kitty neutering

[jassy3399]

How early is safe enough to neuter Gizmo? My regular vet won't even consider doing it until he's six months old. I called our former vet (we changed due to location/price, not lack of trust) and they're willing to do it now, since he's over 3 pounds. Is it better to wait until he's a little older? He's starting to get pretty aggressive in his play, sometimes choosing to ignore the toy I'm holding in favor of biting my hand. He'll even turn and bite while I'm petting him. Like, one second he's laying there, eyes almost closed, purring and seeming very relaxed and mellow, and the next he just turns his head and bites. I'm hoping that neutering him will help reduce his aggresiveness, but if it's not really good for him yet, then I'll have to put up with it. He's approximately 14 weeks old and as of last week monday 3.6 pounds. It's just a little confusing to me that I've got two different answers from two different vets.

Sorry, I know I'm being a little pesty with all these newby questions.

[chico2]

Jassy,your little Gizmo is just doing what kittens do,I would not call it aggression ,just try to avoid playing with him with your hands.
As for neutering,my vet at the time would not neuter before 6 months,but I know some will do it much earlier,all 3 of my boys were neutered at 6 months
We did have a spraying problem,I am not sure if it was related to being neutered later.

[catlover2]

My cats were neutered and spayed just before 4 mos. Some males can start to get studdy when they're 5 mos.

[Love4himies]

I wouldn't say it was aggression either, just typical kitty stuff.

Sometimes cats can get over stimulated when you are patting them and neutering will not change that. Normally you will see a change in facial expression or the tail will start flickering just before they bite. Watch for these signs and stop the patting.

As for play time, a firm no when he bites your hand and then redirect his attention to the toy. Do you allow him to get the toy and is it something he can get his teeth into?

[clm]

Sounds like normal kitty behavior to me too. My vet won't neuter before 6months of age either, but you can find vets that'll do it earlier, although like has already been said, it's not going to change this behavior.
When he starts to play too rough, redirect to a toy or stop playing. My cats all love it when I roll up a small paper ball and throw it. They bring it back to me until they get tired of that game.
Now I never minded the biting and scratching that came with playing with them....long sleeve sweatshirts helped and I got used to having hamburger hands when they were kittens. I can understand why a lot of people don't though, ha, ha.

clm

[jassy3399]

I do stop playing with him, and he always gets a good, firm no when he bites. He's sometimes pretty stubborn, tho, and he'll chase after me instead of whichever of his toys that I tried to redirect him to. Since this is a recent developement, I thought it might be due to his testicles having dropped and the accompanying surge of hormones. As it's not, I'll try to remain patient and persistant. And he does have a mix of toys, some hard plastic with bells in, some plush ones with feathers on that he can sink his teeth into. Not to mention several wads of paper, since he seems to love paper most of all.

Thanks for the advice!

[kathryn]

The shelter I worked at has been doing 2 months/2 pounds for ages.. we haven't seen any long term or short term side affects from it. I've personally found it to be alot better... my one cat that we were told we had to wait until 6 months for is such a jerk.. I mean, he started becoming super aggressive around 5 months and got HUGE and was just a big nasty tom cat.. and my vet (who I still love and trust) kept saying we HAD to wait until 6 months... I feel like if at the time, we had it done earlier, he would not be such a

I know some people are wary about the 2 month rule, which I can understand, but personally I've felt the best time on both ends is 3-4 months. They are a bit bigger, a bit stronger, but still young enough where it is minimally invasive.