Spaying

Did you know that two unaltered cats and their offspring can parent more than 150,000 kittens within seven years? WOW! I didn't...not until today and I was stunned! I had just never thought about it before now. And I'll just bet there are a lot of other people who, like me, had not the first clue about the staggering numbers above.

It seems to me that the real tragedy of the pet overpopulation crisis is that perfectly adoptable dogs and cats are dying simply because somebody didn't get their pet spayed or neutered. Some had a reason for not altering their pet, others just never got around to it. But whether a pet owner neglects to have a dog or cat spayed because they want her to have "just one litter" first, they thought their pet was unique in some attractive way or whether someone simply didn't want to spend the money for their pet's surgery, the end result is always the same: far too many animals for the number of available homes.

There are lots of medical and behavioral benefits to having a female dog or cat spayed:

A spayed pet is a healthier pet. They are less likely to develop mammary tumors, and they won't develop uterine cancer or other problems of the reproductive organs. There will never be a risk of pregnancy complications, either.

A spayed pet is a happier pet. A spayed female is a more relaxed and peaceful pet. Spaying nullifies a pet's desire to roam in search of a mate and eliminates the frantic pacing and crying of a cat in season.

A spayed pet helps to reduce the tragic problem of pet overpopulation. Thanks to their caring owners, spayed pets will not contribute to the pet population explosion.

Altering doesn't change the personality of your pet. Altering does not make your pet fat or lazy. Spaying or neutering won't transform your pet into a pudgy pet or corpulent kitty -- overeating and lack of exercise will.

There's absolutely no truth to the myth that it's best to let a female pet give birth to a litter before getting her spayed. In reality, it's better for an animal to be spayed before having a litter or even going in to heat.

Letting your children "experience the miracle of birth" is a horrible reason to let your animal procreate. Would you then also take them to the E room at the shelter and let them experience the tragedy of death? Animals usually choose to give birth in a safe, secluded place free from what they perceive as a threat to themselves or their offspring. Many become quite upset and nervous with an audience, screaming from the pain of labor, but not wanting to deliver in an unsafe environment. Wouldn't it be better to teach your children the importance of responsible pet ownership instead?

So, for those of you who have come to this Forum with the intention of allowing Fluffy to have "just one litter" or breeding your non-pedigreed cats to each other because "they are so beautiful", please think about the ramifications of your actions. Because you are entrusted with their care, I urge you to act responsibly.


Gaye

Gayef, it's actually 420,000, not 150,000 !!!

I completely agree with you about spaying and neutering.

People tend to equivate their sexual lives with cats'/dogs'. But cats and dogs have different sexual reproductive systems than ours. Also their sexual behaviors result from some kind of an internal power (drive) pushing the animal to engage in reproductive behavior. However, human sexual motivation results from the interaction of diferent factors; pleasure being one of them.

Cats have to be in an estrus cycle in order to copulate (we have the menstrual cycle instead). They have induced ovulation, meaning that by only mating the female will release egg for fertilization. If the female doesn't get pregnant, she will go in to the cycle again. (in female humans, the egg & the lining of uterus monthly grows and get rid off !)

Also, the female cat won't get pregnant if she is not in heat since she is not hormonally ready yet ! Even if the male overpowers the female and mounts on her, lordosis response wouldnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t occur in the female and he would probably be unable to achieve intromission. Sexual behavior of female humans however is not dependent on menstrual cycle; they can mate anytime during their menstrual cycle and sexual intercourse can occur at any time.

Cats don't need to have "kids" to be happy ! Its just their hormones telling them to mate (to pass their genetic material to the next generation), not the desire to take care of a baby or a child ! Male cats mostly don't even have paternal behaviors; they just take off & look for another potential mate. And maternal care is short in cats (unlike humans !!)

You may also want to check this link:

Spay and Neuter Your Cats!

Hi,
Dogs are overbred needlessly because of lact of spaying and neutering, but NOT PET OWNED CATS. Check out this site, and survey's.
http://www.fanciers.com/npa/owned-cats.html
I don't know where you came up with your numbers on how many cats are produced, but I believe they are massively overstated, if you believe any of the survey material on the above site. Possibly healthy ferels reproduce at the rate you mention, but the feral population I've seen, has episodes of disease every few years, which whips out most of them, and they have to start over, building up a population.
bluekats

We adopted two adult spayed females about 5 months ago. They have acclimated fine, however, one female just started to act as though she is in heat. Not being experienced in feline breeding, she appears to act as though in a false heat as one of my horses does every so often. Please let me know how long we should expect this to continue. Thank you!

