Neutering sibling kittens

audreyp

Hi,

Just a quick question. I have two kittens who are not allowed outside, a boy and girl. We are waiting until October to neuter them as we have work going on in the house. Is there any chance they could mate and the girl get pregnant in the meantime? At that stage they will be 7 months old, I know 6 months is recommended and that's the age my previous cats were neutered.

Thanks!

audreyp

Hi,

Just a quick question. I have two kittens who are not allowed outside, a boy and girl. We are waiting until October to neuter them as we have work going on in the house. Is there any chance they could mate and the girl get pregnant in the meantime? At that stage they will be 7 months old, I know 6 months is recommended and that's the age my previous cats were neutered.

Thanks!

Shanao

Yes there is a large possibility that they could mate, I've seen kittens as young as four months come into the vets pregnant. Can you at least get the male done? Its a much smaller op on the male and they bounce back from it straight away.

audreyp

Shanao wrote: »

Yes there is a large possibility that they could mate, I've seen kittens as young as four months come into the vets pregnant. Can you at least get the male done? Its a much smaller op on the male and they bounce back from it straight away.

I thought they only would during mating season which is April or is it year round? I'd hate them to go in by themselves they are so close, and a cat with a cone with builders in the house is not ideal!

Shanao

None of my males had cones on after being neutered and had no issues so that shouldn't be a problem. And because of the conditions we create with central heating etc, indoor cats can reproduce throughout the winter as well. One of our females came into heat at five months old last November (we were waiting until six months to get her done:rolleyes:) and we were just lucky that all of the boys were already neutered.

mymo

Yes, any time from 5 months its possible. Get them done before then.

audreyp

Shanao wrote: »

None of my males had cones on after being neutered and had no issues so that shouldn't be a problem. And because of the conditions we create with central heating etc, indoor cats can reproduce throughout the winter as well. One of our females came into heat at five months old last November (we were waiting until six months to get her done:rolleyes:) and we were just lucky that all of the boys were already neutered.

Sorry I wasn't clear, I know males don't need a cone but really didn't went to bring them to vet separately as they are great friends and calm each other down.

Any idea how I'd know the female is in heat. She is 5 months now and you have made me paranoid :-)

Sigma Force

Get the boy done for now just in case, don't take the risk of them mating.
Boys don't even need stitches which is great coz most other critters do. They recover really quickly too.

Themadhouse

Definitely get the boy done. He will be right as rain by the next morning.
Indoor cats dont have a mating season. She will start to chatter, will flick her tail to the side, will stick her butt up in the air, back up to your male (presenting herself). She can start at anytime.

MaryK666

We took in two kittens with about 2 weeks between them in age at the end of last year.
We were going to get them neutered at the usual 6 month milestone but the girl (the younger one) started to come into heat at about 18 weeks so we decided to get them both done at the same time - just in case.

Our girl was thrown out in a bag at 3 weeks and rescued, by a wonderful rescue group who nursed her back to life, and our boy was a feral kitten who had also been rescued by the same group.
They're both happy, health and almost a year old now but I dread to think what would have happened if we'd left them together un-neutered until the 6 month mark. She's a small cat (possibly due to the bad start she'd had in life) and having a litter of kittens at 6 months old would probably have killed her.

Cats don't care whether they're brother and sister, cousins or not related at all. Once the mating instinct kicks in, they just follow their instincts and the next thing you know, you have a house full of kittens.

I'd follow the advice of earlier posters and get your boy done first, and as soon as possible as it's not beyond the realms of possibility that your girl could already be coming into heat.
He'll only be away for a few hours if you can get him in to your vets early in the morning and you can keep his mate occupied until he returns so she doesn't miss hom too much.
And it's a simple operation on a male with no stitches so there'll be no lovely 'lampshade' required afterwards.

planetX

I'd go against the flow here and say if you can only get one done, get the female spayed. You'll have hell in your house if she goes into heat, the male will go mad, neutered or not, and females in heat are very clever at escaping.
Actually though why not just take both in. They recover a lot quicker than you'd think, even the females. I've never had any that needed a cone, or more than a few days of rest. If you have a good vet the wound is tiny.

audreyp

Thanks for the advice, will try to schedule them in as soon as possible. I was under the impression cats only became in heat one time of the year.

Is there any signs I could have missed that the girl was in heat and could be pregnant already?

