Ragdoll Cat Forums

Ok. I guess as a ICU RN, performing a surgery on anything that young (animal or person) unless absolutely necessary doesn't seem to be what is in the kitten's best interest at the time to me...just my humble opinion. I can understand as a breeder you are always wondering...will they breed this kitten, even if they signed the contract? It seems so clear to me because I never intend to breed my animals as I am only every looking for a family pet. Honestly when searching out breeders, I actually had a bit of the opposite of a reaction if I saw they were going to be altered before I got them and wondered what they rationale was. Thank you for explaining it to me.

Others can speak more to this, but it seems that doing it earlier is just physically less taxing on their bodies than if done at 6 months or a year or older. Males are pretty much recovered and back to normal the same day, females in a day or two from what I have heard. And as I understand it, this has been recongized as quite safe for a long time, it is not a recent development. I was surprised at first too. Many shelters and rescues are also beginning to spay/neuter kittens before adopting them out, since moggies are less likely to be desexed once adopted and much more likely to be allowed to roam outside. I personally have never heard of anyone losing a kitten to this, although I am certain it must happen occasionally, just like cats sometimes die while having their teeth cleaned. But if it was a likely risk I can't imagine breeders would do it. It is done much more for the cats' own interests than for any proprietary interests a breeder has over adopted out animals. In fact, the only anti-early alter statement here has had nothing to do with relative safety and everything to do with -cost-.

There are some skill factors for the surgeon working on a smaller patient (although some vets are surprised at how big Ragdolls are at 3 months of age) and some techniques and facilities (warmed table) are geared to young kittens, but younger kittens seem to do better if anything. There is some theoretical support for this in terms of metabolization of anaesthesia and ease of healing, but the research to confirm it is at least as safe as for an older kitten (and speuters are always done on kittens to avoid territorial spraying) is clear at this point. The procedure started with shelter kittens so that they could be placed. That was the environment in which its safety was first confirmed.

I can tell you that few breeders would do it if we believed it was a danger to the kittens. However, the primary benefit is that it takes enormous pressure off trying to figure out if the potential owner is fronting for a kitten mill, which is a constant issue for more expensive and desirable breeds. From the owner's perspective, it means he does not have to worry about the surgery - and everyone is stressed by surgery for his cats, no matter how safe it is - and there is always some real risk, which the owner does not take on for a kitten placed already speutered.

JanH Wrote:There are some skill factors for the surgeon working on a smaller patient (although some vets are surprised at how big Ragdolls are at 3 months of age) and some techniques and facilities (warmed table) are geared to young kittens, but younger kittens seem to do better if anything. There is some theoretical support for this in terms of metabolization of anaesthesia and ease of healing, but the research to confirm it is at least as safe as for an older kitten (and speuters are always done on kittens to avoid territorial spraying) is clear at this point. The procedure started with shelter kittens so that they could be placed. That was the environment in which its safety was first confirmed.

I can tell you that few breeders would do it if we believed it was a danger to the kittens. However, the primary benefit is that it takes enormous pressure off trying to figure out if the potential owner is fronting for a kitten mill, which is a constant issue for more expensive and desirable breeds. From the owner's perspective, it means he does not have to worry about the surgery - and everyone is stressed by surgery for his cats, no matter how safe it is - and there is always some real risk, which the owner does not take on for a kitten placed already speutered.

"Speuter"...I like that. I see the interest of shelter animals being done. They see the effects every day! I certainly agree with your last paragraph that the anxiety would be gone. I know we didn't enjoy having to take our Golden Retriever in last year, nor am I particularly looking forward to having Jasper done in October....but I definitely do not want a spraying cat! Been there done that!

Some breeders cannot find a vet who WILL early alter. Unfortunately, not all vets are as up to date on information (or the skill set needed) to provide early alter. Some breeders live in rural areas where vets are few and far between, and if that vet won't early alter, should that stop someone who truly loves breeding and cares deeply for their cats from doing so?

I personally am an advocate of early alter, and have the distinct advantage of being close in proximity to both a spay and neuter clinic: http://www.animalspayneuter.com/ and a vet that I work closely with who will be vet checking and speutering my kittens prior to their placement in homes. However, I'm very fortunate and thankful that this is my situation.

Sadly, what Jan writes is true - you'd be surprised at how many people want unaltered kittens to have "just one litter" so they can "give" their family and friends pure (or sometimes not) Ragdolls.

While issues such as early speuter, DNA testing for HCM, etc. are very important factors to consider, focusing on a single issue unfortunately doesn't tell you if the breeder you're getting your cats from is a "good, honest" breeder with healthy, well socialized kittens or not. For example, there may be a cattery who cages their kittens all the time, hardly socializes them at all, but since they early speuter, they may be thought of as a "reputable" breeder. Does this make sense? Anyone's best bet when looking for a new kitten is to forge a relationship with the person they want to buy a kitten from. While it's no guarantee that you'll get a healthy, well socialized Ragdoll this way, it's one of the best ways to minimize your risk of NOT getting what you're looking for.

In my experience, Cathy has been totally awesome to work with. She's friendly, honest, sleeps with her kittens (and her queens) and allows her males time out with stud pants on daily. She truly loves Ragdolls, loves breeding, has been doing it 17 + years, and is an asset to Ragdoll breeders (IMHO.) I truly wish more breeders could be like her.

Being the usual 3 steps behind over here in the 'old country', our vets refuse to early speuter! I don't know of any breeders in the UK (although that doesn't mean there aren't any) who speuter kittens before they leave at 14 weeks old. Mostly we withhold the registration paperwork until confirmation has been received that speuter has taken place but even that is no guarantee that it will.

Something that hasn't been mentioned so far is the need for speuter on health grounds. Cats that remain entire are more at risk from developing cancers than those who are altered so why keep an unaltered cat unless you are a breeder?

I would say the best type of breeder in any country is the one who is registered with a governing body, is one who keeps their kittens indoors where they are well socialised and used to household noises, happy for you to visit at any time and as many times as you like, will answer endless questions from the buyer but also expects to get to lots of answers for their own questions too, and who is happy for you to contact other buyers or their vet for reccomendations. Primarily, a good breeder should have nothing to hide!!!