Just checked out the site recommended by bluekat and there is a ton of great information to be read.

Way to go bluekat.

I'm a cat rescuer. Every 2 out of 4 cats I take care of on the streets are cats that are owned or were owned. I believe that qualifies both as "pets", right?. Of all the cats dying in shelters more than half are domesticated pets, not ferals. Right now in my city the shelter is putting to sleep 25 kittens a day because they don't have the room for them. These are not feral kittens, these are kittens born to pets. Pets who belong to irresponsible pet owners. On the SOS board I posted my frustration because just the other night I rescued a beautiful cream siamese mix w/blue eyes. Her owner dumped her in the woods at a dead end. There she sat crying her heart out as I slowly approached her. She did not just wonder up to the woods and she wasn't feral. I picked her up and put her in a carrier. Upon exam my vet verified she had had kittens about 6-7 weeks earlier. So here's the probable story on this little cat. She had a owner who let her get pregnant, let her have the kittens, did God knows what with the kittens and then decided to throw her out in the woods. This is the story that plays out over and over again in the city where I live and I know it is happening all over the country.

Breeders want peoople to believe that only ferals overpopulate the streets and shelters. This is a falacy. Irresponsible pet owners and people who think it's alright to keep breeding, for whatever reason, are the reason for the overpopulation problem.

I have 57 cats, all were from the streets or a shelter. None were given to me by individuals or born in my household. Only 2 of these are feral.

I have a pedigree Manx, whose owner thought it was just fine that she let her breed with any cat that came along. As a result the cat contracted FELUK when mating for the last time before I rescued her.

I have a pedigree Snowshoe Siamese who was eating birdfood on my neighbors lawn when I discovered her, 4 lbs. and barely alive.

I have a pedigree Persian that I rescued from the shelter because she was going to be put to sleep for sneezing. Her owners deserted her on the streets, unspayed.

I have a pedigree Border Collies, whose owner died and whose son threw her out on the streets, unspayed and infected with hookworms, heartworms and ear mites.

When I see a pedigree animal roaming the streets I think to myself now there goes another animal to suffer because of some breeder who swears "all my kittens and puppies go to excellent homes". Would someone tell that to the ones roaming the streets starving, getting hit by cars, being shot and abused, etc., etc. I have a lot of extraordinary stories to tell about most of my rescues. Some who were almost dead when I found them because they were put out on the streets and couldn't take care of themselves so they ended up hit by cars, attached by dogs, legs mangled, etc., etc.

Most people are under the mistaken notion that just because an animal is pedigree or just because it cost a lot of money, that is insurance that the animal will be taken care of by it's owner. That is so far from the truth. All you have to do is look at the thousands of pedigree rescue groups in business to know this is a lie.

I guess the most amazing thing I'd ever seen was someone turned in a King Charles Spaniel to the local shelter. Now anyone who knows anything about dogs knows these are not your run of the mill dog and you never see one in a shelter. However, this dog, as pedigree and expensive as it was, ended up in the shelter. This should not happen, but it does over and over again and breeders keep their heads buried in the sand because they don't want to realize that an animal they allowed to be born into this world could end up in this King Charles position. However, when there are so many animals that people think as disposable, this is what happens.

One thing I think might have some people confused and that is what is a feral cat. A true feral is a cat that has never been touched by humans. Also, if irrsponsible pet owners quit abandoning, dumping or throwing out their pets, there wouldn't be a feral cat problem.

Millions of pet cats and dogs will continue to die until those responsible accept the responsiblity and stop blaming it on something or someone else because they are to ignorant or selfish to do otherwise. I sleep well knowing I'm not adding to the numbers dying and I know a lot of other people do also.

I apologize for the scattered thoughts. It's late and I'm tired, but I thought I needed to respond to the e-mails when I saw it written that ferals are the reason for the overpopulation problem. NOT!!It's pet owners and breeders, pure and simple.

Respectfully I disagree with you. The numbers are staggering about the over population of cats. They are not all feral cats that are causing these numbers to rise. It is usually cats owned by people who don't really give a rip about the animal and don't get the animal spayed and neutered. Your link to the survey shows that the information they have was in 1994. You will find this link to have a bit more current information.

