol) but don't be in a rush to get Darwin done. I am quite sure I am right in saying the longer you leave him the more he will develop -- and the more he develops the lovlier he will become. Although you do have to balance that with the risk of spraying.... but.... if what I hear from my BSH breeder friends is right, they are notoriously late bloomers, so chances are your Darwin won't even think of spraying before 9 months old. And like Carol said... often it isn't that big an issue. Though I did run to the vet when my boy started, lol. But I never planned to show. I think if I had planned to show I would have "played it by ear" a bit more.

Thanks. Though biased, I agree they are gorgeous and have fantastic temprements. too

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Spraying I am not sure we could/would have coped with but the weeing on chairs etc was easily sorted and managed for the comparatively short time it took.

As Tiff has taken 3 mionths almost to get to an acceptable, if not yet full, level of fur then I would hope that maybe 2 months tops would do for a SH?? And maybe as well the later in the year it is done the quicker it will grow in time for winter???

my siamese girls have taken about 2 months to grow back