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Is it just me or are there a lot of pregnant cats..
- Thread starter bubblpopelectrc
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- Jan 11, 2006
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There are two factors going into the number of kittens here
1) Too many people, in general, let their cats have kittens and far far far too many cities do not have TNR programs (I am delighted that there is a pretty good one here in Columbus)
2) A large number of those people go online to find info, and a good number of those end up on TCS. If you were on a forum to support any kind of ailment, you'd look around and think "Huh. There sure are a lot of people with ___". Also, a lot of established members of TCS don't have cats with kittens (except rescues or fosters) and a lot of our newest members come only for the Cats and Kittens forum.
It's not really fair to make the judgement that a lot of members here have pregnant cats, because what is really happening is a lot of people have pregnant cats and they come here for help.
1) Too many people, in general, let their cats have kittens and far far far too many cities do not have TNR programs (I am delighted that there is a pretty good one here in Columbus)
2) A large number of those people go online to find info, and a good number of those end up on TCS. If you were on a forum to support any kind of ailment, you'd look around and think "Huh. There sure are a lot of people with ___". Also, a lot of established members of TCS don't have cats with kittens (except rescues or fosters) and a lot of our newest members come only for the Cats and Kittens forum.
It's not really fair to make the judgement that a lot of members here have pregnant cats, because what is really happening is a lot of people have pregnant cats and they come here for help.
I currently have three litters of kittens. It started with Sasha, a feral Siamese that I took in last November. When I took her to the vet to get everything done, he told me she was already spayed. I didn't think I had a reason to doubt the vet, so I didn't think anything more about it. Being a former feral, she was still a bit skittish, and several months ago a door got opened and she escaped... and was very difficult to catch. It took three days and the help of our old Siamese barn cat Louie (neutered) that she was dropped off with. We finally caught her and brought her back inside and insured she didn't get out again. Well, two weeks or so later she was acting oddly and I posted about her behavior here. I was advised to take her to the vet (a different vet by now, luckily!), who told me that she was pregnant. I had been a member on TCS for quite awhile already and I felt awful, and honestly was afraid to post about it here because I had been "yelled at" in the past on other boards for little things and pretty much expected to get that here. I've worked as an animal control officer, so I know all too well the importance of spay/neuter. But also having worked at a vet, and having seen spay/aborts done in person, I just couldn't bring myself to do it to Sasha. So she was allowed to have her 5 kittens.
While she was pregnant, a stray cat showed up at our barn that I'd never seen before. She was very friendly, and very obviously pregnant. But again, I couldn't bring myself to abort, so she came inside and was allowed to have her 4 kittens.
A few days after Sasha's kittens were born, John came home and told me that he had been talking to a lady and a friend of hers was bottle feeding four, three day old kittens because their mother had died. I called and the woman brought them out to me the next day. She was having trouble caring for them properly, and by the time I got them it was too late for two of them. But Sasha eventually "adopted" the other two. So now we were up to 10 kittens (Sasha had also lost one of her 5).
Then I was contacted about another pregnant cat... it was "accidental", she lived with several intact males. I agreed to take her in... and now we've got 15 kittens.
And John just got a phone call the other day from another friend... they had an appointment to have their cat spayed and she got out of the house and they saw a male mating with her... so she is now pregnant. Despite the fact that I personally could not send a cat to have a spay/abort, I did tell him that he could if he thought it was right. He didn't think he could do that, so I have agreed to take the kittens in when they are old enough and find good homes for them.
I feel happy to be a part of TCS, and hope that my new found knowledge can help out people who come here with questions. Everyone here was so helpful, and I have learned so much from being here.
While she was pregnant, a stray cat showed up at our barn that I'd never seen before. She was very friendly, and very obviously pregnant. But again, I couldn't bring myself to abort, so she came inside and was allowed to have her 4 kittens.
A few days after Sasha's kittens were born, John came home and told me that he had been talking to a lady and a friend of hers was bottle feeding four, three day old kittens because their mother had died. I called and the woman brought them out to me the next day. She was having trouble caring for them properly, and by the time I got them it was too late for two of them. But Sasha eventually "adopted" the other two. So now we were up to 10 kittens (Sasha had also lost one of her 5).
Then I was contacted about another pregnant cat... it was "accidental", she lived with several intact males. I agreed to take her in... and now we've got 15 kittens.
And John just got a phone call the other day from another friend... they had an appointment to have their cat spayed and she got out of the house and they saw a male mating with her... so she is now pregnant. Despite the fact that I personally could not send a cat to have a spay/abort, I did tell him that he could if he thought it was right. He didn't think he could do that, so I have agreed to take the kittens in when they are old enough and find good homes for them.