Most feral colonies that are not managed, by that I mean they don't have people feeding, and trapping neutering and releasing the cats will inbreed causing the line to become sick and riddled with all sorts of problems from tumors to blindness. There is disease and illness and the cats will get steadily weaker as they continue to breed within themselves. The kittens die very soon after birth, or are killed by the stronger toms in the group. A healthy feral is one that has been TNR and is being fed and is therefore not contributing to any more kittens being put on this planet. There is no ONE factor to blame for this, there are many mitigating factors that are causing this sad situation to exist.

Spay America

People don't seem to be able to find healthy kittens around here. Sure their are barn cats, which are sneezeing, runny eyed, pieces of ears missing on toms etc. I even know one vet who raises non-pedigreed healthy kittens, and sells them for $35-$50, with shots included. The vet has no problem selling them either. It brings in business, as then the owner's come back for a neuter & routine cat care.
There are true ferals living in the cranberry bogs here. Plenty of them. I don't think anyone could catch any of them, except in a trap. I'm assumeing you must live in a city to have so many dumped cats. People who discard kittens obviously have no sense. Keep them healthy, get their shots, they are vary saleable. It just takes effort to raise animals. I don't believe in breeding non-pedigreed cats, but that doesn't mean people don't want them. I'd much rather see a $35 price tag on a kitten instead of free.
The only thing that I can see working in cities is selling all pet kittens already neutered. Spay contracts aren't worth the paper they are written on. Unfortunately there is no incentive to spay/neuter a non-pedigree kitten prior to giving it away. Farmer's who have barn cats don't want them neutered, if they did, pretty soon they wouldn't have any cats, and would be overrun with rats & mice.

I spay and neuter all my adoptions before they leave my house and that's what everyone who adopts out should do, but they don't. Most people who adopt out don't realize they have the right to spay/neuter or demand spay/neuter to the new adoptive person. One lady told me once "Oh I can't tell them what to do, it's their pet". I reminded her that until it leaves her house it is still her pet. People are dense, but that's why I love animals. ha!

As for the farmer who doesn't spay/neuter because he'll run out of cats, that will never happen. If even half of all the "intelligent" people spayed/neutered there would still be enough idiots out there keeping the numbers up because no matter what you tell them, they won't get it! It's the responsibility of people who consider themselves "responsible" to take the initiative to help curb the numbers being born. But like I said before, some people aren't thinkig about the animals because they are too selfish and are only thinking about themselves. Those people are the ones using the genius excuses for not getting their pet altered, i.e., God meant it to have babies, my children need to see the miracle of birth, I find good homes for the kittens/puppies, I want a baby who looks like my cat/dog, and the list goes on and on.

Whew I get so exhausted talking on this subject. Sometimes I feel like a broken record!!

I live in the country and during kitty season I am full up trying to keep up with all the dumped females bulging with kittens. Because of financial concerns this year I was only able to take in one female with 2 kittens, but I have unfortuanately had to turn down over 10 cats in the last 3 months. It is heartbreaking.People see our barns and stop and let their cats out in the woods behind our home because I guess they feel like we need those cats a lot. I have 13 inside outside cats and 5 barn kitties. I spay and neuter immediately, and in regards to the newest arrival McKenzie, as soon as her kits are old enough, she will be spayed and they will be fixed as soon as possible.

One thing I have learned by being in this community, is never assume anything. And when it comes to cats, I am always learning more and more each day and stay here to share my knowledge and gain from others.

Bluekat, I must ask you. Where do you think the ferals are coming from? Maybe they are falling from the sky?

I'm sorry, I'm trying to be respectful. But I just can't see how anyone can think there is no cat overpopulation problem.

It must be kept in mind that the 420,000, or 150,000, or whatever figure is thrown out is just a function of 1 cat has 4 kittens per litter on average and 2 litters per year on average, so multiply 8 x 8 x 64 x 376 etc. This is only the potential. The reality is likely far less, but no less of a problem.

