No. 1 Pet Killer!

It does not surprise me, it includes animals euthanised for diseases and tbh vets don't report why they euthanised just how many so they can't say the reasons why unless they are coming from shelters who do keep stats who probably are not testing for all diseases anyway.

But if everyone spayed / neutered and cared for their pet until it dies of old age instead of dumping them on the streets, unspeutered to breed who knows how many offspring we wouldnt need shelters and they wouldn't need to euthanise as many

One researcher says that offering free spay/neuter to low-income populations would be the single best way to reduce the problem. I know we have advocates for that in our community (including me, if they ask me!).

Here's his book:

Redemption

This is sooooo sad..
In my area a spay for a feral is $15
Although there are no ferals here, I think animal control hunts them down and puts them to sleep before they can form colonies

You would be surprised, according to my animal control, my city is 99% feral free (in the city areas, they will admit to ferals North of the highway in the greenbelt).

I know of 7 well managed colonies, but walk past mine during the day and you wouldnt have a clue that cats are there, I dont even see them all when I feed them. The only person that really knows they are there who isnt one of the caretakers is the guy who runs the local chinese food place who sees them in his garbage cans

Causes other than euthanasia are nowhere near as likely to be documented, because euthanasia has to happen in a vet's office. Say someone has an indoor/outdoor cat that showed up one day, and a few years later it gets sick or hit by a car, and they bury it in the backyard. (It's my understanding that this is a pretty typical series of events.) If they took it for any shots, the vet clinic might eventually call to ask why they haven't brought it back in, but maybe not. Otherwise, no one who was gathering statistics would ever know.

Also, euthanasia is going to be the proximate cause of death for many animals who were protected from everything else, make it into senior ages, and develop a disease like kidney failure or cancer that destroys their quality of life; most caring pet owners, in those circumstances, eventually end the animal's suffering.

An example: One of the farm cats at my aunt and uncle's place got sick, and was almost dead by the time they could catch her...they took her to the vet, and she had maybe days to live but more likely hours, in pain and with trouble breathing, so my cousin had the vet put her out of her misery. She went into the records. Other cats got hit by cars (they had crappy neighbors who would swerve to hit cats) or just disappeared; they didn't go into any statistics.

many are in this area

It is also stats from the HSUS with estimates on euthanasia stats, the whole thing is flawed but then many people will bring their animals in to be euthanised when sick too so if you include the ones euthanised by high kill shelters (around 200 a week in summer at a nearby high kill shelter) it really doesnt surprise me if its true

Sadly this may sound like the answer, but, while it helps a great deal, there are still too many people who refuse to spay and neuter.

My community has a low cost spay/neuter clinic run by a local vet. $30 gets you the surgery, ears cleaned, nail trim and rabies shot (if needed). And yet, the shelters and rescues ate still full, there are still strays.

Here's an example. I had a friend, just a causal acquaintance really. A stray Red Boy showed up at her door as a young cat, she took him in. He was the sweetest thing, and so friendly. She complained about how he always wanted to go out and how she worried when he didn't come home.

I urged her to get him fixed. She said she would. She didn't. I told her about the clinic, and urged her to get him on the list. She didn't. I brought it up again and she said "well they say we have to bring him in a carrier, I don't have a carrier". I told her she could use one of mine.

She said she couldn't get him there at the time she was supposed to because her husband had the car at that time. I said I would pick him up and bring him there, and pick him up and bring him home.

She still didn't do it. There's no telling how many litters he was responsible for, awful lot of red cats in that neighborhood, but one day he didn't come home for three days, and finally a neighbor showed up with him dead, said he found him that way under a bush.

I did everything I could to get that cat neutered but she always had an excuse. Some people just aren't reachable. Very sad.

There will always be people like that, our 'local' low cost speuter clinic has 3 month waiting lists and is over an hour away. I am torn between urging them to do it on a need basis and just being happy that people are speutering because people who need the help with a stray etc are waiting so long for an appointment. But when people call the shelter and ask for resources there will always be the ones that refuse to go there because it is so far or whatever other reason. We even started to tell people adopting kittens to call and make an appointment that day for 3 months away if they asked about the cost of speutering when they adopt.

Who knows how many of them would pay the full amount if the low cost place was not available, I dont think that you could ever get reliable stats on it

I have also denied adoptions before to people who just do not believe in neutering, we had a family in once who disagreed with neutering for religious reasons but wanted a kitten. I was happy to adopt a neutered animal to them but not a kitten. A few weeks later, we had a kitten who needed surgery and the vet said he would do the neuter while the kitten was having the surgery rather than risk another surgery just 2 months later. The wife came back and adopted him, knowing her husband would not let the cat be neutered but wanting a kitten they could train to be around their children (haha train a cat but the wife seemed to know about cats and would be the primary caretaker). There will always be instances like that too, but given the number of offspring caused by just one cat, I am happy for the hundreds that do get neutered at low cost clinics

I have the same problem with a very good friend of mine. She just won't get her kitty vaccinated and dewormed- I gave her a coupon for a free visit and she still wouldn't do it, she says she can't afford it (it will still be around $20 for the actual shots) and she has asked me to go to the movies with her twice in the past month, I am thinking obviously she can afford it if she can afford to go to the movies .It makes me so mad. Her kitty has a great appetite, eats a lot but is very skinny, so she really needs to be dewormed. As far as getting her spayed she would most likely never do it, and her kitty does go outside...

I think if the shots were free, my friend would do it, and the same goes for spay/neuter- I think if it was completely free, a lot more people would do it.

But for people like that it will never be completely free, it will be gas money, time off work or their social life - sad but true.
Its why most shelters screen people and dont adopt to just anyone and do all the health care before adoption even though it eats into their funding and the number of animals they can help