We have made the decision that from this year onwards all kittens sold as Pets by Remilakat, will be spayed or neutered before leaving for their new homes.
Early Spaying and Neutering (ESN) remains controversial,but there is an ever expanding body of evidece to suggest that ESN is a positive step to take for kittens kept as pets only, and indeed there are some positive health and behavioural benefits. Male and Female cats are protected from certain kinds of cancer and there are no findings to validate the argument that ESN cats are more likely to develop urinary/kidney problems, in fact measurements of the urethra are shown to be normal compared with entire cats of a similar age. Behaviourally the ESN cat is much less likely to have learned undesirable behaviours associated with sexual development, such as scent marking, aggression, fearful behaviours, or destruction.
Althopugh some Vets are willing to offer this surgery at a much earlier age, we have taken the advice of our own Vet that it is better to wait until our babies are thirteen weeks old to undergo this procedure, by which time they should also be of an appropriate weight. Kittens who undergo ESN at this age are known to recover more quickly than if the procedure was carried out at say 6 to 8 months.
Kittens leaving us for Pet homes will therefore be at least 14 weeks old before they do so. Until this time, they will receive lots of human contact to ensure they are fully socialised.
Raymond attended the CFA Show in London an 7th May 2016. Subject to confirmation, he became a Champion on that day.