Photo by Megan Beckler
Somewhere in my grade school years we all learned about Paul Revere and his famous midnight ride. While “kitten season” isn’t nearly as vital to our national security, it certainly is a national problem. By Fourth of July weekend, most shelters across the nation, including the three right here in Pittsburgh will be filled with cats and kittens who are looking for a home. Countless others are vulnerable to the threat of being abandoned, neglected, or worse.
Adult female cats can have a litter of kittens approximately every 63 days, think about that. Cats are able to start having kittens as soon as they reach maturity, about 6 months. So that means that your cat can have a litter of kittens in April and the females of the litter can have their own litter by October, all of the females from those litters can have their own litters by the following March and so on. It’s easy to see how quickly one unaltered cat can become more than 100.
So, what can be done to slow the constant flow of unwanted cats and kittens? There’s no “magic bullet” or special trick. It’s an old message, tried and true: spay or neuter your pet. Cats can be surgically altered as young as 2 months (as long as they weigh at least 2 lbs.) with no ill effects.
Females are spayed (the ovaries are surgically removed) and males are neutered (castrated). The surgery itself takes a relatively short amount of time and while it’s more invasive for females, both genders recover relatively quickly with only a minimal disruption in their regular routine. Things to watch out for are irritation or swelling at the surgery site. Any medical concerns should be promptly reported to your veterinarian for medical attention.
Here are some of the additional benefits. Altered pets cannot get cancer of their reproductive organs, because they don’t have them. Castrated males are not likely to start spraying urine in an effort to send out an APB for a fertile female. Aggressive behavior, wandering and caterwauling (those 3am screeching serenades) are never likely to develop at all. You also are doing your part to reduce the overall number of unwanted kittens.
Myths and misconceptions (no pun intended) about cats and reproduction abound. If you’re interested in having your children “experience the miracle of birth”, you might be further ahead to have them watch an episode of Nature or another animal related program that contains footage. Spaying or neutering your pet won’t deprive her or him of anything-they won’t miss what they’ve never had. Pets who have been mothers aren’t any more gentle or friendly than those who have never been mothers, friendliness is more a function of genetic factors and socialization (the old nature vs. nurture debate). You don’t need to wait until after your pet goes into heat in order to have the surgery.
If expense is an issue, there are several places around the Pittsburgh area where you can get reduced surgery, including the shelters in the area. Spay day events, held at various dates and times generally offer a reduced surgery/vaccination combo at a rock bottom price, you just need to call around to the shelters for the details.
So, do your part to heed the call, the kittens are coming, and coming soon, what can you do to help out?
