My parents have a few stray cats living behind their house. One of the cats, Bobtail, was hanging around my apartment as a kitten. I took it out to my parents' house because they own a home out in the country with fields and woods that is safer than the city. They had planned to bring it to a woman who runs a kill-free shelter, but it escaped from its carrier, so it's remained at my parents' property. We found that it is too wild to attempt to catch again and domesticate. Bobtail is happy where he is, but the problem is he has attracted a couple of female cats. The females keep having babies. Only a few of the kittens have survived - I don't know whether Bobtail is killing them, or it is other predators.
One of the cats, Big Gulp (my dad named her, lol), had a couple of kittens a month or two ago. We don't know if they've survived because she used to keep them near the house, but now my parents don't see them anymore. My dad did see one running from the back porch a week ago, so maybe they're hidden somewhere. There are 3 males cats Big Gulp has been mating with several times this week, so we figure the kittens are either gone or on their own. We're taking Big Gulp in to be spayed tomorrow. I feel like the cats are my responsibility because I brought Bobtail out to the farm. My dad feels bad because he's the one that let him out of the carrier - he feeds him every night, and so they've got the other cats coming too. We want the females to be spayed because they don't want to end up with a colony of cats, and it can't be healthy for the cats to keep having litters. My question has to do with a female cat, Gray - she is, we think, at least 4 years old. She is pregnant once again, and we will have to wait to have her spayed. But, is there an age when cats stop having kittens? Is there a higher risk of problems with the spaying if we spay an older cat? Also, Big Gulp, who we're bringing in tomorrow, is pretty skittish. We can't pet her, though she's used to people. We trapped her this evening (in a "friendly" trap), and made an appt. for tomorrow morning. We warned the vet that this cat is stray and isn't used to being touched. She's doing well now in her makeshift cat carrier (a metal cage with blankets), but will they sedate her before she's taken out of the carrier? I'm afraid she'll go wild otherwise. Sorry for all the questions. I can't believe that the Humane Society won't do more. My parents and I aren't made of money, but we don't meet the guidelines for reduced cost spaying. So we're kind of on our own dealing with this.
One of the cats, Big Gulp (my dad named her, lol), had a couple of kittens a month or two ago. We don't know if they've survived because she used to keep them near the house, but now my parents don't see them anymore. My dad did see one running from the back porch a week ago, so maybe they're hidden somewhere. There are 3 males cats Big Gulp has been mating with several times this week, so we figure the kittens are either gone or on their own. We're taking Big Gulp in to be spayed tomorrow. I feel like the cats are my responsibility because I brought Bobtail out to the farm. My dad feels bad because he's the one that let him out of the carrier - he feeds him every night, and so they've got the other cats coming too. We want the females to be spayed because they don't want to end up with a colony of cats, and it can't be healthy for the cats to keep having litters. My question has to do with a female cat, Gray - she is, we think, at least 4 years old. She is pregnant once again, and we will have to wait to have her spayed. But, is there an age when cats stop having kittens? Is there a higher risk of problems with the spaying if we spay an older cat? Also, Big Gulp, who we're bringing in tomorrow, is pretty skittish. We can't pet her, though she's used to people. We trapped her this evening (in a "friendly" trap), and made an appt. for tomorrow morning. We warned the vet that this cat is stray and isn't used to being touched. She's doing well now in her makeshift cat carrier (a metal cage with blankets), but will they sedate her before she's taken out of the carrier? I'm afraid she'll go wild otherwise. Sorry for all the questions. I can't believe that the Humane Society won't do more. My parents and I aren't made of money, but we don't meet the guidelines for reduced cost spaying. So we're kind of on our own dealing with this.
