What is the best age to have a cat neutered?
Is 16 months too old?

I'm 34, and I had my dog neutered two years ago. Hope that helps.

Oh, and if it's the cat you're talking about it should be fine at 16 months. Bit of a shock to the horny little rascal, but it'll get over it.

My two were born in July and are due to be sterilised and neutered this week,....so whats that...5 x 4 = 20ish weeks, your vet will advise the best time!

I need to get mine done as soon as possible as my little male, Sylvester keeps trying to mount my little female, Bueno! :help:

No, but get it done quick. I think you are ok from about 9 months old.

Originally posted by sarahlorna
My two were born in July and are due to be sterilised and neutered this week,....so whats that...5 x 4 = 20ish weeks, your vet will advise the best time!

I need to get mine done as soon as possible as my little male, Sylvester keeps trying to mount my little female, Bueno! :help:

Oops, sorry.. i read 16 weeks,...any age is good i think, although it may affect his personality

I think a tom cat can be neutered at about 12 weeks old, and a she cat at about 16 weeks old. I don't believe there is an upper age limit, but it might cost slightly more, the older the animal gets.

My family and myself personally have had older cats neutered, and CPL and the RSPCA neuter older stray cats all the time.

I am just worried he may start spraying around the house to mark his territory if left with all his bits.

well we took in a pretty old stray cat and had him neutered, he was fine.

We neuter or spay all cats through our care at the Shelter, irrelevant of age, and this sometimes involves having quite elderly cats operated on. Apart from the very very small minority that have problems from the anaesthetic or infections, they all do really well.

Your young lad is probably a bit of a handful now his hormones are running riot, and having him neutered should reduce the risk of him spraying and getting pushed off his territory or beaten up by another tom, as well as the risk of him being hit by a car while out looking for queens on heat.

It is important to recognise though that he may already be sexually mature, so he could already have picked up feline AIDS (FIV) or Feline Leukaemia Virus (FelV) which are both sexually transmitted and incurable, and which run rife in the feral communities. It is therefore advisable to get him tested for these before you have him neutered.

It will also take a while for the effects of the testosterone to wear off- several months in some cases. During this phase he may still act like a full tom, but that should fade over time.

My two cats were neutered around 9 months old and I think this was too late. They were rescue cats and this was the age I acquired them so I had no control over what happened before. We have had one or two incidents of spraying, generally when they feel their territory is threatened.

I have a cat whose 5 month old, and I am going to have him neutered next month. To be honest I'm not all together sure when the proper age for having this done is.

i have taken my cat today to be done,shes 6 months old,the house seems all quiet without her,im picking her up at 4pm,hoping shes ok,

Originally posted by medusa666
We neuter or spay all cats through our care at the Shelter, irrelevant of age, and this sometimes involves having quite elderly cats operated on. Apart from the very very small minority that have problems from the anaesthetic or infections, they all do really well.

Your young lad is probably a bit of a handful now his hormones are running riot, and having him neutered should reduce the risk of him spraying and getting pushed off his territory or beaten up by another tom, as well as the risk of him being hit by a car while out looking for queens on heat.

It is important to recognise though that he may already be sexually mature, so he could already have picked up feline AIDS (FIV) or Feline Leukaemia Virus (FelV) which are both sexually transmitted and incurable, and which run rife in the feral communities. It is therefore advisable to get him tested for these before you have him neutered.

It will also take a while for the effects of the testosterone to wear off- several months in some cases. During this phase he may still act like a full tom, but that should fade over time.

Its not just the feral cat population that can get FIV and FelV any cat thats allowed to roam can catch them and its not just sexually transmitted, as in humans it can be passed on in the blood, in fights for example.