I feel happy to be a part of TCS, and hope that my new found knowledge can help out people who come here with questions. Everyone here was so helpful, and I have learned so much from being here.
I think that it is great that you people are there to help any kitty you can. Makes me feel good to know kind people are out there. I can understand the sharing pictures etc. may make people think that some are purposefully having litters just because they love kittens, but you can see by reading the posts that that is not the case. Kind of like an unplanned human pregnancy--you may not have set out to have a baby, but you love it nonetheless and want to share your joy with others. I am not saying cats are equal to humans, but kittens are sweet babies and have no control over their destiny. They deserve the best care and love they can get. As far as aborting kittens go, I think it really depends on how far along the cat would be. A female who may have been mated a few days ago is different then one who is due in a week. Sorry about the out of control sappiness.
You fit right in hereOriginally Posted by mayjunejuly
Sorry about the out of control sappiness.
I personally made one idiot mistake. I waited too long to get a stray I had rescued taken in to get neutered. The female hadn't been spayed earlier as we hadn't had an intact male in the house, and finances for me are -very- tight. Well, I waited too late to take him in, and he got two of my girls pregnant. While yes, in a perfect world, all of them would have been spayed/neutered/vaccinated/etc in a timely manner, the world is not perfect.
The result is that he got two of my girls pregnant within weeks of each other. Once I realized one was pregnant, the boy went in immediately and got neutered. Which turned out was too late for the other girl, she was pregnant before we took dad in to get snipped.
So I wouldn't call myself irresponcible, out to kill unhomed kittens in shelters, or any of that. I recognized my mistake, and have taken appropriate action to ensure this does not happen again. The eight kittens that came out of it all went to good homes (except for one.. I couldn't let Asha go - too sweet!)
I took my last male in to get neutered a few months ago, when I stopped locking mom up all night. The vet thought that this cat was sterile anyway, as it's a tricolored male, and only had one testicle - one that wasn't fully decended, at that. She went ahead with the surgery (which ended up being more of a big deal because of how he was structured) 'just to be sure'.
Well, the vet hinted to me that he wouldn't be a problem, so as soon as I was healed, I let him roam around with everything. And then I come home last Friday and find a newborn kitten in my couch (thankfully only one), that genetically could only be his.
What I'm trying to say here is: people do the best they can. mistakes/other weirdness can and DO happen. I didn't set out to have kittens, I didn't want anymore cats - but it happened, and then I took steps to rectify the situation, and am being responcible for the kittens that did happen.
There are also restrictions on what people can do. For example, I would go have my females all spayed (one was spayed when she had to have a c-section), but I do not have the money to do so. I already owe my vet $1200 for various necissary things, and while they let me make payments, I don't know that either one of us are comfortable upping the money I owe. (note, my cats are 100% indoor cats, and anyone coming/going from my house know this.).
So, no, we're not perfect. But that's no reason to question us as people or responsible pet owners.
happens.
The result is that he got two of my girls pregnant within weeks of each other. Once I realized one was pregnant, the boy went in immediately and got neutered. Which turned out was too late for the other girl, she was pregnant before we took dad in to get snipped.
So I wouldn't call myself irresponcible, out to kill unhomed kittens in shelters, or any of that. I recognized my mistake, and have taken appropriate action to ensure this does not happen again. The eight kittens that came out of it all went to good homes (except for one.. I couldn't let Asha go - too sweet!)
I took my last male in to get neutered a few months ago, when I stopped locking mom up all night. The vet thought that this cat was sterile anyway, as it's a tricolored male, and only had one testicle - one that wasn't fully decended, at that. She went ahead with the surgery (which ended up being more of a big deal because of how he was structured) 'just to be sure'.
Well, the vet hinted to me that he wouldn't be a problem, so as soon as I was healed, I let him roam around with everything. And then I come home last Friday and find a newborn kitten in my couch (thankfully only one), that genetically could only be his.
What I'm trying to say here is: people do the best they can. mistakes/other weirdness can and DO happen. I didn't set out to have kittens, I didn't want anymore cats - but it happened, and then I took steps to rectify the situation, and am being responcible for the kittens that did happen.
There are also restrictions on what people can do. For example, I would go have my females all spayed (one was spayed when she had to have a c-section), but I do not have the money to do so. I already owe my vet $1200 for various necissary things, and while they let me make payments, I don't know that either one of us are comfortable upping the money I owe. (note, my cats are 100% indoor cats, and anyone coming/going from my house know this.).
