Is it just me or are there a lot of pregnant cats..

bubblpopelectrc

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 12, 2007
Messages
35
Purraise
1
owned by members on this forum?

I can understand if someone is a responsible breeder with purebred cats, but it seems like a lot of people have standard ol' cats that are pregnant. Aren't there enough kittens/cats in shelters?

Not to push any buttons, but I would except more from people who supposedly cared a lot about cats than to be contributing to an already bad problem.

Anyone else feel the same way?
 

jen

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 27, 2001
Messages
8,501
Purraise
3,009
Location
Hudson, OH
Excuse me but my cat Maui who had babies was rescued from the pound about to pop where she was brought in to be put down BECAUSE she was pregnant. Many of us take in the one's that other irresponsible careless people let get pregnant. On Thursday I have a female and 5 newborn babies I am picking up from a hoarder who once had 35+ cats and now only has 2. So not all of us are irresponsible. Whenever I get a pregnant female they are spayed/aborted immediately.

I do agree though that in general, too many people have oops litters... I don't understand how this happens. People just don't pay attention or bother to care and their cat gets out and comes back and they don't have a heart to spay/abort but they have a heart to bring more kittens into the already overpopulated world and risk them dying in shelters when they are given away for free or not being spayed and just reproducing. Ya, I call that having a heart
 

fostermomm

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
1,032
Purraise
1
Location
Hicksville
Alot of the people with kittens are on here are fostering the moms or the moms were strays that came pregnant and chose not to spay/abort. All my foster kittens were already alive when they came here. Calamity was pregnant when she came too but I had a spay/abort done on her. I do agree that their are to many kittens and cats dieing in shelters that why I foster to help the few that I can!
 

bonnie1965

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 25, 2007
Messages
3,973
Purraise
3
Location
Portland, Oregon
Yes, there are lots here. Many, many of them are members who have foster moms/kittens, others are first timers in "oops" situations. Sine we have a forum just for pregnant cats and kittens, you will see a lot of posts there. It is a good thing because while members are getting advice, they are also learning about proper care for cats which includes spaying and neutering.
 

gayef

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 7, 2001
Messages
7,814
Purraise
29
Location
Still Hittin' 'Em Right Between The Eyes
The TCS Pregnant Cats and Kitten Care Forum was developed, even though it causes a great amount of controversy, due to the overwhelming number of new member posts we were getting about pregnant cats and kitten care. We decided to create a forum to address the topic specifically so as to be able to not only answer those sorts of questions, but to also promote a responsible level of cat care, including education about the benefits of spay/neuter.

The TCS Pregnant Cat and Kitten Care Forum receives one of the highest number of views on our Forums every day - so we know the message is getting out there.

While we ALL feel very strongly about responsible cat care, we strive to maintain a very high level of good manners, compassion, tolerance and yes, even understanding when new members post their concerns. This is not the place to stand on your soapbox and preach Spay/Neuter. We DO address the questions our members have in a kind, gentle and safe way so that ~when the appropriate time comes~ we can educate on the importance of spay/neuter, not shove it down their throats. We do not allow that here.

Yes, we have many people coming here to discuss their concerns with a pregnant cat ... and we have helped those people get through the pregnancy, delivery, and raising of the kittens. We have shared in their joys at a successful delivery and we have shared in their tears when the heartbreaks occur. I consider it to be a good thing that there is a place, a SAFE place, where people with questions can come to learn more about appropriate care of a pregnant queen and the subsequent raising of her kittens and hope that more people will feel safe in coming here to ask their questions, be helped by us and then go on to do the right thing for their cats.

This Forum is a personal mission of mine, even though I am not quite as present here as I once was. Personal health issues prevent me from spending a lot of time here at present, but I read the new posts each and every day, as long as I can sit up in front of my computer. The wonderful folks who frequent this forum give freely of their time and knowledge to help others who find themselves with questions, fears, concerns, whatever. It does my heart (and health!) a lot of good to know that even though I can't be here as visibly as I once was, the forum is in good hands.
 

keisha

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Feb 26, 2007
Messages
763
Purraise
1
Location
Iowa
owned by members on this forum?

I can understand if someone is a responsible breeder with purebred cats, but it seems like a lot of people have standard ol' cats that are pregnant. Aren't there enough kittens/cats in shelters?

Not to push any buttons, but I would except more from people who supposedly cared a lot about cats than to be contributing to an already bad problem.

