No, we will not place any of our baby kittens before this age for the following reasons:
- Our vet requires kittens to be 14-16 weeks of age and 3 pounds before spaying/neutering. Early
spaying/neutering has been studied to be less traumatic than on adults.
- Kittens have recovered from their spay/neuter in the familiar surrounding of their birth home (with
people and cats they have known from birth) and possible complications from the surgery is handled
by us
- Devons are a small breed (size and gene pool) and need time to develop their immune systems
- All age-appropriate vaccinations are given by this age
- They have had a chance to have at least two vet examinations by this time
- Being with their mother and siblings until this time provides necessary social skills
- We do not know until they reach this age which kitten(s) will be available as pet(s). We are hobby
breeders who raise kittens mainly for our selves and to show our kittens. Devons have very complex
features and it takes time to determine which kitten truly has close to ideal features according to the
standard set for our breed and which one does not and therefore available as a pet. Ideally around 6
months of age is a good time to determine this but at around four months there is some early
indications
- Raising kittens is a labor of love and our reward is having this time with them, although each litter
tempts us to keep everyone in the litter forever. The price pet buyers pay for kittens does not
compensate the expenses associated in raising kittens. We (okay, actually my husband) works very
hard for us to financially afford our hobby of raising and showing our Devons.
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copyright Ayla Anderson 2008
Getting Kitten(s) Earlier
