I have been apart of a low cost spay/neuter assistance for several years. I am often asked when should I have my pet fixed and how safe is it?  The answer is somewhere between 4-6 months. But the answer is also, any time after that. Not every new family pet is a puppy or kitten. Just get them fixed. Here is the story of my spay/neuters.

I have been adopted twice in the past 4 years. Ma’am was a feral that showed up at my thrift store that helped fund the community programs I was running. We had large bay doors and one day, ma’am the kitten came running into the store and she never left again. She became my store cat and everyone helped tame her. When the weather turned cooler, I brought her home to stay. Ma’am was fixed about 3 weeks later. 

She spent the night of her surgery at the Vet’s office. It was their policy for females. She was knocked out for the first 24 hours after we brought her home. We fixed her a spot on my desk chair and she stayed there until the next day. I brought her some water from time to time. The next day I showed her a liter box I had sat up for her and she was very pleased. By the following day she was close to normal.

Another time, a feral cat had dropped off her little bitty feral kittens at the front door of my store and hid them behind a large eraser board. I kept hearing little meows and finally found them. A girl friend runs a pet rescue and she quickly found a solution for these kittens. A momma cat had only had 2 kittens, so she had plenty of room to accommodate 3 more kittens about the same age of her kittens. Win Win. Meanwhile, someone had posted they had found a kitten under a car and she could not keep it. So I went and picked up that kitten and was going to add it with the other 3 kittens. When she came to get the kittens, I didn’t let the new one go with her. I wanted to bring him home first and let James meet him. He slept on James’s neck all night and the kitten never left the house again. Well, not until her got fixed.

We picked up Baby Kitty around 4pm the same day. He is perfectly ok but I think he was mad. I held him and petted him the whole way home. Finally, he crawled into my arms and he let me hold him like a baby. When we got home, he jumped out of the car and ran to find his brother and sister. He received a few extra treats but he was fine. 

I was nervous both times. It is hard to imagine your babies having surgery. You don’t want it to hurt them. You have to keep telling yourself that this is best for them in the long run. We all made it through. Here is an article from Pet WebMD that gives you 10 reasons to get your pet fixed. https://pets.webmd.com/reasons-spay-neuter-pet

I have attached an article from the American Animal Hospital Association, AAHA, about spay/neuter. It will give you a little more detail. Enjoy

https://www.aaha.org/pet_owner/lifestyle/spay-and-neuter-when-the-time-is-right.aspx