I am posting this although I had posted it

my vets are very open minded which I like and appreciate. Yeah we've had a couple of "discussions" (primarily one vet there) regarding degree versus people who have lived with various illnesses or issues with pets.
When one of my vets WRONGLY diagnosed my bluepoint siamese with FIP he got upset with me cause I thoroughly researched, spoke to people who had FIP cats, spoke with a vet tech who attended an FIP seminar, etc. And then I went for a 2nd opinion. If I'd gone with his logic I wouldn't have Tilly today cause he suggested I have her PTS.
But we were both very calm and civil about it and I still respect him as a vet, just prefer someone else in that clinic I know he was going by the blood test results which showed high white blood cell counts. But I wanted to research before I made a rash decision.
And that's what pet owners should do - if you aren't sure about anything your vet says research or get a 2nd opinion. If you have a vet who isn't open to you getting a 2nd too bad.
There's a reason why my Sadie dawg lived as long as she did...asking people (here primarily) since many posters here had lived with a dog who had similar health issues and asking my vet tons of questions.
I adore a vet with an open mind over a vet who only sees things by the text book.
I bet you are a really good vet - wanna move to NH? []

We just had Jade spayed yesterday (I have a thread about it in "Anything & Everything"). She's been in heat a few times, which means she was a little older than we initially thought. I now estimate her at 9 months. That's what happens when you rescue a kitten right from the street. Although, technically, she was up in a tree at the time. She was sleeping under a friend's old car. Anyway, I think it's a matter of what the vet says. My vet asked how old we thought she was, which is old enough for the operation, probably for the same reason you mentioned, enough body weight, etc, to handle anesthesia.