F -hey sweetie! Tzofia (or Tofi as my Ema calls her) is indeed doing well and is still as independent as she was when she was a baby. Still not very big and still ready to take on the world!

It is best to spay and neuter at 3 – 4 months. This is one of the things we animal care workers are trying to beat into the heads of the vets here (the ignorance is unbelievable). They typically wait until 5-6 months to spay here. There are so many problems with this –first, a female can become pregnant as early as 4 months, and waiting until after she has gone into heat will predispose her to cancer later in life (as does having a litter of kittens before she is more than a year old). For boys, you definitely want to get them before they begin to spray. About 15% of boys who start spraying and are then neutered will continue to spray even after they are neutered and oh you so don’t want to go there with a cat in your house.

About knowing if you have a good vet –how does he handle the little animal? Gently? Pays attention to how it is reacting? Does he listen to you and fill you in on what he is doing? Most vets are fine for run-of-the-mill things like yearly shots and checkups. When a severe illness is involved, then you’ve got to ‘vet’ them (sorry for the pun) more closely.