Neutering my F1 kitten

[AThompson2203]

I need opinions for those of you that have or have not ended up neutering your male savannah. At first I was going to but now am unsure if I want to. I have an older f1 male that came to me already nuetered and have an unneutered f1 6 month old male as well. Has anyone chosen not to get theirs nuetered and did you end up later down the road getting it done anyways? I don't want to put him through the stress, he's inside always and he's already sterile. I just don't see the need. There is no spraying occurring or any hint that they would start. Of course my only fear is them starting to spray and having it be more stressful on him if he's older. And I've heard savannahs having bad reactions to certain kinds of anesthesia. Any experiences or opinions are much appreciated! Thanks

 

[MattM]

I was unsure of getting my F3 neutered, but I'm glad I did. The process hardly phased him. I think he was a little more sleepy than usual for about a day and a half before he got back to his nut ball self running around the house causing mayhem. Yesterday he pulled the drapes out of the wall playing with one of the tassels.
Yes he may never spray (although I think that is doubtful), and yes he is already sterile, but what did it for me was eliminating the risk of testicular cancer. Also, I can't give you first hand experience, but I'm pretty sure getting him neutered will remove any territorial instincts, and thus create less of a chance of aggressive fighting with other animals.

I got my F3 (Leo) neutered around 5-1/2 months, and I didn't notice a big difference. He is still just as energetic as he was before, but he's a bit less mean aggressive towards myself and my fiancee. He doesn't seem to try and assert his dominance over anybody. He also seems to want to just chill out with us a little bit more, but I'm not convinced that's from the neutering. Same energy level and personality, except he just wants to play instead of beat anybody up.

 

[AThompson2203]

Ok that makes sense. Thanks for responding. What did you do about the anesthesia that they used?

 

[MattM]

I used my mom's vet and after speaking with her when Leo was getting check ups and shots, I quickly realized she was incredible at what she does. We had lengthy conversations about vaccinations, raw diets, walking cats, and previous case studies she was a part of at my alumni college. She currently runs a vet and aquatic rehabilitation center. I have no idea what anesthesia she used because I decided to trust her completely. I can find out for you if you would like, it would not be a problem.

 

[AThompson2203]

That would be great if you could. I don't want to burden the vet with telling them what kind savannahs need but I want them to be aware. I'm obviously no vet. Lol

 

[SlugMaster]

I need opinions for those of you that have or have not ended up neutering your male savannah. At first I was going to but now am unsure if I want to. I have an older f1 male that came to me already nuetered and have an unneutered f1 6 month old male as well. Has anyone chosen not to get theirs nuetered and did you end up later down the road getting it done anyways? I don't want to put him through the stress, he's inside always and he's already sterile. I just don't see the need. There is no spraying occurring or any hint that they would start. Of course my only fear is them starting to spray and having it be more stressful on him if he's older. And I've heard savannahs having bad reactions to certain kinds of anesthesia. Any experiences or opinions are much appreciated! Thanks

My second F2 was neutered last week at 5 1/2 months. It slowed him down for a day and that was about it. The vet used isoflurane as the anesthesia. There were no problems with that. I had this kitten neutered earlier than my 1 st F2 because of behavior issues. I waited till six months on kitten one and he started doing a crouch slide across the carpeted living room. Yes, my cat was masturbating in the living room, Yuck!!!

So I would suggest that you do it ASAP.
Good luck

 

[scorpius]

I had both my F1 and F2 males neutered. Both neutered around 5-6 months. Immediately post neutering, it does really calm them down from their wildish kitten stage IMO. My F2 did get a neutering infection, which is very, very rare. My F1 did not get any infection like most here report and he was good 1-2 days after the incision. Both done no Ketamine in my case. Anyways, both were less than their normal selves post neutering, maybe for even as long as month or so. But they spring back to their normal selves and now at 9 and 12 months of age, they are very active SV's. ..dj

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

The one thing to realize is that your early generation Savannah male might be sterile BUT he doesn't know that! He will STILL produce male hormones...so be at the same risk of being a spraying, female-cat-obsessed male cat with stinky urine ( even if he doesn't spray that urine will stink)..

One risk of waiting to neuter until you see issues (spraying and otherwise) is that neutering may not completely change the behaviors... Eg they might still spray a bit etc...

 

[Becki]

I have a 15 week old male f2 who will be neutered by the end of this month. He hasn't dropped yet, otherwise it would be scheduled already. He goes back Oct 9 for his rabies, and if he still hasn't dropped, we may have to do a more invasive search and find mission as I do not want any chance of spraying to occur. My female f2 was spayed without the use of ketamine and had no issues at all.

 

[Patti]

Just because your F1 is sterile does not mean that he's not a boy! As he matures he will become obsessed with finding females, he will spray to mark his territory, and male spray has a much worse odor than typical cat urine. Believe me when I say that he will become much less interested in you and much more interested in getting out of the house to find a girlfriend. Am I 100% sure this will happen? No, but 99.9% sure...