Spaying your cat ends unwanted kittens' suffering. How else does it help cats? | Pet Peeves
Spring is the time when cats come into their own socially.
Cats are long-day ovulators. This means that when the days grow long, cats are stimulated to produce eggs for breeding.
When cats begin to produce eggs, they go into heat. A cat in heat will attract all the male cats in the vicinity. That female cat will breed randomly until she becomes pregnant. A cat’s pregnancy will last roughly two months
A cat will have approximately two litters a year, with each litter containing roughly four to six kittens. Each kitten will be mature enough to breed at 10 to 12 months of age.
According to the Feral Cat Coalition website, a pair of breeding cats can potentially be responsible for 420,000 offspring over a seven-year period.
Unneutered female cats will find a way to get pregnant. They will continue to go into heat every three weeks until they successfully breed. Unneutered male cats will not let anything deter them from this quest.
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There are a lot of unwanted kittens in the world. Many of these kittens end up in animal shelters. If you have not neutered your pet, please go visit PAWS (Panhandle Animal Welfare Society).
Imagine your precious pet in one of those cages. PAWS does the best it can with the money and time that they have, but nothing will fix the tragedy of unwanted kittens. That place is not pretty.
People have various reasons for not neutering their pet. They may think it is too expensive. This is wrong thinking when the cost of neutering is compared to the cost of caring for unwanted kittens.
The upfront expense is much cheaper than the unplanned expenses down the road of having your cat pick up diseases such as Feline Leukemia and FIV while out engaging in risky behavior. There could be complications to the pregnancy that will require expensive doctor’s bills, or there is the cost of dealing with the kittens that result. Even if you dump the kittens at PAWS, your tax dollars are at work dealing with the problem.
Here are some good reasons to get your pet spayed or neutered: By spaying your female cat, you eliminate the aggravating heat cycles. Your cat will be less likely to roam. It will greatly reduce exposure to viruses like Feline Leukemia and FIV. It eliminates the risk of mammary tumors and ovarian cancer. And it reduces the number of unwanted kittens.
Neutering your male cat will reduce spraying and marking behavior. It will also reduce roaming and fighting, making your cat less likely to catch Feline Leukemia virus or FIV. You will also be reducing the population of unwanted kittens.
What will happen to those unwanted kittens? They will become feral and unkempt as they grow up. They will battle worms and be covered with fleas. Most of them will contract some form of virus. It may be chronic upper respiratory of it may be Feline Leukemia or FIV. They won’t know a good home or loving owners. They will be hungry most of their lives.
Don’t allow yourself to be a part of that future. Get your cat neutered or spayed. While we are at it, if you don’t have a cat, consider contributing to the shelters that help spay and neuter. We need to end the sadness of kittens living unwanted lives.
This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Why spay cats? Protect kittens, avoid diseases | Pet Peeves
