Why I need to spay/neuter cats

[aggieterpkatie]

Yes, without a doubt for population control spay the females first, then worry about the males!

Good on ya for being responsible!

 

[bossynbella]

I think you are doing a wonderful thing. We have some "friends" I say it like that because they have been DH's friends for over 15 years. I like the wife and the husband is ok but they are very irresponsible with there animals. They started out with one female cat 5 years ago. She had two litters the first year. They sold all the first and one of the second. That left them with 7 cats. The following year, the two female kittens had two litters each which was 11 kittens, and the momma cat had 4 litters, a total of 16 kittens. So that year they added 27 kittens to there 7. They may have sold or given away a few. As the years have gone by they have continued to have more and more kittens, now they are overrun with cats. The wife was trying to be responsible and got the original mother and 5 others she could catch spayed. They neutered two males. But there are so many and they are wild as crap. Now its the cats fault, The husband is pissy about all the cats and is not at all nice to them, They also have two dogs and chickens and ducks. This spring a cat got in and killed a bunch of chicks. So the husband started shooting the cats. Like its there fault right?
Well anyway just wanted to vent. You are doing a wonderful thing. I wish more people where as responsible as you.

 

[Akane]

I would ask them if you can have someone out to take care of the cats. There are lots of organizations that will either do TNR (trap neuter release) possibly with relocation or put them down humanely if there is nowhere they can live. Your local humane society or veterinarian would likely know of organizations in your area. Otherwise at minimum most will loan you a couple havahart traps and neuter or PTS what you bring in. It would at least be better than a potentially poorly aimed bullet, dying of illness, getting hit on the road, continuing to multiple, and being mistreated the whole time they are alive. Cats aren't too hard to trap. We catch random ones in our havahart raccoon trap all the time. I've seen what happens when you don't spay/neuter or humanely put them down. The diseases that follow cat overpopulation are very sad.

 

[Frosty]

Well, I haven't been able to do the cats yet because by the time they finished lactating it was winter. Didn't want to do the surgery and put them right back out in the cold, and if I kept them in the house to recover they would be in for the rest of the winter. I have one at the vet now for a spay (she kinda moved in to the house) and while there I asked if they would consider a bulk discount. They told me that I could bring them all in at once and they would give me 25% off. I figure it will cost around $1200 before the discount, so that would save me a few hundred not including the costs of having more kittens and vaccines for those kittens. So when I go out to feed, I need to pick up some tails to verify what I have and set it up. Catching them won't be a problem, I keep my cats tame so if any medical issues show up I can take them to the vet and give them needed treatment. Just need to find a way to carry them all in... It will be such a relief to have them done!

 

[Orchid]

Frosty, you can have them spayed while pregnant, too. Just ask the vet not to tell you if they were pregnant or not, if that bothers you.

Good for you for taking care of them. More people need to take that responsibility!

Akane, not sure where you live, but up here in northern MN and most likely out in ND where Frosty lives, there are absolutely no programs for TNR.

I wish there were. It falls upon the kindness of vets to offer a group discount (like Frosty's vet is doing) or a discount for doing feral cats.

 

[ultasol]

there may be spay/neuter clinics/organizations that are not related to a shelter. I have volunteered for one here, doing pre-surgery prep on the cats.

Also look for organizations that specialize in altering feral cats.

 

[kla37]

One of my friends and his family have some cats living on their property. Instead of trapping them and removing them, they have had them all neutered/spayed and their ears are notched when it's done so everyone can tell. They still have the cats but no new ones have moved in! And no kittens to worry about.

 

[MomtoSyd&Emma]

there is a program going on right now that will neuter outdoor male cats for only FIVE DOLLARS can you believe that? They do require that they be ear tipped and a rabies given for only $5 more! So for $10 you get a rabies, and neuter!!! I am so proud of that program!

 

[karimw]

Wow I wish we had something like that around here. We inherited a wild population at our new farm and I've been working diligently to get them caught and fixed. We started with 5 females and had 7 litters last year. I managed to rehome many of them and got many of the young boys and all but one of the mamas caught and fixed (she's wiley). My local vet won't work on wild cats though, and he's the cheapest around at $40 for a neuter and $70 for a spay. I had to take the wild ones to a vet over an hour away and they charged $120 to spay, $70 to neuter and a day off work to haul em there and back. It's been an expensive process, but since I believe in feeding my barn cats it will be cheaper in the long run to keep the population down. As you see by my signature line I have quite a few mouths to feed

 

[Frosty]

Like Orchid said, there is very little available in options here. I wish there was, but there isn't. And I do want to be clear on one point... these may be barn cats, but they are NOT feral. They are all my cats, and very tame (unless strangers are around, then they do tend to hide). The majority have names, the few that don't are the ones that look alike so I can't tell them apart. Since nobody else in this little town is likely to take them in for spay/neuter, I won't worry about the ear notching, the ones that look alike are all boys and I'll be able to tell if they were done. And yes, I plan to have the rabies shots done at the same time. The rest of the shots I do myself.