I have links, too, lots of them, and they are not from a breeder website. They are from the people who clean up after the irresponsble pet owners, therefore they have no monetary interest in putting forth the facts (?) they put forth.

http://www.ddaf.org/SpayDay/statistics.html

Notice in the above, they are speaking of "companion" and "owned" animals. Notice about half of the "surrendered" animals are not altered. "Surrendered" means their "owners" are throwing them away.

http://www.thestrayhouse.com/shelter_statistics.html

Midway down the page on this one you will notice that 30% of shelter animals were brought in by their owners. Of the others (animal control and strays brought in by citizens) it's unlikely each and every one were feral, since the average person cannot approach the average feral. It's likely that the majority of those remaining 70% were cats and dogs that had been thrown away by their "owners".

http://www.saveourstrays.com/bond.htm

I wondered about your contention that there were more dogs breeding neddlessly than cats, so I checked that out, too. As you can see from the above site, about 4 millions dogs enter shelters each year, whereas 4.5 million cats enter shelters. And....

http://www.alleycat.org/walk_fc.html

as this site says, there are an estimated 60 million feral or stray cats in the US. Since dogs are not self-sufficient like cats are, the "feral dog" is virtually unknown. Most stray dogs are captured, taken in, or die within days, whereas cats can live years on their own, surviving, evading capture, and reproducing. It is estimated that a feral cat lives no longer than five years at the most, so a conservative estimate of how many cats are being born or dumped into the feral population could be reasonably placed at 12 million.

http://www.petpopulation.org/statsurvey.html

As you can see from this site, approximately 52% of dogs in shelters and 70% of cats in shelters are euthanized. Therefore, to put the math to it again, there are approximately 2.04 million unwanted dogs being born every year, and 14.8 million unwanted cats being born every year.

Again, if these cats are not coming from "owned" cats in one way or another, they must be falling from the sky.

Pet, and especially cat, overpopulation is a serious problem, and anyone who can't see that either has their head in the sand or is choosing to delude themselves.

God commanded us to husband his animals. In the Garden of Eden natural forces that God put into place prevented overpopulation of any animal. But we tamed dogs and cats and removed them so far from their natural habitats that these limits are no longer in place. It is up to us to reintroduce those limits by surgical means. By allowing this severe pet overpopulation to exist, we are failing God.

I am not trying to flame you, bluekat, I am just trying to knock some sense into you!

I don't personally know one person who has "dumped" a cat. Several people at work have been looking for free kittens, and can't find them. I know many people who have "dumped" dogs. They let them breed, and take the whole litter into a shelter.
I know there are several loose cats that make the hunting rounds in my back yard and woods. They look pretty well fed, so most likely belong to neighbors. The wild ones, look vary wild, if you see one. And there are wild dog packs, they chase deer, and kill farmer's livestock.
I think a bunch of the cats taken into shelter's are trapped or otherwise caught by people who haul them in. I'm sure some of them are owned by people, who allow them to run loose. I wouldn't dream of catching cats that walk through my land, and haul them into a shelter. If the loose cats in my neighborhood where not neutered, you'd think there would be a litter of kittens showing up once in awhile. I have yet to see a half wild litter of kittens in my back yard, or in any of my buildings. At least 3 of the cats I see on a regular basis have collars.

I don't know where you live, but I'm sure that within a one mile radius of your home there are at least 100 cats roaming, if not more. If there are no cats available you must live in some God forsaken part of the U.S.

I feed over 150 ferals a night. They are within a 12 block area. They are spayed and neuterd. If I'm feeding 150 in that small an area that gives you an idea of how many are in my city. One hundred of these cats are not feral, they were once someone's pets.

I think I like where I live better every day. Maybe the mink, martins & badgers keep the cat number's down. Lots of wood chucks also, though I've only seen one cat that I thought a wood chuck killed. I don't know if otter's or beaver's would go after a cat. Probably not.
You really feed 150 cats??? Amazeing.

Yep, I really do, actually it's over 200 if you add in my pets. Wildlife will definitely keep the numbers down. I think I have a poisonous water snake killing some of my ferals by one location. The cats, that have lived in this safe spot for 3 years all of a sudden dissappeared. A friend who went to feed at this location one night said she saw a 3 ft. water mocasen (not sure of the spelling) one of the cats was playing with it. I found that particular cat laying dead in the middle of the yard where they stay. There were no obvious marks, so I know it wasn't a dog and generally cats don't just lay down in plain view to die. After him 12 more dissappeared. The ones remaining won't go in that yard now so I know it's something in the yard that killed them. The yard is overgrown with shrubs and weeeds and is next to a canal where the snakes live.

bluekat i wish you were right in saying there are no feral cats near you. One thing about ferals, that unless you are putting food out for them you won't see them. Their survival depends on them staying cunning and hidden, and they come out only in the dead of night to find food. The moms will keep the kittens hidden because not only are the kittens vulnerable to attacks by wild critters but wild toms are also a danger to young kittens. Oh and people who "dump" cats, don't usually talk about it, not even to their friends. Because deep down inside they know it is wrong to do it, and even though they say to themselves, "well it is a cat and it will survive..." They know in their cold heart differently. You usually won't find "free" kittens, because it is a known fact that free kittens are likely to end up as lunch for a pet snake, or in reseach facilities. I charge $25.00 for each kitten I place and $15.00 for the adults. Like Patsy, I have strict rules about who gets these animals and I do surprise visitations on them. The one time I didn't follow my own guidelines, one of my cats really suffered for it. I will not let down my guard again.

