On Tue 03 Jun 2008 12:53:00p, Jean B. told us...

> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>> On Tue 03 Jun 2008 07:32:56a, Kathleen told us...
>>
>>> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> We presently have 3 males and 2 females, all neutered or spayed quite
>>>> young. We have never had a spraying problem with any of them. I may
>>>> be wrong, but I know I was told that the younger you have them
>>>> neutered, the
>>>> less likely they will ever spray, regardless of circumstances.
>>>
>>> True. And the current trend is for very early pediatric spay and
>>> neuters in both puppies and kittens prior to adoption from shelters,
>>> in an effort to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
>>>
>>> My own vet feels, however, that in a responsible, well controlled
>>> household that it is preferable to wait a year prior to speutering in
>>> order to allow the animal to pass through puberty and develop an
>>> adult-sized genito-urinary tract. The thinking is that this will help
>>> prevent issues caused by crystals and stones in the urine later in
>>> life which, while disastrous in a dog or cat with an undeveloped
>>> urinary tract, may pass unnoticed through grownup-sized plumbing.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> That's an interesting and perhaps very valid concept. I suppose we've
>> been lucky with all of our cats, because they have all been either
>> spayed or neutered at a very early age and none have every had urinary
>> tract problems. This includes some 16-17 cats over a long period of
>> time.
>>
> Well, we have just lucked out in this department. A couple of years
> ago, on my birthday no less, Mingy was blocked because of crystals. So,
> of course, that is a worry. Now it's compounded by the fact that I
> don't know how much he is peeing--or even whether he is peeing, so my
> early warning mechanism is gone. The good news is that I guess he's
> peeing/spraying more frequently, which I think is good from the crystal
> POV.
>
> Given his problems, I doubt he's going to have a really long life. That
> thought used to devastate me, but not I can think that at least he won't
> be spraying. Still...
>
> Now why are the two foster cats so healthy? Must be in the genes.
>

Have you had him to the vet for the spraying/peeing problem? I'm sure you
had him ther efor the crystal problem, but still...

--
Wayne Boatwright
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