# Best age to neuter male British shorthair kitten?



## kitkit (Feb 23, 2018)

I want him to have beautful chubby cheeks but I don't want to wait so long that he develops any undesirable behaviours.

I know that his cheeks are likely to get bigger with testosterone, but I've read mixed things about whether waiting longer to neuter makes them bigger (some sources say they shrink back to pre-testosterino size after neutering and some say they stay the same). Does anyone know from experience?

He's 5 months old and a little angel. No signs of any unwanted behaviours yet.

He's also an indoor cat and we have no other cats, so unwanted kittens aren't an issue.

His breeder wants me to wait until he's 1 year old but this seems too old and I'd be worried about him spraying. He says the males in his family don't tend to spray, but I don't know if it's worth the risk.

Any advice?


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## LeArthur (Dec 20, 2016)

I'd get him neutered as soon as possible and definitely not wait a year. I'm very surprised the breeder said that! Breeders tend to have the kittens neutered before they leave, or make you sign a contract and require proof that they will be neutered within a given time frame.

I have Arthur who his a BSH, he was neutered at 4 months old.


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## jill3 (Feb 18, 2009)

I have had 3 British short haired males and I have had then done at about 9 months old. Some people will say neuter early but it is up to you. I have never had a problem with spraying etc.
As for getting the chubby cheeks. That is all down to genetics. Nothing to do with neutering when they are older.

One of my boys was poorly and so we waited till he was about 10 months old before neutering which is what the vet advised.

Can we see a picture of your Baby boy please?


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

@kitkit - a male cat left un-neutered past 18 months will have developed the thicker neck, larger head, shorter legs and stocky appearance of the entire male. The significant time of 18 months is because that is when the long bone growth plates close.

The act of neutering delays the closing of the growth plates, due to the significant reduction in levels of testosterone. A male cat neutered before all his growth plates have closed will have longer legs than an entire male cat, also he will be longer in the body, have a slightly smaller head and will not have the thick neck of the entire male.

As I say, for your cat to reach that point, you'd have to wait to neuter him until after he reaches 18 mths old. By that time the cat would be highly likely to have developed the typical behaviours of entire males such as spraying indoors, and possibly howling at windows and doors to try and get out and find a mate. Plus he would have very strong smelling urine (because of hormone levels). So this is not advisable for a cat who is not intended to be used as a breeding stud.

I haven't heard there is any difference in the 'chubbiness of the cheeks' of a neutered cat compared with an entire one...Is this perhaps something you have read, or that your kitten's breeder told you?

But with regard to when to neuter him, it makes little difference whether you have him neutered at 4 mths old or e.g. 1 year old, in terms of his eventual size and build.


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## spotty cats (Jul 24, 2012)

lea247 said:


> definitely not wait a year. I'm very surprised the breeder said that!


There are breeders and there are *breeders*

I'd neuter him now, no need to wait any longer than you already have.
All the years I've shown I've never seen a BSH neuter (commonly neutered at 10-12 weeks old) without a rounded head, as it's their genetic makeup.


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## Orla (Sep 16, 2015)

chillminx said:


> @kitkit - a male cat left un-neutered past 18 months will have developed the thicker neck, larger head, shorter legs and stocky appearance of the entire male. The significant time of 18 months is because that is when the long bone growth plates close.
> 
> The act of neutering delays the closing of the growth plates, due to the significant reduction in levels of testosterone. A male cat neutered before all his growth plates have closed will have longer legs than an entire male cat, also he will be longer in the body, have a slightly smaller head and will not have the thick neck of the entire male.
> 
> ...


This explains a lot. Tommy, my stray toothless monster, wasn't neutered until he was around 3 and he has a big round head, thug neck and short stocky legs (and also a short thick tail) with big paws. I knew the Tom chops were due to late neutering but didn't know about the rest of the appearance. Thankfully he doesn't spray but he does definitely display tomcat behaviour and still likes to fight and jump on females, so I really wish he had been done younger.


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## PetloverJo (Nov 4, 2011)

George was done at 6 months he is just over a year old now. As you can see he's quite a big lad.


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## snapper3009 (Jul 30, 2018)

Personally I don't neuter until over a year for males and females I’d get done at around 7/8 months.


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## Jesthar (May 16, 2011)

snapper3009 said:


> Personally I don't neuter until over a year for males and females I'd get done at around 7/8 months.


Why on earth would you wait that long?  Even the old school advice is 6 months, and a female is pretty much guaranteed to have had at least one heat by then, which vastly increases the risk of some pretty serious health problems - including sexually related ones and potentially kittens if allowed to roam.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

PetloverJo said:


> George was done at 6 months he is just over a year old now. As you can see he's quite a big lad.


Wow, he is a big boy for a year old! He is very, very handsome and cuddly looking too. :Kiss


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

snapper3009 said:


> Personally I don't neuter until over a year for males and females I'd get done at around 7/8 months.


Leaving males until a year old is a bit of a risk! You are very lucky if you haven't had any soiling issues indoors. I take it your cats don't go outdoors? (as it would be irresponsible to allow unneutered male cats to roam).

An outdoor female cat could of course become pregnant from 4 or 5 mths old, and can develop pyometra if they keep coming into call but are not mated. I have known of cases of unspayed kittens of 7/8 months old getting pyometra (a very nasty illness which can be fatal if not treated promptly).

It makes very little difference, if any, in terms of the male cat's eventual size, delaying neutering until a year old, so I am puzzled... I could understand your reasoning if you delayed male neutering until 18 mths old when the long bone growth plates will have closed.


