[Dimmerz]

:?:
Hi I'm new to the forum! But I actually had a question for a friend of mine. She adopted two stray kittens; boy and girl. Now they are about 7 months old and not spayed or neutured. They have been caught doing the deed several times, but my friend does not want to "fix" them even after I have told her that she should. I just wanted some advice on how to make the pregnancy, if it does happen, go smoothly cuz she isn't going to spay or neuture them. Thank you!

 

[ralphcor]

can't help you, but hope she knows what she's in for, over & over & over.... so what does she plan on doing with all these kittens so many times? - maybe we need to spay her!

beside avoiding pregnancy there's tons of articles on why the procedure is actually healthier for the cats in the long run with age getting older - so if she thinks it's cruel or whatever to do to em let us know and we can get her sum much needed info ASAP!

 

[Dimmerz]

lol

I agree with you. I don't know why she is being so stubborn about this. She thinks that she can just give the kittens away. If it was that easy then there would be no kittens/cats in shelters. I'll do some research and send it to her.

 

[Jeanie]

Well, perhaps some very cruel truth will help. Millions of cats are being put to sleep in shelters every year. Some people just don't appreciate something they don't pay for, and take it to the shelter when it's inconvenient for them to have a cat. Kittens might find a home, but it's more rare for a full grown cat. The shelters have a budget. Even no-kill shelters are forced to turn down animals when the money and space run out.

Is she going to put an ad in the paper? Please tell her the awful truth. Free to a good home? That home might very well be a research laboratory or worse yet--the inside of a pet snake's stomach!. When I learned that I became even more adamant about spaying and neutering. The newspapers in this area, and I'm sure, all over the country, warn against giving kittens free to a good home! They don't want the ad, regardless of the money they make! They will place it only at the customer's insistence. A company in a capitalistic society is showing more responsibility than your friend.

I have many links on the care of kittens, but I'd like to have her place a call to the nearest shelter and ask them if she's being kind to her cats. Find out how many are being put down monthly in the nearest big city. :I'm sure everyone here would be happy to give advice, but she should be ready to spay and neuter her cats.

If the poor little female is able to deliver a live litter, she should get shots fot the kittens and charge something for them. That might keep away the snake owners looking for free food and those wanting kittens to sell for chemical research! It's so sad. If good people only knew what they were doing, surely irresponsible breeding would stop.

We know you're trying to help, and convince her to do the right thing. God bless you for caring!

 

[Jessica]

You should also mention to your friend that females can come into heat shortly after giving birth and while they are nursing so if she leaves them intact, the poor female is going to be popping out babies one litter after another.... Certainly not very healthy for her.

 

[Bengalsownme]

You are being a good friend and I hope you can convince her to do the righjt thing!!! That is so upsetting that people are so ignorant! I don't understand why people don't spay and neuter their pets! I hate the excuse that ...well I really don't have the money right now. Well if you were that irresponsible to bring a life into your home and not think it would cost money that is ridiculous ans you shouldn't own a pet. Do you know where she got them. I know I had to sign a contract that I would spay my sammy when we adopted her from the animal shelter. It was included in the $55 adoption fee. They could fine you if you don't abide by the rules.

 

[Sol]

Wow... I´m not even gonna say all the things that goes around in my head when I hear about people like her. :x

It´s so sad because often the cats are the ones that suffer the most

First of all, when one decides to breed on cats with unknown ancestors that person takes several risks. The cats could carry herriditary defects or diseases even though it doesn´t shows. You don´t know if the cats are related to each other which creates an other problem, inbreeding.

Are there people willing to take care of the kittens when it´s time for them to leave mama cat or is she prepared to keep them all? That´s something to think about. If she doesn´t "get rid" of them and she doesn´t wanna keep them, is she willing to have the vet put them down?

Is she willing to spend some money on the kittens? Rasing a litter of kittens isn´t free. Food, toys, litter, deworming etc costs money.

And if she doesn´t get at least one of the cats neutered she will have kittens at home all of the time. Females can go into heat 3 weeks after giving birth to the babies.

The pregnancy and the birth itself isn´t riskfree. Many things can go wrong. Lend her a book about breeding, genetics and diseases. Maybe she´ll get scared of all the horrible things that can go wrong.

If something goes wrong, in the end the cats are the victims.

 

[Dimmerz]

She got them from a stray cat who had 3 kittens. She took 2 of them (brother and sister) and the other kitten was taken by another person. I wouldn't even go into the details of what happened to that one :? (it's another sad story). Therefore, there was no fee and no contract to sign saying that she would spay/neuter the cats. She thought they were both females at first so she didn't think this would be a problem initially.

I have warned her about all the problems with inbreeding kittens, the costs of shots, etc. ****, I don't even know if she gave her kittens their initial shots or if they have ever been to the vet. We actually got into a huge argument about this because I feel sorry for the cats. She thinks it will be so easy and although I offered to take a kitten in if it comes down to it, I can't take in all of them and take care of them. I'm a poor student

Any other facts that I should send her way?

Thanks for all your suggestions/comment everyone!

 

[Sol]

I´ve got a link for her:

http://www.i-love-cats.com/meow/bendy/Bendypage.html

 

[marwood71]

if you have a local shelter or humane society, they have very reasonable rates for spay/neutering as well as other shots. they will also work out payment plans.

to give you an idea of the problem our society has: last week, when i was buying kitty litter, the local pet store had 8 kittens they rescued from being euthanized up for adoption. today, i went to buy cat food and a different store had a whole WACK (too many to count, and i had to get out of there before i left with four of 'em) of kittens.

spay and neuter. keep them inside. that's all i got to say.

 

[tanyuh]

I agree 10000000000%.

I really hope you can convince your friend. Let us know!

 

[marwood71]

sol. what an interesting link you posted. very, very sad, but interesting. thanks.

 

[tanyuh]

I knew there was a reason I avoided that link....sometimes I just can't take the sad stuff and today (this week, ahem) is not one of those times hehe.

 

[Bengalsownme]

That is so sad that the poor kitty has to suffer like that. Thats why I get so mad when people feel they don't need to neuter their animals. Breeders like sol and I spent a lot of time studying our breed and genetic and pedigrees and all that accompanies breeding. It is not a fun thing and it is very costly. That girl is taking a huge risk and especially because the cats are brother and sister. They could be doubling up on very bad genes. The poor things. I truly hope she comes to her senses and does the right thing and what is best for those cats! I will be praying for her and all the people like her. These poor animals don't have voices. We need to be their voice and stand up for their rights.

 

[Dimmerz]

Thanks everyone for their information. I sat my friend down and bombarded her with all of the information I got here along with some research I did and she is going to get both cats spayed and neutured!!!

Unfortunately, my convincing her has come a bit late as there is a possibility that her cat is pregnant. She is bringing her to the vet to check it out on Friday.

Luckily, she said that if the cat does have kittens, she will spay her afterwards. I just hope she sticks to the plan.

 

[Jeanie]

Dimmerz, Here's a link that should help your friend with the care of mother and kittens:

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Poin ... wners.html

The Cat Fanciers Assoc. (CFA) also has a site that should be very helpful.
These are sites that I refer to personally. Please update us as things progress. I'm glad you were able to persuade her to do the right thing!