Three years ago, I was feeding 62 ferals from 4 colonies. People were dropping off food for these cats once I got the word out, and since they were wild generic cat food was the most offered to me. The spay and neuter mobile comes in 3 times a year and does spaying and neutering for a donation. They start taking names the day after the last clinic and when they are done, they clip the tip of each cat's ear so the following year the cats are easy to indentify to tell they have been fixed. It is not offered enough times during the year to keep this cat population from exploding. My friend Gracie, right now has 54 cats that she has rescued, most from a mobile home park that was being torn down. The cats are there, it just takes certain eyes to see them.

After I read the last reply, I picked up local newspaper. In a pound, 120 miles south, big town/small city, they claimed they were over run with cats. 500 of them in the humane society!!!! Happens to be a big college town also, and school just let out.
I wonder if the water moccasins eat the cats?? I'm too far north, so it's vary rare to have a poisoness snake around, but we do have pine snakes (bull snakes) I've seen some that are 6-8 ft. long. When I raised chicken's, they would go in the coop. Swallow baby chicks, but get stuck in the chicken wire on the way out. The lump that the chicks made, caught them in the fence. I'd never let one of my kitties with babies, have access to my outside cat runs, as I don't trust those snakes at all. Someone had a real nice outside cat cage, posted on one of these threads. That one wouldn't be safe for my kitties at all. I've got chain link fence, with roof and cement bottom to keep wild critter's from getting near my cats. The cats love to be outside, but they have got to be protected. We also have owls & eagle's that will swoop down, and take small domestic pets. I've been on some lists, where people living in the west, have coyote's coming right into town, takeing dogs/cats out of back yards.
This is for "cooie" who "wants to knock some sense into me" her words. Cooie please ask your local government to import some natural predators of domestic pets. I've heard coyote's can survive in towns. Your cat problems will be over, and maybe the many people who treasure a pet, will realize it needs to be kept indoors, or in a well secured outside enclosure. Person I work with, raised in Saskatchewan,CA, says her government was so smart that they decided to release cougars to control the overwhelming deer. Now they have so many cougars in the area, that parents can not allow their children to play in the barnyards. Cougars have walked right into people's back yards.
Wolves have been reintroduced in my state. I'm just waiting for those to cause a problem. Black bear are getting to be prevalent. we've seen a couple run through our property, and one young male, slept in oak tree, for a whole day, beside the road, approx. 1 mile from my house, last summer. So far they haven't bothered me, but a cattle farmer claims they scare his heifer's, sending them on a wild run.

I'm certainly not an "expert" like Hissy and Patsy who rescue and care for feral colonies, but I can tell you that introducing natural predators, especially into an urban setting, would not work. I live in Colorado, right up against the mountains. Every year there are problems with predators coming into towns (Denver suburbs, Boulder). These predators don't know the difference between Fifi the prize show poodle who is in a fenced yard and feral cats who will put up a fight. All they know is that Fifi is easier prey. Then Animal Control has to come down and kill the coyote, fox, cougar, or whatever is eating people's pets. Also, when wild animals especially predators lose their natural fear of humans by being in such close proximity to them they will eventually see humans, especially little humans (children) as possible prey.

By the way, domestic cats that are kept as pets were not and are not indigenous to the ecosystem. They became feral and wild because someone dumped them. Maybe the people you know are better people than many, I know that most of my friends have never purposely dumped an animal and have rescued animals as pets. But just take a look at the Cat SOS forum to find out that not all people are like you and I, and all of us on this board.

Everything else in this society is disposable, and many people view pets the same way. You said yourself that a shelter near you has 500 cats. Think they are all feral? Go there and see how friendly most of them are. It will break your heart to see these wonderful loves waiting to die because their protectors didn't want them anymore.

I was only being sarcastic to "cooie" on natural predators.
I doubt any of the 500 cats 3 hours south, are feral. I always though feral meant wild, and then people on here talk about them as being dumped pets, etc. When I say feral, I mean wild, just as wild as their natural predators.