Why do people let their cats/dogs have babies?

catkins

I am thinking of getting a rescue cat or kitten. The only reason I would get a kitten is because I think my two cats may react slightly better to a kitten than an older cat.

It saddens me to see so many cats and kittens looking for homes. All cat rescue places seem to be full up, Gumtree is full of cats and kittens and even on Facebook I have seen people saying that have kittens for sale.

People seem to think they can make money by selling kittens but there are so many that a lot of people must struggle to get rid of them. In fact on Gumtree I see kittens that start of at say £80 then keep being reduced and often end up free!

There is an animal sanctuary near me and someone dumped 3 pregnant cats there so they now have 3 mums and over 20 kittens.

dogstarheaven

some time ago, i had a massive dilemma and wrote a thread about my then SIL's selfish attitude to her then 2 cats (any of you remember?) the main story was -

she wanted them to experience 'motherhood' as it was 'god's intention' for girl cats to have babies. i tried to argue with her about the mother cat will never see her babies grow up and look after them, and said it was unnatural for the babies to be taken away at only 8 weeks old just because it wasn't financially viable for the human owner of the mother cat. she then went on that the babies would be rehomed and wouldn't suffer. I wholeheartedly discredited this as codswallop and put this down to her being uneducated and totally stupid, f.e.c.k.less and completely against her so-called beliefs in being an animal-lover.

2nd point, these cats had had previous litters before, and some had died during or within hours or days since birth. It was heart-wrenching to hear at the time, whenever I got to hear of another dead kitten that passed through the grapevine. trouble was. was that she never allowed the cat to get neutured once she had had the babies that she got out of the house ( "oops, was that my fault?.. i dunno.. am too stoned to notice.." - that was probably her reaction when she realised that the cat's carrying a little bit more weight than usual on her underside).

3rd point -

the mother had no intention of using flea treatment. when i used to visit (thank goodness i don't anymore) i used to get bitten all the time. as mother and her daughter didn't suffer with bites, she didn't care that visitors got bit (even her own mother!). i saw these fleas jumping all over the little kittens, and i knew that it wasn't right for them to suffer so horribly like this. in the thread, i wanted to report her and had had the support from you guys (on the Pets Board) to do it. Obviously, I couldn't as I would be suspect no. 1 by the whole family if I grassed her up. To this day the poor cats (2 have both been mothers for the 3/4th time (both their first litter by at 1yo or younger even!)

That's my story and I still can't stand ppl today who profess to be animal lovers to 'allow' their pets to go through this w/out the consequences it could do to the mother animal or the planet. Why can't people think of rehoming a unloved one from a rescue. As we're in a disposable society, everyone wants it all-brand new, not tainted with 'history' (with form) or it's too old and therefore not as cute as a baby one.

Ok.. some of you may judge me, or feel as though they've been judged, but really.. just think about the animal's sake please. to keep everyone happy. keep all the litter then, and don't ever think about the cost, coz it's what you've brought into the world. if human babies were multiplied by a litter's worth, do you think the mother would want to reject those??? if only we were 'adopted' by carers/owners, i don't think we get to have a choice, do we???!!

KateLiana27

catkins wrote: »

It saddens me to see so many cats and kittens looking for homes. All cat rescue places seem to be full up, Gumtree is full of cats and kittens and even on Facebook I have seen people saying that have kittens for sale.

People seem to think they can make money by selling kittens but there are so many that a lot of people must struggle to get rid of them. In fact on Gumtree I see kittens that start of at say £80 then keep being reduced and often end up free!

This is one thing that worries me about people who let their pet breed. Unlike responsible registered breeders (who often have a waiting list of vetted and approved future owners even before mating takes place), they often seem to want to unload the puppies/kittens for free onto anyone, just to get rid of them. That can't be good for the animal... I've heard horrible stories about what can happen to animals advertised as "free to a good home".

Dogstarheaven, definitely no judgment from here!

dogstarheaven

just heard from a a really good friend of mine who's recently announced that the 8mth old kitten is pregnant, and was already booked in for the op. about 2 weeks after the pregnancy was discovered. friend justified leaving the neutering this late on because she wanted the cat to 'calm down' her aggressiveness as she got to this age. but now that she's pregnant, friend said blithely that so-and-so's will get one, the other, one and so forth. i just thought - how she must have rejected me as a potential rehomer so quickly as she knew of my politics on animal welfare and unwanted litters... it really put another perspective on the relationship tho.

hazyjo

Awww sad thread. I got my Lottie Cat from the CPL after someone had dumped her and her two kitties at the vets. She was under a year old.

They were in a pen next to her when I went to see her, and she didn't give two hoops about them by then. They were a bit older. Breaks my heart to think of someone giving her and her kittens up. Happens a lot.

They should have just had her done in the first place. Dunno why people bother getting pets if they can't take care of them or afford them.

Jx

peachyprice

marmitepotato wrote: »

Yup, just had my boxer puppy spayed and it cost £295.

You were had.

duchy

I'd always had cats as a child and in my ealy twenties but was living in a flat when my son was born and then moved near a busy road so no cats for us until we moved here.

I contacted the CPL and had a home visit . My son is the gentlest of kids but when they asked about any illnesses or disabilities I told them he had mild autism. My mistake !! They refused point blank to let us have anything except an old cat despite meeting my son (I wanted a kitten to grow up with him). I ended up getting two kittens off the Co-op noticeboard and they were both wonderful and healthy but really I would have preferred a rescue kitten (or two).

I have taken the matter up with the CPL since and they have apologized and said the women have been spoken to.......and was I interested in fostering for them !!!! I refused ! It's a shame as I work from home but I really couldn't justify working for an organization with such a rubbish attitude to MH issues.

sharpy24

I have recently rehomed an older cat from a friend who is sick and could not care for her anymore. We are lucky as the cat is very well behaved. I'm sure that in the future I will rehome older and unwanted pets as they are just as special as the ones you buy as babies. I also think that there should be more laws or stronger laws enforced when it comes to breeding animals and when it comes to dangerous dogs being around small children. I also frown upon this accessorising of pets culture that seems to be becoming more of a hype with toy/small dogs. I also think there should be a limit to the number of the larger pets; such as cats and dogs per household. I think the answer to the question: Why do people let their cats/dogs have babies? because they think of the money before anything else. The idea of making money from selling pets is more appealing than spending it on having their animals neutered. It’s sad and irresponsible.

antrobus

KateLiana27 wrote: »

Why do people let their cats/dogs have babies?

Because otherwise there'd be no more cats or dogs?

shinyahashimoto

Main problem is there are so many adult cats looking for a good home. Many of these are nice cats and need a home due to family worrying about young kids, or maybe an older person being unable to look after them.