Why I need to spay/neuter cats

[Orchid]

Well, I think that's awesome Frosty.

You too karimw!

 

[Frosty]

Awesome job karimw, but I was just reading your signature line and notice that you don't have any dogs? No goats and geese? You need some more critters!

I love the fact that you know how many cats are there... I have 16 in the barn, 2 moms with 6 kittens in my daughters bedroom (she doesn't live here anymore), 2 in the enclosed back porch, and 8 in the house. So that makes... 34? Of them, I have about 16 that need done. The vet here normally charges $75 for males and $100 for females.

I am aware that they can spay a pregnant queen unless she is in the late stages, but they can't do her if she's lactating which is where I ran into problems last summer. They got pregnant again while still nursing a litter and had back-to-back litters. I did give a bunch away, that helps.

 

[destiny_56085]

I guess we have the opposite problem here. I can't seem to keep more than 5-6 around without something happening to the rest. We live by a major highway and a few of the adults get schmucked there. We also have a bald eagle that has been picking them off (had been targeting our waterfowl til we moved them all indoors). On the kittens, it seems like ours have their batches in the dead of winter and they freeze too. I've seen a couple of the spring batches and the tomcats have destroyed them. Every few years we get a round of distemper in the area and it takes the young ones that haven't been vaccinated yet.

 

[allanimals21]

I have 17 right now outside. I got some assistance through our humane society in november. I paid $10 per cat with a 10 cat limit and they covered the rest. They paid for the surgeries and for the rabies shot. There is an online program I will ask my sister about. She got some coupons or something that get a nueter for $30 and a spay for $60? I'm pretty sure most vets take them? Not sure how it all works. My "herd" is in the process of finishing up the few stragglers I didn't get in november. I just got one back from the vet yesterday that had a tail amputation. He got his tail in a door I guess and broke it.

 

[TigerLilly]

It's very admirable of you to be a responsible pet owner! The world is just a tad bit better off knowing that your cats won't be continuously reproducing.
Too bad more people aren't like this!

 

[mercedes]

Quote:
BOY,DO I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had 5 barn cats of my own,all spayed and/or neutered,when suddenly one day last summer a hugely pregnant cat showed up on the front porch. I offered her food and of course she stayed.

Well,two days later she popped out 5 kittens.I offered her food and of course she stayed.By now it was clear that she had adopted us and I decided to have her spayed when the babys were weaned.12 weeks later she was pregnant again and had 3 more.My wonderful vet fixed the whole bunch for $40 a piece.Momma first and the kittens when they turned 4 month old.Without this wonderful man I surely would have put my head in the oven.I love cats and around here they earn their keep by keeping mice and rats out of the horse/goat/chicken feed and helping with the snake control.But I surely don't want them to breed and breed till I have 500 cats and am called a hoarder

 

[karimw]

Quote:
You know it's interesting, but my DH really balks at the idea of getting a dog. He agreed to the chickens "instead", but I don't know how 70+ chickens is so much better than 1 dog

He really isn't a fan of all the cats but he knows that's not my fault

 

[verity]

Keep up the good work!

it truly is 'uphill all the way' with cats --- we trapped/neutered/spayed 17 cats in the past two years and STILL had a litter of five born in the barn last summer--

we brought the kittens into the garage and finished weaning them when their eyes were open -- hard to catch the little dickens --

then we had THAT batch spayed/neutered (of course, 4 of them were female so that cost more) had their shots, etc. --
tried to find homes for them as they were gorgeous semi-longhaired b/w kitties --

no luck with homes -- left them in the 'display cage' at our vets and offered 'incentives' of one-year shots, six months of food, beds, etc. etc.

had to bring them back home and by now summer was over and the nights were getting cold so DH insisted that they stay in the garage (two-story house) and garage is the 'bottom floor' ---

*** now they have formed a 'Gang' -- they charge out in the mornings to roam the woods but return in time for the canned-food dinner -- we call them The Prodigals and have made up some 'tales' about them to entertain the grandboys -- that The Prodigals are off getting tattoos, hassling other 'gangs' etc. --***

we have a poster on the door that says "Home of The Prodigals' -- and another sign that says 'Fear The Prodigals' --
(it's funny to the grandboys because the poster lists The Prodigals names, -- 'Tippy,' 'Whiskers,' 'Mimi,' 'Kevin,' and 'Puff' --- (how scary could a cat gang-member named 'Puff" be'?)

 

[Frosty]

Well, took the six girls and 9 boys in to the vet today... I had all of the boys in a large dog kennel, and the girls in two small pet carriers. Look in that big kennel and it was just a mass of fur!

The tech looked in and said 'Holy cow!' They had the whole afternoon blocked off for me. Just awaiting word if they can come home tonight or wait until tomorrow morning. Going to miss having kittens underfoot, but they grow up to be cats that have more kittens.

 

[FlickiChicki]

Good job with getting 15 at one time! One of our spook girls showed up BRINGING her children over to us. AND pregnant. So we had Spooks, 5 older babies, then a new litter of 8. Spooks would NOT dare let us trap her or get her inside away from the handsome suitors, and then blessed us with a litter of an ungodly number of 12 kittens and then she wanted humans to assist her. The dear then wanted to get AWAY from the people when the litter was 5 weeks old and she was in raging heat, but nope. When she snuck outside one night, we BARELY caught her again and she was at the vet the next morning with the note on her carrier "Yes, I'm in heat. Yes, I've just had babies. Yes, I've just had lots of babies, 25 of them. However, I was naughty, snuck outside and the humans say spay me NOW before I have MORE, like 16 in the next litter!" It was a nasty surgery apparently, her uterus was just a mess from her huge litters, young age, being in heat and the back to back to back litters and took almost 90 minutes and she had major blood loss and was in the vet's office for a week. But the vet said when he went in, he almost called us to stop the surgery when he remembered she was in then because she'd gotten outside, and another litter WOULD kill her, so even if the surgery didn't go well, it's the same result as not having surgery.

However, she did give us adorable kittens, who were easily rehomed. Pre-neutered. Put these disgustingly cute 8-12 week old babies in the front window at the vets and they ran out the door. The last two boys were just not going home at all. We'd gone in to get Spooks checked again post spay, and there was a couple who'd just lost their dog playing with the kittens. The wife just started crying with how bad Spooks looked. Had to explain that the dear showed up as a stray, had way too many kittens, and those two they were playing with were her final two babies, but now she's spayed and the problem is fixed. Yup, that's it, those two boys were packed up and home that night.

Spooks is now recovered, tho' she's always looked rough and ratty-tatty. She's the Queen Bee Barn Cat.

Now that stupid blonde girl (she is blonde yellow colored!) is here and grrr if she's not pregnant. Going to try to convince her to come inside at least so she only has ONE litter. May she have a DECENT number, like 4.

No males intact here. They come over for a meal, they get a trip to the vet and snip snip.