1

Context

My wife and me own a 10 and half month old male cat. We know that we must neuter him, but we decided to do it later rather than sooner.

The cat recently sprayed for the first time and my wife immediately called at a clinic where a nice person explained that the cat should be between 10 and 12 month old to be neutralized and the best would be after one year.

Add to this some comments on a Facebook article related to neutering (must be at least one year) and so I thought of digging more on the matter.

Research

Most of the Q & As here and articles argue about early neutering (weeks) vs standard neutering (7-8 months):

There are three general options: Early or pediatric spay/neuter is done at six to eight weeks of age. Standard spay and neuter at five to six months. Finally, waiting until after the first heat, somewhere between eight to twelve months of age,

o date, adverse side effects are apparently no greater in animals neutered at early ages (7 weeks) than in those neutered at the conventional age (7 months).

Conventional wisdom states that kittens should be spayed or neutered no earlier than 6 months of age, but feline medicine specialists now say that an earlier age for the surgery benefits cats, owners, and veterinarians alike.

So, I cannot find any reference related to this 10 - 12 months "best interval" for cat neutering.

Question: Are there any known side-effects to neutering a cat before being 10 months old?


Basically, I want to know if there is any reason to wait for the cat to reach at least 10 month before neutering. This is different from the debate "early" (weeks) vs. standard (7 - 8 months).

4
  • @trondhansen - I have read that Q&A and it argues about "early" vs. "standard" neutering, the latter being at about 7-8 months. This corresponds to what I have already found in the articles I have mentioned. Basically, I am asking specifically about reasons to wait so much (10 - 12 months). For me it does not make any sense since waiting so long is very inconvenient (cat spraying) and also risky (might get a habit on doing this even after being neutralized).
    – Alexei
    Commented Apr 18, 2020 at 17:37
  • there is absolutely no reason to wait until the cat is a year old before you get it neutered,as soon as the cat gets sexually mature you can get it neutered.most cats gets sexually mature at 6-8 months old. Commented Apr 18, 2020 at 17:51
  • you can take a look here en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat#Reproduction for more information. Commented Apr 18, 2020 at 17:58
  • I understand someone has told you to wait until 10-12 months, but the linked question basically gives you the answer to your question. There's no need to put a date on it - 'wait until 10 months" when there's plenty of research investigating the effects of neutering younger cats
    – user6796
    Commented Apr 18, 2020 at 21:09

0

Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.