asking cat rescue for "dontation" back?!

KxMx

All operations on humans or animals carry some form of risk. It's naive to think otherwise.

But considering 20,000 offspring in a five year period can result from a single mother cat then I think it is worth the risk.

Rescues are bursting at the seams, many more cats are feral on the street hungry and in poor health, and many more (especially kittens) are abandoned in boxes or bags and left to die- many don't get found in time.

Being an indoor cat is no guarantee against pregnancy or fleas- I know owners with indoor cats who have had one or both happen!

And many do not know the reality either of a female cat in hear- ours had one season before she went to the Vet and it was a nightmare. She called the whole time (apart from when she dropped into exhausted naps) and pee'd over the floor and carpets roughly 3 times an hour. It is not the norm for female cats to spray but they do do it and it does happen. Just like chloebug has 2 females who don't call- but i'm sure over the years she has many many more cats through her doors who did!

Pawsies, how do you suggest rescues provide people with the option of keeping cats "intact" since they want an indoor cat- what happens when the uneutered cat goes into the rescue, remains that way because of that notion, and manages to get with a male?? Most places do not have the space or the staff to keep male & female cats apart- and why should they run the risk of female cats being returned because they have got pregnant in the center or having loads of kittens dumped on them? What if they have space for 40 cats and they end up with 30 females and 10 males? Dump the males since there is nowhere to keep them apart (say for arguments sake they have 20 pens here and 20 pens in another room).

I'm sorry but wanting rescues to keep cats "intact" is nonsense and unworkable in reality.

If you want an "intact" cat then go to a breeder and pay for it.

I would also say that confidence does not 100% come from hormones- love, care, patience and attention can more than make up for any defecit left after being neutered.

pawsies

farfromhome wrote: »

Pawsies,

I am sorry but have you ever had a cat in heat - especially an indoor cat? That poor cat will be climbing the walls trying to get out. An unneutered female cat will be in heat virtually all of the time and desperately unhappy if she can't mate.

I speak from experience, and by the way, in this area you will always find kittens for sale. You see the same phone numbers over and over again, their poor cats are used as breeding machines. Unfortunately people are still willing to pay for a kitten, even a moggy, and when you have thousands of strays, and rescue places cannot take in any more, then yes, every cat (male or female) should be spayed. I would not ever consider buying from a breeder either because of all the unwanted cats around.

And don't even get me started on "I wanted my cat to have one litter" and "Would you like one of the kittens, otherwise the last one will have to be put down"! This is what I was asked by an acquaintance only a few weeks ago!

I agree majority of people cannot control cats and should get them neutered. However intact animals are not the be all and end all.
Also, as for the 'all unspayed cats indoors go mental' comment I wonder how breeders who -are not- breeding their animals cope? I mean, all it takes is monitoring the cat for a few weeks.

To Joe Bloggs who doesn't care, get his cat neutered for the sanity of everyone else! But it won't do the cat any favours. It's a sad site when all animals in our care have to be altered in order to live. Too many animals, too many irresponsible owners.

Caroline_a

pawsies wrote: »

I agree majority of people cannot control cats and should get them neutered. However intact animals are not the be all and end all.
Also, as for the 'all unspayed cats indoors go mental' comment I wonder how breeders who -are not- breeding their animals cope? I mean, all it takes is monitoring the cat for a few weeks.

To Joe Bloggs who doesn't care, get his cat neutered for the sanity of everyone else! But it won't do the cat any favours. It's a sad site when all animals in our care have to be altered in order to live. Too many animals, too many irresponsible owners.

What are you on about? Cannot control cats? What would you suggest, let the cat out and say 'No sex or you're grounded'.

Maybe you could tell the rest of us how to control an outside un-neutered cat so that she doesnt spend her whole life producing litter after litter?