Question #1: How old is a kitten when its fangs start to emerge?
I live on a highway in the country and a real purty longhaired silver tabby kitty got dumped a couple months back . 15yo DS found the poor thing cowering under the little bridge in our driveway, starved and dehydrated. (Note: it had been rainy and muddy, but his long coat was spotless–someone had him indoors and just couldn’t bother to put out food or water for the little guy ). Needless to say he is now pot-bellied and spoiled and amuses himself pouncing on our 3yo orange tabby…or the german shepherds tail. Anyhow, all my critters get fixed and I need to know how old he is to figure out when the time is right. (I know a lot of folks are now fixing them awful early, but I figure the old standard of 6 months ought to be fine.) The fur on his back is also coming in shiny and slick like an adult cat, tho’ the rest is the fine soft kitten fluff, if that helps on an estimate of age.
Question #2: How’s the adoption going? Does your boy know he’s getting new parents for Christmas?
I’m not Doc but kittens are just like kids, they have baby teeth which they shed later. Your vet should be able to guesstimate the kitten’s age when you take it in for de-worming/vaccinations, and that should be asap. I’d also have it tested for the nasty (and life-shortening) viral infections that are out there.
One plus of early neutering of young tom’s is that you catch them before the spraying habit develops.
Early spay/neuter procedures are now common, between the ages of eight and sixteen weeks. All kittens should be spayed/neutered by the age of 4 months.
Male kittens can reach sexual maturity prior to six months. Female kittens as young as four months can become pregnant.
Early age spay/neuter is supported by many organizations including the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Humane Society of the United States, the National Animal Control Association, the American Animal Hospital Association, the ASPCA, Spay/USA, Alley Cat Allies, the American Humane Association and Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. Early age spay/neuter is taught at such prestigious veterinary schools as Cornell, Tufts, Washington State and Texas A & M.
Yup, I’d agree with the above. No reason to wait 'til he’s six months old.
Three months is a great time and many do it even younger.
As to the adoption question…
We got all our paper work done and it’s off to the translators before heading to Haiti. Belgarde won’t find out until we’ve cleared a couple of the preliminary hoops and are off to the races.
I should have said it was his adult fangs coming in beside the baby fangs–according to the link (thanks kkrell!) he’s older than I realized, closing in on 6 months.
I didn’t realize they could go thru’ puberty and the heat cycle prior to 6 months (the orange tabby got neutered at about 8 months and goes thru’ the motion of spraying and grew extra large for a cat, so I had actually thought about delaying a month or 2–but not anymore!).
As for worms, I’ve been checking his scat frequently…And man is there ever a bunch of it! No tapeworm segments so far. And his energy level is great–he constantly lays in wait behind my many large potted plants, pounces on unsuspecting people toes, big dog tails, and the bigger kitty; demands to be let out to climb trees, sharpen claws, explore and at least go thru’ the motions of stalking the ducks (he did a serious stalk ONCE, then Stormy the muscovy disabused him of the notion!) so the potbelly is mostly form food and a little bit from air swallowed when he eats.
A visit to the local vet, complete with tests and vaccs, will be in the first couple weeks of January.
I don’t suggest the neutering at the same time as the vaccinations. Sure, we do it for feral cats, because they often need to be released as quickly as possible, and there’s little chance of getting them back in. However, the vaccinations will knock the cat’s immune system around for awhile, and he probably won’t feel too hot the next day. Even our local rescue organizations prefer to wait a week. BTW, they prefer killed (not live) vaccines.
Also, if you are required (or wish) to get him a rabies shot, make sure it goes in a rear leg. Since there is a cancer risk associated with the rabies shot, it will only be a rear leg that gets amputated, leaving the front claws for climbing and defense. 3-legged kitties get around fine. Speaking of amputation, you know that declawing is amputation of the last joint of each “finger”, right? Don’t even think about it. I’d rather clip my own nails then take it off at the joint.
Do you mean that he hasn’t shed the juvenile canines yet, but the adult ones are coming in alongside of them? Keep an eye on that. If they don’t fall out on their own soon, the vet may need to remove them.
When you take him in, don’t forget a heartworm test.
I don’t know anyone doing this in California, but I’m only familiar with local rescue. I don’t know if it is advisable elsewhere. Procedure here is test for Feline Leukemia, vaccinate, de-worm, flea treatment as necessary, neuter.
. 15yo DS found the poor thing cowering under the little bridge in our driveway, starved and dehydrated. (Note: it had been rainy and muddy, but his long coat was spotless–someone had him indoors and just couldn’t bother to put out food or water for the little guy 
). Needless to say he is now pot-bellied and spoiled and amuses himself pouncing on our 3yo orange tabby…or the german shepherds tail. Anyhow, all my critters get fixed and I need to know how old he is to figure out when the time is right. (I know a lot of folks are now fixing them awful early, but I figure the old standard of 6 months ought to be fine.) The fur on his back is also coming in shiny and slick like an adult cat, tho’ the rest is the fine soft kitten fluff, if that helps on an estimate of age.