They are so small, they thoughts of her getting pregnant scares me!

planetX

She'd have been agitated and meowing a lot - your male would have been agitated too, I don't think you'd have not noticed:)
btw - I wouldn't worry about seperating them, in fact it's a good idea to after surgery.

audreyp

planetX wrote: »

She'd have been agitated and meowing a lot - your male would have been agitated too, I don't think you'd have not noticed:)
btw - I wouldn't worry about seperating them, in fact it's a good idea to after surgery.

:-) thanks! Boy booked in for Friday! Thanks for all the advice!

mymo

By the way, just so you know, they aren't like dogs, the female won't come into heat and then go months before the next, sometimes its almost constant until they mate, here's a quote from a website

Heat Cycles in Cats

Cats are referred to as "polyestrus," which means that they will go into heat cycles periodically during their fertile years. These heat cycles may start as early as the fourth or fifth month of a kitten's life, and will continue until she is either bred or spayed. Heat cycles in cats last from several days to two weeks or longer, and repeat every two to three weeks. You can see then, how a female cat may almost always seem to be in heat.

No one can say with any accuracy that heat cycles are painful to cats; however from the calling (loud yowling) and other symptoms they exhibit, it would appear that they are very uncomfortable. For detailed information on how to tell if a female cat is in heat, see this how-to article. If you still are not certain, watch this video of a young cat in heat.

Believe me you'll know when it starts, night and day yowling, trying desperately to escape, all the toms in miles spraying at your door!
I would try to get her done asap too.

Outsnkat

Really, do not worry about separating them, get that female fixed. They will get on with it and get over it, and pretty quick too

audreyp

I was definitely getting both done but was just wondering what time I had. The boy is booked in and we will definitely wait until building is complete with the girl. My last girl had cone on for about 5 days and it was a lot of work looking after her and making sure she didn't take it off. Hopefully we can delay her for 4 weeks and we will look out for the signs of going into heat as suggested by other posters.

mymo

Shouldn't need a cone, I've never seen one on a female cat. I did put a babygrow on a cat one to stop them tearing at stitches (not from a neutering), much less invasive.
Tip about babygrow, I found on here I think.

audreyp

My previous female cat had one about 2 years ago. They don't need a cone but its safest to have one according to the vet. I trust him so I go with his recommendations. She seems fine now and not looking like she is in heat at all, so fingers crossed it will stay that way for the next 4 weeks. At least she can get pregnant in the house with two neutered males.

Ailishcrehan

You'd definitely know if she is in heat - females get really vocal, overly affectionate, when you rub her along her back, she'll crouch down low to the ground, threading the ground with her paws and sticking her tail up and to one side. Before I knew anything about cats, years ago, my cat came into heat - I was so worried she had brain damage, I rang an emergency vet - must have sounded a right gob****e telling the vet my cat was like something from the exorcist, walking backwards, backing up into things, rolling around on the ground etc!

Getting the male done now will prevent (most likely) any spraying in the house and getting him neutered before his hormones kick in, should really stop him trying to mount your female even if she comes into heat before being neutered. If at all possible, get her neutered asap, the recovery time is remarkable and she'll be back to herself within a couple of days!

audreyp

As I have said I will get her done in 4 weeks. Unless she turns into something like the exorcist beforehand :-)
The boy is only 5 months old, so no sign of spraying yet.

EmZZZ

Just for info, queens can have 3 litters a year... even when they are living outside, which is why rescues are so overwhelmed with kittens...

Vets have different policies. Some will spay as young as 4 months old or over 1 kilo. Others are not comfortable doing so...
Depending on the anaesthetic they use, the kitten will be more or less sleepy after the operation.
I had never heard of a cone before, but I can understand how it would give you peace of mine as you wouldn't have to check that the cat is not licking the scar.

Glad you are getting the male neutered now!

audreyp

The boy is neutered. No problems at all thankfully. I know its a simple operation but doesn't stop me being worried.
It was also very cheap, the vet waived the surgery fee to help control the cat population. Is this standard? When I had my other two cats neutered 3 and a half years ago I don't think this was the case.

EmZZZ

audreyp wrote: »

The boy is neutered. No problems at all thankfully. I know its a simple operation but doesn't stop me being worried.
It was also very cheap, the vet waived the surgery fee to help control the cat population. Is this standard? When I had my other two cats neutered 3 and a half years ago I don't think this was the case.

It seems to happen more often. now Thankfully!
Cat overpopulation has become a real problem and it is not uncommon to see vet taking kittens in and trying to rehome them, so offering a neutering discount can only be beneficial for them too.