What is the average age for a kitten to get fixed?

Pixie: What is the average age for a kitten to get fixed?
My kitten is 10 weeks old. Some sites online say kittens can be fixed at 12 weeks, others say 5 months. Does anyone know how old my kitten should be?

Answers and Views:

Answer by Amanda T
It is always best to wait until 6 months. Some places will do it earlier, but 12 weeks is definitely too young. Its best to wait until 5-6 months.

Answer by Becky D
shelters will get the fixed earlier so they can give them up for adoption but it should wait until the kitten is 4-6 months old.

Answer by fang58000
It is typically between the age range that you mentioned. If you call you vet they can tell you specifically whether or not a 10 week old can be done.

Answer by Beck
wait untill 6 months, your kitten is too young

Answer by old cat lady
Shelters started doing the early (2 month, 2 lb) surgeries over ten years ago. The Winn Feline Foundation had done a study showing that it was not harmful for the cat this early.

For shelters it has made a big difference as taking deposits on future surgeries or checking if it ever got done at all just wasn’t working. Now they just don’t let them out the door till its done.

Many vets still hang on to the six-month date for getting it done. Frequently a cat can have a first heat at five months and get pregnant or a male cat can mature and starting spraying in the house.

The early surgery has a very quick recovery time – little female kittens are bouncing around and playing with siblings just a few hours after surgery.

Most spay/neuter clinics will certainly do your kitten at three months. If you want to be conservative about it you can wait till she’s five months, or five and one half. I think you can persuade your vet to do it at that very slightly early date.

Answer by >^_^< 15m
The average age to get a kitten fixed is between 4-6 months old

Answer by Scott S
Age is not the determining factor on getting your kitten fixed. Male kittens can be neutered when the weigh a minimum of 2.5 pounds and the females can be spayed when they reach a minimum of 3 pounds. This information is right from the vets I was at this morning. We’ve been following this rule for a few years now and have not had a single issue.

Answer by cat lover
Most people fix their kittens at 4-6 months old. Mine was 6 months when he got fixed, and he did well.

Answer by P-Plate
If you definately don’t want kittens, then when your kitten is between 4 & 9 months, you can arrange for her to be spayed.

Answer by catloverme123
as long as the kitten is at least 2 pounds, it can be fixed. most vets want to wait till 6 months so talk it over with your vet. don’t let it get much past 6 months though.

Answer by Kina
As close to 6 months is best, most vets wont do it any earlier anyway and if you wait to long after it will cost you more!

Answer by Kathryn
8 weeks and 2 pounds. My foster kitten just got fixed & adopted out at 12 weeks. He was about 2.5 pounds.

Waiting until 6 months of age is useless. Cat’s heal faster when they are fixed at a younger age. My shelter fixes them and puts them up for adoption between 8 and 9 weeks. Most vets like to wait until 6 months of age, but that’s just a ‘traditional’ sort of thing, and really doesn’t mean anything.

Answer by JBird
Ask your local vet. There was a Spay Day in my community and the youngest kitten was 2 months old. There were about 7 of them and the vets said they were old enough.