None of this makes any sense to me. Perhaps you can clarify.Originally Posted by Ahmed
He never sprayed or showed any desire to get out for mating. We used to live in a place where you could hear stray cats mating and he was never interested, while the vet assured us he was mature. That's why we hesitated in neutering him. Two different vets advised us to wait and see what happens.
Can I ask why you even want your unneutered cat to go outside? The extent of the existing cat overpopulation is truly astounding, and by letting your cat outside before he is fixed, it is inevitable that you will contribute to the problem. Please keep your cat inside exclusively until he is neutered, and also for about one month thereafter, since that's about how long it takes for the hormones to leave his system. During this roughly one-month period, it would still be possible for him to get a female cat pregnant.Originally Posted by Ahmed
He refuses to go out and freaks out when we try to get him to go out.
and Section C "Education," point 4Originally Posted by AVMA Position on Animal Welfare
Promote surgical and nonsurgical sterilization of intact dogs and cats.
...as to your initial question, the rule of thumb is that any change in behavior should arouse suspicion that there is a problem with the animal's health. This would seem like one of those times to me.Originally Posted by AVMA Position on Animal Welfare
The AVMA encourages all independent sources of pets (eg, breeders, pet shops, shelters, animal control facilities, private individuals) to educate new owners about the importance of surgical or nonsurgical sterilization and regular veterinary care.
Yes, but we have the intelligence to change our diets and adapt what we do to compensate for potential health problems. The cats rely on us to do this for them.Originally Posted by Ahmed
Just as an example, see the following webpage:
http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/wh..._your_pet.html
The benefits of neutering and spaying mentioned there in relation to the animal itself are mostly ridiculous! Because it's obvious also for humans, that if you remove an organ, it'll eliminate the incidence of cancer developing in the organ itself, because it's no longer there!!! However, this didn't drive any human to remove their breasts, testicles, ovaries, uterus, etc.
It has nothing to do with egoistic concerns. It has to do with the fact that there are between 60 million and 100 million homeless cats in the United States alone - and the cats are not responsible for this, people are. Cats mate because of instinct, they cannot choose not to mate. People created the problem, and people have to solve the problem - and cats and dogs not being allowed to procreate on their own is the only solution.Originally Posted by Ahmed
All the other benefits for the owner and the so-called community are shameful to speak about and they show how our thinking is so controlled by our own benefits and concepts and not only this, we try to portray these egoistic concerns as ones based on caring for other species!
I don't think you're crazy. I think you've never had 20+ feral cats fighting on your property. I think that perhaps you've never been to an abandoned building. The problem is so bad in Florida that the State has passed a law that basically allows people to hunt cats in protected wilderness areas. I have a moral problem with that! Florida doesn't make spaying and neutering mandatory - but they allow people to hunt cats.Originally Posted by Ahmed
Guys, I'm not crazy or anything! There are other people also interested in the philosophy and morality of what we commonly call animal rights and if anyone is seriously interested in this question, I'll be more than happy to exchange with them on these issues!