Advice from Breeder: When is a good time to fix your kitten?

When to spay or neuter?

Some vets believe in ESN (Early Spay and Neuter) procedure. They spay kittens at 3 months and 3 pounds. In my experience, this procedure is a bit too rough at such an early age. My preference is that your pet is spayed at 5-7 months of age, just before it reaches its hormonal maturity.

The importance of Spaying/neutering to cats.

The drive to procreate is extremely strong in cats. It can drive them to get out of the house to seek a mate and potentially get infected with deadly viruses from outside cats, it will make them look skinny and unattractive, it will cause marking/defecating accidents by both boys and girls, it will drive them to fight with any other pets that you may have in your household or you.

There is no benefit to allowing your cat to have a littler for a health benefit and then spay her, or allow your kids to see the miracle of life. Purebred cats, as a rule of thumb, will not have as an easy delivery as street cats.

Ask yourself before deciding to breed:

• Do I have $4K to pay an emergency animal hospital in case the birthing doesn't go right?

• Am I ready to see my pet die from birth complications in case I don't have the money?

• Can I stomach it if the kittens are born dead, or die shortly after birth?

• Will I know how to resuscitate a kitten if it is struggling to breathe?

• Will I be able to take care of a kitten if it has special needs (cleft palate) and must be seen by a vet or have a surgery?

• Will I be able to feed the kittens every 2 hours (day and night) for at least 4 weeks in case the mother is not able to feed them?

• Do I know what to do with the mom if she gets mastitis (breast infection)?

• Will I be able to find proper buyers for my kittens?

• What happens if your kitten gets sick/misbehaving at the new home, will you take it back?

• Are you able to take a 100% responsibility for your "creation"?

If you have an interest in breeding, you should do it the right way

Be at peace with the fact that you are creating new lives that may or may not be treated properly, educate yourself about breeding, get a mentor who will be there for you every hour of the day or night, and get enough money to buy breeder-level cats and a very large sum for medical emergency expenses.

Let's be responsible and not add to the shelter population! Too many breeders' work went into the British Short/Longhair for a kitten to end up in a shelter.