Hi Cat Lovers!
FEBRUARY IS NATIONAL PREVENT A LITTER MONTH!
February 12, 2009 was Spay Day International
February 24, 2009 is Spay Day USA
This time of year can serve as a reminder to have your cat spayed or neutered. If you have had your kitty fixed, congratulations! If you haven’t, why not make arrangements to do it right away.
When you spay or neuter your cat, you help save lives as well as preventing some health and behavior problems problems. You and your special feline will be happier and healthier!
Have you ever seen commercials on TV showing pictures of animals in shelters? To me, it is so sad to see their little faces. Those pictures make me cry. If I could, I would try to give them all a home. Unfortunately, shelters are literally overrun with cats and kittens who will, more than likely, be euthanized just to make room for other kitties who have no place to go. Euthanasia in this respect is really a polite way of saying the cat is killed so another can take its place. They need good homes but sadly, there are way too many cats needing homes and not enough homes for them to go to.
Cats and kittens end up in shelters for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it can be because the owner just can’t afford to take care for it any longer. With the economy the way it is today, shelters are seeing more pets given up just for that. Maybe the owner is elderly and is unable to care for their pet or perhaps the owner dies. Who will take care of the cat? If a neighbor or family does not take it in, a shelter is the only other choice. There are times when cats are given up to shelters due to their behavior problems instead of taking the time to train the cat.
When you make the decision to spay or neuter, you will be helping to control the ever-rising cat population and you will be saving the life of a poor kitty waiting to be euthanized in the shelter. If your cat has a litter of kittens, do you know you can get them homes? Eight and one-half years ago, a beautiful little Calico Manx kitten kept hanging around my house. I went all over the neighborhood trying to find who the owner was. No one claimed it. On a cold, rainy night, I brought it in, gave it a flea bath, and discovered it was a female. I named her Callie and made an appointment with my veterinarian to have her examined to make sure she was not sick since I had other cats in my home. She was perfectly healthy - and pregnant. She was six months old! My family and I decided to keep her and keep her indoors. About two and one-half months later, we had three cute kittens - two boys and one girl - Gorgeous Baby, My Favorite Kind, and Abigail Rose. My daughter had a great imagination! We talked about keeping the kittens but we tried to find homes for them. We were unable to find homes for those babies so we kept them. I suddenly went from two to six cats in a very short period of time! That put some stress on our family. There are way too many cats roaming around outside producing kittens. Hopefully they are taken in. If not, it’s to the shelter they go. They get diseases that spread to other cats or get hit by a car. Children may try to pet one and end up being bitten or scratched. Spaying and neutering will prevent these types of things.
If you have ever seen a litter of kittens being born, you know it is an amazing experience. Some people believe they teach their children about birth when their pet has a litter. Actually, I believe it is not something a responsible pet owner should do because, as I mentioned before, you may or may not be able to get them homes. Do you keep them or give them to a shelter? Also, there are no health benefits for letting you female feline have babies before you have her spayed.
There are some health benefits to spaying and neutering.
A female cat can go into her first heat as early as six months of age. Have you ever heard a female cat in heat? She calls for the male cats in the area by screaming and yowling. She rolls around in the floor andif you don’t know what’s going on, you may think something is wrong and make an appointment with the veterinarian ASAP! This behavior is normal for all cats and can last about a week every three weeks during her mating season. If your kitty starts that, don’t wait. Have her spayed immediately. If she is an outdoor cat, you may have a hard time getting her back and if she is indoors, she may try with all she has to scoot out the door to do her business. If she tries hard enough, she will succeed and when you get her back in a few days, you will more than likely find her pregnant! I learned a lesson about this the hard way. About two months after Callie had her kittens, she started all that calling and rolling in the floor. She tried her level best to get out and she did. I was able to catch her two times but the third time, she was on her way. I called the vet and made an appointment for her to be spayed but it was too late. She came home about a week later already pregnant. I waited too long and when she was spayed, the kittens had to be aborted. I felt so bad about that. My veterinarian said there were five kittens. I learned a valuable lesson in that and I hope you will as well.
In addition to all that screaming and rolling around, a female cat can suddenly forget she has a litter box and start urinating all over the house. There’s nothing like the smell of cat urine! The carpet will need to be cleaned and deodorized and that can be expensive. Now that’s something to prevent!
Spaying your female cat can help prevent breast cancer which, according to the ASPCA, is fatal in 90% of cases.
Male cats benefit from being neutered. If you have ever had a male cat spray urine all over the house, you know it is definitely something you want to stop. It is natural for male cats to mark their territory like that. It will take forever to get that smell out of your home. While it is natural for them, it is a very undesirable behavior. Neutering that boy will help prevent it. Unaltered male cats, also called tom cats, have a strong tendency to roam the neighborhood seeking a female cat’s attentions. These cats are notorious for getting into fights with one another and one or both ends up hurt with abscesses or disease. Then come the vet bills. That, too, can be prevented by neutering him. They will try to get out of the house just like the female will so keep an eye on him and make that vet appointment! In 1988, I had a little kitten keep showing up at my door. I did find the owner of the mother cat but she told me I could have it because she didn’t want it. The mother cat had six other kittens. It was her second litter. I never knew what happened to all those kittens. I brought the kitten home and named him Charlie. He was small enough to fit in the palm of my hand with room to spare. He started life as an indoor-outdoor cat. One day, he was on his own porch when I heard this horrible noise. It didn’t last but a few seconds, but when I opened the door, Charlie’s black hair was all over the place and this huge tom cat was running down the stairs. I took him in to the veterinarian I worked for and he said he couldn’t find any injuries but recommended I keep him inside. I agreed to that and made an appointment to have him neutered the following week. When I took him in for the surgery, the vet discovered an abscess on his left back leg. There were obvious teeth marks. We believe that came from that fight he had on the porch. The abscess healed in about two weeks. Three months later, Charlie didn’t seem quite right. He had difficulty walking, loss of appetite, and vomiting. My veterinarian tested him and found him to have Feline Leukemia, a fatal disease spread from cat to cat. We believe that was also a result of that cat fight. Charlie lived four years with aggressive treatment and a lot of tender loving care. I have no idea who that big tom cat belonged to but the fight and the disease could have both been prevented if that cat had have been neutered.
Your cat, whether an adult or a kitten, is looking to you make good decisions for it. Having your pet spayed or neutered is one of the best ways you can show you love for your special family member.
You can find free and low-cost spay and neuter programs near you. Don’t wait to be a responsible pet owner.
Our cats are counting on us!
Donzie Welgoss
Tags: Add new tag, cat, kitten, neuter, spay
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