As you all know, we have experienced a lot of tragedy here on the Pregnant Cats and Kitten Care Forum recently. The loss of kittens can be particularly difficult for all of us who love cats. The emotions we feel after going through the pregnancy with the Mom-cat, the stress and excitement of the delivery, anticipation of fat, happy, healthy babies ... all leading up to such sadness and disappointment ... are normal and are to be expected when these things happen.
While I do not in any way mean for this post to offend anyone here, I would like to take a moment to let everyone know that these tragedies (and others in the future) can be avoided if we as responsible pet owners would simply spay and neuter our pets.
There may be a thousand good reasons why we don't spay or neuter ... money can be an issue, life gets in the way, family concerns, job demands ... but when all is said and done, so many of these reasons seem somehow not so important anymore when kittens arrive and cannot be saved.
If money is an issue preventing you from having your cats spayed or neutered, please take a look at this site to see if there is a low- or no-cost spay/neuter clinic in your area:
http://www.lovethatcat.com/spayneuter.html
There is also a resource for credit here:
www.carecredit.com
If there are other reasons preventing you from getting your pets spayed or neutered, then please ... I strongly urge everyone to do the responsible thing and AT THE VERY LEAST, confine your pets securely indoors at all times with no access to other intact pets to prevent an unwanted pregnancy and the potential tragedy that many of us here at TCS have been forced to endure.
If it is too late and you suspect that your cat may already be pregnant, please see your vet to discuss the option of terminating the pregnancy by spaying. If it is early enough in the pregnancy, many vets will perform the spay procedure. I realize there are those of us who would attempt to place our own values on our cats by saying, "This is an abortion and I am anti-abortion, I would never do that to my cat!", but the fact is that our cats do not share our values in this matter. It is up to us to make an informed decision as to what is best for them and to do the responsible thing by spaying or neutering them no later than 6 months of age.
My heart goes out to each and every one of our members who have experienced the loss of kittens here recently. It is never, ever easy. But have faith that your heart will heal with time.
From my heart to each and every one of yours,
GayeF, Forums Moderator
While I do not in any way mean for this post to offend anyone here, I would like to take a moment to let everyone know that these tragedies (and others in the future) can be avoided if we as responsible pet owners would simply spay and neuter our pets.
There may be a thousand good reasons why we don't spay or neuter ... money can be an issue, life gets in the way, family concerns, job demands ... but when all is said and done, so many of these reasons seem somehow not so important anymore when kittens arrive and cannot be saved.
If money is an issue preventing you from having your cats spayed or neutered, please take a look at this site to see if there is a low- or no-cost spay/neuter clinic in your area:
http://www.lovethatcat.com/spayneuter.html
There is also a resource for credit here:
www.carecredit.com
If there are other reasons preventing you from getting your pets spayed or neutered, then please ... I strongly urge everyone to do the responsible thing and AT THE VERY LEAST, confine your pets securely indoors at all times with no access to other intact pets to prevent an unwanted pregnancy and the potential tragedy that many of us here at TCS have been forced to endure.
If it is too late and you suspect that your cat may already be pregnant, please see your vet to discuss the option of terminating the pregnancy by spaying. If it is early enough in the pregnancy, many vets will perform the spay procedure. I realize there are those of us who would attempt to place our own values on our cats by saying, "This is an abortion and I am anti-abortion, I would never do that to my cat!", but the fact is that our cats do not share our values in this matter. It is up to us to make an informed decision as to what is best for them and to do the responsible thing by spaying or neutering them no later than 6 months of age.
My heart goes out to each and every one of our members who have experienced the loss of kittens here recently. It is never, ever easy. But have faith that your heart will heal with time.
From my heart to each and every one of yours,
GayeF, Forums Moderator