So, no, we're not perfect. But that's no reason to question us as people or responsible pet owners.
I understand that a lot of the people on here have fosters who are pregnant, or get in mommas and babies, but there are a lot of people who just plain don't spay/neuter, and there are more oops litters than I care to count. I think that there should be less ooohing and ahhing over the cute kittens posted and more talk about the responsible thing to do, at least with the people who knowingly have unaltered cats living together. Sure, the kittens are cute, but there are cute kittens in shelters all across the country that die every day because of irresponsible people.
very true, & i don't think anyone would disagree with you. but you know the old saying, 'you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar'?
i became active on this sub-forum after taking in a fomerly feral kitten from my backyard...
As Waxlight so accurately points out above, this is not a perfect world, people are not perfect beings, mistakes and bad choices are made and we do the best we can with what we have to work with. Budgets are tight for most people and low- and/or no-cost spay/neuter clinics are simply not available to everyone everywhere. When you make comments about the "people who just plain don't spay/neuter", you ~must~ take into account those who want to do the right thing, but circumstances, finances or other life-priorities somehow get in the way of that for them. For some, it is a matter of spaying the cat or eating for the next two weeks. It really does come down to that for some.
Speaking for myself, as a breeder, I know how challenging it can be when you have intact cats in a home environment. Even under the best of circumstances, an intact cat, male or female, will try anything and everything to gain access to the opposite sex to reproduce. As humans sharing our homes with them, sometimes, despite our best intentions, they get the best of us and "oops" litters happen. I think that most of us try to do the right thing, I believe that most people don't want a bunch of cats/kittens running around raping and pillaging the countryside at large in their homes, but as we all know as a fact of life itself, stuff we really never wanted to see happen does happen.
We try to help those who come to us in need and then go that extra step in trying to help them find a clinic or vet nearby to them by providing this link in the hopes they can find a resource for affordable spay/neuter services in their area. But we are limited in what we can do. We can educate, we can point them in the right directions, but as my father always used to say, "you can lead a horse to water, but no matter what you do, you cannot make him ice skate".
I fully recognize that there is a large group of people with very passionate feelings on the topic of responsible cat care and I fully agree with them. However, where we differ is in the fact that they see only a black/white situation where I see a whole lot of fuzzy gray area. I would hope the people who come here with such passionate feelings will remember when they post in this Forum that not everything everytime is going to be so black/white. We all need to remember that it doesn't matter what WE think is the right thing to do, what is important is that the person who cares for the cat has to make that decision based on what the right thing to do FOR THEM may be. Again, we can educate, but we cannot change that person's unique circumstances.
I see absolutely nothing wrong with the ooh'ing and ahh'ing. Face it, kittens ~are~ cute. They bring a lot of joy into whatever home they occupy. They make us laugh, they bring companionship and love into hearts, and no matter how hard we try, most of us cannot resist that - so why make it an issue here? Why can we not ooh and ahh and ask for pictures and say congrats on a successful delivery? Why does it have to be so ... sterile? Why do we have to take the human touch out of it? Why can't we be friendly and welcoming? Why must we act with admonishment and a sense of such self-righteousness? Makes no good sense to me and over time, it has proven to be the wrong way to handle things. We lose people when we act that way towards them - and as I have said a thousand times over - how can we get the message of responsible cat care across to people who won't come here to read it because we are a bunch of soapbox-preaching old harpies?
Again, you are looking at a group of people with unique situations, we do not know the particulars of those situations and frankly, it is none of our business. There may be a thousand reasons why people knowingly have unaltered cats living together and until we are privy to those reasons and can deem them either acceptable as good reasons or not, who are we to say those people are actually irresponsible??
In a perfect world, we would all promptly spay or neuter our pets at the age-appropriate times, no cats or kittens would die in shelters and our days would be nothing but sunshine and lollipops. But that's not what we have to work with. So we do the best we can.
When I first joined I too was amazed at the sheer number of pregnant cats on this forum and the kitten pictures. It was just an observation. The longer I stayed the more I observed.
There are so many wonderful people who take in momma's in need and take care of babies that need help. They have huge hearts and great souls. I love coming here b/c of the love their posts reflect. It makes me feel the world really can be a better place sometimes. They take the best care of the cats and kittens in need and spend a great deal of time learning and pouring their lives into the felines and educating others.
Yes, I have seen posters here that do make mistakes and need to learn about the countless animals out there without homes and understand where they fit in the whole pet overpopulation crisis; if they stick around hopefully they learn.