Anyone else feel the same way?
People do feel the same way. Most of the pregnant/rasing kitten owners eithe rescued them, are fostering them, or are strays. So that explains that we do car about cats, and are helping them so nothing happens to them or their babies. That should make you realize that we love cats even more. And most of us are pro spay/neuter. But we answer peoples questions here, without judging them. Because when people are in a tight squeeze and they have a question, they dont want people lecturing them. Then just want a helpful answer.
 

white cat lover

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Nov 17, 2005
Messages
22,206
Purraise
35
There are also those, like me, who bottle feed kittens. Or else foster & socialize kittens. Many, many, many wonderful members here foster pregnant/nursing mothers so that they do not have to sit in a cage. Or there are people who take in pregnant strays.
 

noludoru

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
303
Purraise
2
Location
VA
Originally Posted by Jen

People just don't pay attention or bother to care and their cat gets out and comes back and they don't have a heart to spay/abort but they have a heart to bring more kittens into the already overpopulated world and risk them dying in shelters when they are given away for free or not being spayed and just reproducing. Ya, I call that having a heart
:hail:hail::hail:
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #11

bubblpopelectrc

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 12, 2007
Messages
35
Purraise
1
Originally Posted by Jen

well you are the one who asked...
Are you serious?

Sorry, I just asked a question. I'm not looking to pick a fight as you obviously are.
 

gayef

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 7, 2001
Messages
7,814
Purraise
29
Location
Still Hittin' 'Em Right Between The Eyes
People ... people ... please!! Let us not get snarky here! Remember to be nice to each other. Mind your manners, keep it friendly and above all else, treat others as you would want to be treated.
 

crazybird

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Jun 18, 2007
Messages
116
Purraise
1
Location
Ohio
When I first showed up on this board the pregnant cats and kittens forum threw me a bit. I was surprised by how many posters had pregnant cats. I had hoped in my mind that they were fosters, rescued pregnants, or orphaned/abandoned kittens.

And I'm glad someone asked why there were so many pregnant cats owned by people here because I was asking myself the same question but didn't want to be the starter of a heated "debate" as such a newbie.


But I gotta say, everyone here maintains themselves very well in this discussion. Had this been brought up in other forums I visit (especially rescue-specific forums) some of those who have pregnant cats simply because they chose not to spay......well......they'd be eaten alive.

That said, I have had a total of 8 kittens in my care this spring. 3 seperate litters. 2 came to me because the guy couldn't find them homes, and he was going to ditch them somewhere remote. Will he spay his cat now? No. Or neuter the father cat? No. 4 more came to me at 2 weeks old because they chose to let their mother cat outside and she never returned. Will they spay their other 2 cats, both female, that also have their own litters? No. The last two I have now are kittens to a feral mom. Catching her will prove difficult. Yes, even with a have-a-heart trap.


So while I can understand people having kittens in their care and NOT being responsible for their creation, there are several posts I've seen here about "MY" cat being pregnant, I caught "MY" male mounting her..... etc. And that's sad. I'm not sure, given the opportunity, that I could opt for a pregnant spay. So I'm sure to not put myself in such a situation, and all of my animals that are able to be done, are spayed/neutered. It's very simple, and often relatively cheap especially to large cities, and usually low income families can find financial help online. I wish I qualified.
 

xxtashaxx

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 6, 2006
Messages
3,113
Purraise
1
Location
uk london
your right, there are a lot of people comming on the board with pregnant cats who they own. but this board was set up to help them with there questions, and then put the fact about the spay/neuter. sometimes they will listen, sometimes they wont. but we can only try.
but if we had a moan at every poster who posted that their cat was pregnant they would leave and not come back, so we nither helped them with the question they had which could lead to them not getting any help in case they get more agro and then puts that cat in danger, and we also wouldnt be able to put the point across about spaying and neutering their pets without it comming across negitive.
 