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

chillminx said:


> Leaving males until a year old is a bit of a risk! You are very lucky if you haven't had any soiling issues indoors. *I take it your cats don't go outdoors? (as it would be irresponsible to allow unneutered male cats to roam).*
> 
> An outdoor female cat could of course become pregnant from 4 or 5 mths old, and can develop pyometra if they keep coming into call but are not mated. I have known of cases of unspayed kittens of 7/8 months old getting pyometra (a very nasty illness which can be fatal if not treated promptly).
> 
> It makes very little difference, if any, in terms of the male cat's eventual size, delaying neutering until a year old, so I am puzzled... I could understand your reasoning if you delayed male neutering until 18 mths old when the long bone growth plates will have closed.


@chillminx I was about to post the same but had a quick check and it appears that this poster believes in cats being outside so must indeed allow unneutered cats to free roam


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

@buffie - I too am very sorry to hear that


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## snapper3009 (Jul 30, 2018)

buffie said:


> @chillminx I was about to post the same but had a quick check and it appears that this poster believes in cats being outside so must indeed allow unneutered cats to free roam


Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions!!! My cats are inside until neutered/spayed. They are outside 24/7 now because my girl is over a year and my boy is over 2 years.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

snapper3009 said:


> Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions!!! My cats are inside until neutered/spayed. They are outside 24/7 now because my girl is over a year and my boy is over 2 years.


That's a relief to know.


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## snapper3009 (Jul 30, 2018)

chillminx said:


> That's a relief to know.


It's not nice knowing people who don't know anything about you are assuming the worst! One of the things that puts me of this forum


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## Jesthar (May 16, 2011)

snapper3009 said:


> It's not nice knowing people who don't know anything about you are assuming the worst! One of the things that puts me of this forum


You obviously haven't seen the sheer volume of 'How soon can I let my unneutered kitten outside?' threads we get in here over the course of a year...


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## BritishBilbo (Jul 19, 2015)

kitkit said:


> I want him to have beautful chubby cheeks but I don't want to wait so long that he develops any undesirable behaviours.
> 
> I know that his cheeks are likely to get bigger with testosterone, but I've read mixed things about whether waiting longer to neuter makes them bigger (some sources say they shrink back to pre-testosterino size after neutering and some say they stay the same). Does anyone know from experience?
> 
> ...


Don't believe the longer you leave them the bigger the cheeks ...

Bilbo was done at 4 months old and he has lovely cute cheeks!









Django I left till 12 months old and he has an actual pin head! His cheeks are non exsistant. I don't have a photo of his pin head but trust me he has a chunky
Body and no head!!!

You will find genetics will affect yours guys cheeks more so than how long you leave them.

I think to let the testosterone affect cheek size they would have to be left un neutered way longer than you could afford too, he would most likely start spraying before his hormones helped his cheeks!


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

snapper3009 said:


> Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions!!! My cats are inside until neutered/spayed. They are outside 24/7 now because my girl is over a year and my boy is over 2 years.


My mistake , I assumed (wrongly) your cats were outdoor cats as you said on a previous thread that it was okay for cats to be left outside as long as they had shelter and that your cats became very stressed indoors .
It is unusual for owners not to neuter male cats until at least 12 months old and keep them indoors .


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## QOTN (Jan 3, 2014)

Jowls are not particularly common in my breed because they don't fit the SOP. Occasionally entire boys get a bit jowly but in my experience if the jowls are not genetic, they disappear very soon after neutering. I expect this is also true of British.


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## kitkit (Feb 23, 2018)

Thanks everyone for the replies  I think I'll get him booked in for it soon then since it doesn't seem like there are any benefits to waiting.



lea247 said:


> I'm very surprised the breeder said that! Breeders tend to have the kittens neutered before they leave, or make you sign a contract and require proof that they will be neutered within a given time frame.


I did sign a contract but it says he must be neutered before the age of 12 months old.

@lea247 and @PetloverJo
George and Arthur are so beautiful! I want to cuddle them both. It's reassuring to see that neutering them at 4-6 months didn't affect how round and handsome their little faces are.

@chillminx I didn't realise the significant time was 18 months. That makes sense. I definitely don't want to wait that long! And by chubby cheeks I was referring to the prominent jowls that are typical in entire males. It definitely sounds like I'm better off doing it sooner rather than later. Thanks for the information.

@jill3 Of course. Here is a rare photo of him not sprawled on his back like an underwear model...


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## snapper3009 (Jul 30, 2018)

buffie said:


> My mistake , I assumed (wrongly) your cats were outdoor cats as you said on a previous thread that it was okay for cats to be left outside as long as they had shelter and that your cats became very stressed indoors .
> It is unusual for owners not to neuter male cats until at least 12 months old and keep them indoors .


We got him at 8 months old so he was inside for 4 months then we got him done and had him in for 3/4 weeks. After that he went outside and now when we try to bring him in he completely freaks out and goes running to every window to find away out. He just loves being outside. They are outside cats now.


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## kitkit (Feb 23, 2018)

@BritishBilbo
Ahhhh Bilbo is so gorgeous! Thanks for the help. Hopefully my little guy has good genes and will develop similar cheeks, although Django's pinhead does sound adorable haha


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

QOTN said:


> Jowls are not particularly common in my breed because they don't fit the SOP. Occasionally entire boys get a bit jowly but in my experience if the jowls are not genetic, they disappear very soon after neutering. I expect this is also true of British.


Basil was developing them, but since he was chipped with Suprelorin they have faded away. So has his spraying.


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## QOTN (Jan 3, 2014)

OrientalSlave said:


> Basil was developing them, but since he was chipped with Suprelorin they have faded away. So has his spraying.


Presumably the same has happened in the testicle department.


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

QOTN said:


> Presumably the same has happened in the testicle department.


Lol yes, back to petit POIs!


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## jill3 (Feb 18, 2009)

Kitkit your Baby is stunning x


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