“My kitten’s only four months’ old. She can’t get pregnant.”
Wrong – at this time of year, the onset of puberty comes early, and even a four month old queen can fall pregnant, or start a pregnancy if he’s a tom.
“My cat’s kittens are only four weeks’ old. She can’t get pregnant again.”
Wrong – if your cat has already had one unwanted litter, she can fall pregnant again once her kittens are four weeks’ old! This is not healthy for the mum, and not at all convenient for you either.
The simple solution is to separate teenage male and female cats, keeping the ladies indoors and away from stray toms. Or make a phone call and book a little operation – the ‘snip’.
When your cat should be neutered
Queens come into season every few days until they fall pregnant, and seem distressed if no tom cat comes in response to her calls. The procedure to surgically remove the ovaries and womb neutralises these urges and prevents unexpected extra mouths to feed.
Your cat will spend one day in the hospital, with no need for an overnight visit. We carefully use the safest anaesthetics and painkillers, together with invisible mending of the skin incision, which is just one centimetre long.
The female ferret is a little different. She can only ovulate when she is mated, so stays in a constant state of readiness. If she’s separated from male companionship she’ll wear herself out and develop a fatal anaemia as a result of her hormones.
There are a variety of options for her:
- Allow her to have a litter every year
- Let her mate with a male ferret (hob) who has had a vasectomy procedure
- Bring her to our clinic to have the snip, which provides permanent safety and contraception
- Let her have a temporary hormonal injection or implant, leaving her options open for breeding the following year.
To read more about these options for female ferret owners, click here.
