# British Shorthair and Neutering



## Angelkitty

My apologies for not putting this in the correct forum section, as my question is related to a specific breed I thought maybe here was best!

My BSH Ash is just 4 months now and I'm thinking about neutering; is it too early? If I neuter him now will he not develop the big lovely cheeks like a male BSH? should I wait?

Thanks for your tips in advance!


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## Ingrid25

No, he is definantly old enough to get neutured, they are old enough by 10 weeks!


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## OrientalSlave

You don't say what country you are in - they vary. But are you doing to show him? If not, as soon as the vet will do it. I agree that a very masculine head is lovely, but spraying is not.


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## Angelkitty

I'm in the UK, I won't be showing him but I'd like him to make sure he fully developers his cheeks, you know? I hear if you neuter too soon he won't get them

He already feel emasculated as him mum chewed off half of his tail as a baby! (instead of his umbilical cord)


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## Aurelie

Our breeder advised us to wait as long as we could, and recommended we waited until the January after he was born (in June) so as to let his jowls come in but without him being caught up in the next mating season.

He was six months old and I did not see any spraying or other behaviour that would have given me cause for concern.


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## we love bsh's

Angelkitty said:


> I'm in the UK, I won't be showing him but I'd like him to make sure he fully developers his cheeks, you know? I hear if you neuter too soon he won't get them
> 
> He already feel emasculated as him mum chewed off half of his tail as a baby! (instead of his umbilical cord)


Funny you mention what mum did to kittens tail as i have a girl here she did the same to her baby only the tip mind.


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## jo-pop

I had the same wondering with my BSH boy for same reasons. I got him done at 6 mths though as it was important to me not to risk him starting spraying or developing other tomcat kinds of behaviour.


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## MominsMummy

OMG so if they get neutered too early they dont get the big lovely cheeks associated with BSHs?? I have a cream boy who will be 16 weeks on friday... last time he went to the vet 2 weeks ago they said he hasnt got fully developed testes yet so it isnt time yet. So i have to wait until hes 6 months to get him neutered so as not to interfere with the developing cheeks? Hope he doesnt get into other bad habits


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## rcmadd

from what i can gather males dont usually start spraying till 9mth old.. we got our selkirk boy done at 6mth but now wish we held off till he was a bit more older/mature
females on the other hand mature more after speying


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## spid

But the neuters you see at shows have the cheeks even though some of them would have been neutered before 6 months. 

Research has shown that early neutering has no effect on the general growth of boys, in fact they often end up 3% bigger than entires - no idea about jowls though.


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## MominsMummy

rcmadd said:


> from what i can gather males dont usually start spraying till 9mth old.. we got our selkirk boy done at 6mth but now wish we held off till he was a bit more older/mature
> females on the other hand mature more after speying


Hmmm i suppose theres no exact time as to when they will start spraying... every cat is different...


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## MominsMummy

spid said:


> But the neuters you see at shows have the cheeks even though some of them would have been neutered before 6 months.
> 
> Research has shown that early neutering has no effect on the general growth of boys, in fact they often end up 3% bigger than entires - no idea about jowls though.


I have also heard they get even bigger after being neutered but really hope he gets his jowls in....


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## princessa rags

Hi we have a cream bsh neuter he is 14months old we got him neutered at 6 months as i have ragdoll queens so didnt want him to start trying anything lol but he is massive 8kg and lovely big cheeks already


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## Brits

I have heard this is a myth although I do not have a neutered male, I think it just depends on the genetics of the particular cat.


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## messyhearts

I suspect that this theory relates to the same theory regarding growth in puppies into dogs as they tend to stay looking "lanky" instead of filling out if neutered too soon.


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## Cerridwen

The "stud jowls" are testosterone dependent=even if you let your male develop them before you neuter him, they'll disappear since the testosterone will go away with the testicles.


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## jill3

We had our British male Lilac neutered at just over 8 months. The reason being he had a few health problems and wanted to get them sorted out.
He was fine and he didn't spray.
The vet told me that it is a myth about the longer you leave neutering the bigger they will grow. He said it is all to do with genetics.
What ever the size they grow to doesn't really matter anyway as you love them for who they are not by the size of their jowls


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## Lucy1012

I have 3 BSH boys, 2 are neutered and I waited until they were both closer to 10 months before castrating, I also have a 11 month old boy who may be my future stud who is in the house and does not yet spray. 

I personally prefer for a cat to mature into an adult before altering them..


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## jenny armour

although i have wegies, my two youngest were neutered at 11 weeks and they are now 10 months old and they are big boys. doesnt seem to have effected them in the least, they are still large playful kittens


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