And I don't think this forum condones BYB's but they do love and care deeply about cats and would rather give out information to keep them healthy than ignore what is going on, it is controversial and that is just my interpretation. I think the pregnant cat and kitten forum is a wonderful resource for education and helping cats that need help.
By not oohing and awwing is not going to change the current situation. Face it, kittens are adorable. By having this attitude, it is like saying that these kittens are not worthy. They didn't choose to be born, but they were. Don't punish the kitten for that.
Hi everyone! I have to admit I wondered about the number of kittens, too, but I used to do a lot of rescue and I always seemed to end up helping pregnant animals (dogs, cats, rabbits, etc), so I didn't question it. I applaud the people who open their homes to these cats in need.
In saying that, I don't have a problem with good responsible breeders. I think the key to helping with the overpopulation, is what has been mentioned before, education and that is why I am glad to see so many great people here that are willing to help with that.
Athena is the only kitten I have and she was an orphaned kitten out of a litter of 5. I've been bottle-feeding her. My girls, Hera and Reyah, were both dumped in the shelter when they were pregnant. I don't know if the owner was just irresponsible or what happened, so I won't judge them. The good thing is that now, both girls are spayed, so that won't happen again. I had them spayed on Tuesday, and they're doing fine. Speaking of which, just to update those of you that answered me the other day. Reyah was not pregnant. When the vet looked at her, he thought the same thing, but he isn't sure why she got as big as she did, because he said that there were no masses, it wasn't a false pregnancy, and she wasn't pregnant. Anyway, to those of you willing to help others, keep up the good and caring work that you do.
Athena is the only kitten I have and she was an orphaned kitten out of a litter of 5. I've been bottle-feeding her. My girls, Hera and Reyah, were both dumped in the shelter when they were pregnant. I don't know if the owner was just irresponsible or what happened, so I won't judge them. The good thing is that now, both girls are spayed, so that won't happen again. I had them spayed on Tuesday, and they're doing fine. Speaking of which, just to update those of you that answered me the other day. Reyah was not pregnant. When the vet looked at her, he thought the same thing, but he isn't sure why she got as big as she did, because he said that there were no masses, it wasn't a false pregnancy, and she wasn't pregnant. Anyway, to those of you willing to help others, keep up the good and caring work that you do.
I'm not punishing the kittens...those kittens have no idea that there are a hundred crazy cat people looking on the internet at their pictures. I'm saying, the posts where people really need to be taught about being responsible, there should be less oohing and ahhing and more education. Don't let people think that it's ok to continously have litter after litter, or keep letting their unaltered pets run free outside just because they want to.
I have 6 cats and 3 dogs. Everyone is altered. I am 25 years old and I am by no means rich. BUT, that being said, no one goes unaltered. I will go without...I will eat ramen and peanut butter sandwiches for a month, but every animal I own is altered immediately. If I couldn't do it, I would not have this many pets. If a stray were to come to my house that I honestly couldn't afford, it would go to the shelter. I do not believe in taking in more animals that you can care for, just like I don't believe in having more children than you can afford (but that's a whole other topic).
our cat had kittens and we didn't know how fast you could get them fixted after she had kittens so she got pregnant again.
we are going to get her fixted after this litter
I hope you'll post photos when the kittens are born?
i will post pictures as soon as she has them
i have 15 cats here at the moment, all but the mum here 4 kittens 1 15 week old kitten and 2 22 week old kittens are all neutered/spayed, and so will the mum be in a weeks time along with the 22 week old kittens. and then when the others are old enough they will be spayed/neutered. our vets will not to it untill their 51/2-6 months old. same as most of england. my cat got pregnant after being spayed, yep she was spayed last year november when she was 6 months old. wasnt untill i got a phone call from the vet back in march that there had been a mix up of notes and her spay wasnt performed but was opend up but closed due to an emergancy that was brought in. so i let her outside once she was healed, when i brought her to a different vet she was pregnant, but had a uti which didnt clear before it was to late to do a spay abort. things happen that is out of our control sometimes.
but to say people ooing and ahing at kitten pictuers encourrages SP? people to let their cat carrying on having litters is plain stupid. we can not make people get their pets spayed/neutered we can only advise and hope they will listen. by the way im not rich but i have 3 children 15 cats yes its hard sometimes , but no one goes without.
but to say people ooing and ahing at kitten pictuers encourrages SP? people to let their cat carrying on having litters is plain stupid. we can not make people get their pets spayed/neutered we can only advise and hope they will listen. by the way im not rich but i have 3 children 15 cats yes its hard sometimes , but no one goes without.
what is the appropriate age to spay/neuter a kitten? - ok nevermind my question was answered in the post above me. oops...
