Wayne Boatwright wrote:
> 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...
>

Oh, of course! That was of minimal help though. And I'm not about to
cast him out.

--
Jean B.