aktotx

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
91
Purraise
1
Location
MO
The best part of these boards are the great people here to help and support you. Yes we all make mistakes but it is nice to have someone say it is ok. I for one know that the shelters are over run around here and a few weeks back they had to put down 180ish cats because of some illiness that was going around. My cat walked into my house back in Oct and really hasn't left. She got out in April when she ripped a hole in a window screen and escaped. We haven't got her fixed yet because finiances are hard esp with 4 children under age 12. She got pregnant and I am not one for aborting anything. Some people are but not me (another great thing about here because no one judges you on your opinions). We figured out she was pregnant and went from there. You learn from your mistakes. We found homes for 5-6 kittens and each house was going to give us money to take them all in and have them fixed at once. She had 2 which is great because I know a few of the families will now go to the shelter and pick out a new kitty for their family. If you look at the now pregnant moms on here you will see they are fosters or people new to this site asking for help and figuering out what to do now. And you have to think about the posters that cats are expecting but are afraid to say something because things happen and their cat got out again. This site is a place of support, learning and friendship. And if 1 person a day decides to fix thier cat then that is 1 less cat to have kittens out there. Everything starts with 1 person and we have to support everyone to reach out to that 1.
We each have our own thoughts on everything from spay/neuter, number of cats to have, type of litter, "best food" If this site wasn't here then that information isn't getting out for people to learn from. Ok I think I rambled enough sorry..
 

andrea727

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
May 17, 2007
Messages
139
Purraise
1
Location
PA
I don't think anyone is here to pick a fight.

I do own my cat who just gave birth almost 5 weeks ago, but I only own her because I took her in as a stray who was already pregnant and I decided to keep her. As a matter of fact, we are also keeping one of her kittens.

Even for the people who just "let" their cats get pregnant, I think that after hearing about it from a couple of people, they get the advice that they need. It's amazing how many people do not know about low-cost spay/neuter. I just found out that I can have the kittens done for $25/piece.

However, I digress. please be careful about the assumptions that you are making because many people will take offense to what you are saying as they are very passionate about what they are doing, and the overpopulation issue.

I posted not too long ago about how people who "let" their cats get pregnant get attacked over and over in this forum, until they eventually leave. It's important to make these people, too, feel welcome, and to make them understand that after this litter...it's time to get fixed. Like I said before, it's like telling a pregnant teenager how not to get pregnant and all of the reasons it's a bad idea. It's too late. But, you can make sure that the proper measures are taken so it doesn't happen again, and that's what we should be striving for.

Not trying to pick a fight, just trying to provide some insight.
 

jen

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 27, 2001
Messages
8,501
Purraise
3,009
Location
Hudson, OH
Originally Posted by BubblPopElectrc

Are you serious?

Sorry, I just asked a question. I'm not looking to pick a fight as you obviously are.
I am not sure what you are talking about
you mentioned someone was up on a soapbox and she was just answering your question, thats all
In all seriousness, I think smilies make a difference, I didn't think you were being rude and maybe if I put a smilie there no one would think I was
(cuz I wasn't hehe)
 

jenny82

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 19, 2006
Messages
5,773
Purraise
114
Location
Maryland
I think it is the people who don't care enough to do any research (and therefore don't find TCS) that cause the most problems...but there's not much we can do about that here.


I think anyone who cares enough to come to TCS, once educated politely on this topic, will (hopefully) spay/neuter in the future.
 

ferocity302

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 5, 2005
Messages
75
Purraise
1
Location
Springfield, Oregon
As a long time cat owner (responsible/irresponsible)

In the past I have not had the money to spay or neuter a cat and did not know about the help that I could receive so yes, there is one cat that I had a long time ago and since has passed at 17 years old that I "let" have 2 litters of kittens.

On the 3rd pregnancy I did the unthinkable - Spay/Abort. It broke my heart to know what I just did but I knew in the long run that it was the best for both of us.

Now having said that and a little more educated, I know that if I had just found the way to have her spayed before she had her first litter that I would not have been contributing to an already bursting problem. Sometimes when we don't have the money we feel we are still doing a good thing by not letting the cat go out and create feral colonies and instead adopting them out. This now that I know better, is definately not good education. The best solution is always going to be spay/neuter of course but until more people find the means to do that or are educated, this is going to be a growing problem.

I currently have 1 privately adopted female that will be spayed soon. She is an indoor only cat but even so, she will be spayed. This is another issue all together, there are those that think they don't need to spay or neuter their cat because they are indoor only. This again is wrong education as there is always going to be a possibility that a cat will find it's way out and you wont even know it until it's too late.

I also have a rescue female that has 2 week old babies today. She blessed us with 6 kits that will all be adopted to homes that either I know will get them spayed/neutered when they are old enough or I just wont adopt them out until I can get them taken care of. Momma herself is not allowed out until the babies are weaned so we can get her fixed before she ventures back out into the world.

Education is part of the key but also this forum has been a great resource for me to pass on to my friends that may not be in the know about the same issues. The more we can support each other, educate each other and take responsibility for our own pets, the better the problem will get.
 
Top