Thread: Does the age of neutering/spaying affect size of Maine Coons?

Hi all,

Not sure if I am posting this in the appropriate forum.
As I read from a Maine Coon book by Carol Himsel Daly & Karen Leigh Davis, intact male cats are more likely to achieve their fullest genetic potential because of sex hormone contributions to development.

Does this mean that the younger you neuter/spay your kitten, it will hinder the growth from being able to reach the full size?

Example 1:
My Rocco was neutered at 7 months as the breeder will not provide me with his pedigree cert. until after the surgery. I noticed that Rocco's growth slowed down since as I keep a daily weight record.

Example 2:
My Merlin was neutered at 15 months old and his weight gain has also slowed down several months since after the surgery.

I have been told by breeders that male MCs often become larger after neutering BUT breeders who neuter their intact males often do so when they choose to retire them after several years of breeding (MCs reach their full size between 3 to 5 years old as written in the MC books I have read).

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks in advance.

I couldn't tell you that one, but would be very interested.
Gryfn was neutered at 12 weeks.

I would be interested as well.

Zack was done at about 10 weeks.

Having seen the Australian Breeders websites I dont think anyone is sent one that isnt already neutered

[QUOTE=Heather2mc;3051
Having seen the Australian Breeders websites I dont think anyone is sent one that isnt already neutered[/QUOTE]

As I cannot find the answer to this question, I would prefer to pay the price of a breeding cat BUT neuter him at a later stage since I have no desire or the interest in breeding.

I posed this question to my vet doctor; he could not give me a definite answer. I reiterated that I am not sure if this "slow maturity is breed specific to the Maine Coon". If so, will early neutering/spaying slow down the growth of the cat from ever reaching his/her maximum size.

As my vet doctor is no Maine Coon expert, he advised that "maybe" Merlin should be neutered between 15 and 18 months old (for optimum growth) provided he does not show signs of aggression, stress and urine marking.

Luckily, Merlin is blessed with beautiful character and he has shown no signs of wanting to mate (ie. significant loss of weight and 'calling') up till he was neutered at 15 months old.

I just did a search on this question and came across this article.
thought I would share as it's quite interesting....

Early Desexing

The evidence says that there is no difference between desexing at 3 months and desexing at 8 months. There are changes in the cat once it has hit sexual maturity....

Interesting to see the report was done on short haired domestic kittens ,what about cats such as ours that are bigger & slower maturing. I am lucky that my breeder does not agree in early neutering {nor does either of the vets I work for} & my last two from her were not done until they were 14 mths old & the fact that their pee was still not even tinged with any tom smell {unlike a domestic of that age} still makes me query the need to do our breed so young, the obvious thing is that yes it does stop the rouge "pet buyer" who would abuse the terms & conditions. As for personality they haven't altered from the day I had them,still naughty,loving,cuddly" little",meant in my babes not weight, beings...
Just as a matter of interest although not done right young I had an earlier boy,from same breeder,castrated at six months,from the day we had him he humped everything from the then three other cats to us so off they came,he has matured up into a very big bodied boy but his head has stayed very small in comparison yet his litter mates & siblings from the same mating who were done at 9mths have magnificent big heads that match the body size,not to say he would have been any different but I am left to wonder....

Originally Posted by Scrapdragon

I just did a search on this question and came across this article.
thought I would share as it's quite interesting....

Early Desexing

The evidence says that there is no difference between desexing at 3 months and desexing at 8 months. There are changes in the cat once it has hit sexual maturity....

Thanks for the link... I came across that article in German language sometime ago.
The article refers to cats in general, not breed specific.

Are coonies the only breed of domestic cats that take 3 to 5 years to mature?

My Rocco became less aggressive post surgery but Merlin remained the same.