*** CAUTION slightly GRAPHIC***I have a pregnant cat and I’m thinking of letting her have her kittens

BAAAAAD IDEA!

I know, the idea of spaying a pg cat with the knowledge that you will be aborting kittens is not very savory. But either is allowing more unwanted kittens to be born into this world.

Spring is around the corner. In a matter of a month, the Animal Shelter and Humane Society will be brimming with kittens. And like we all must come to grips with, they WILL be killed because there ARE NOT ENOUGH HOMES OUT THERE. There will be signs on every street giving away “FREE KITTENS”. There will be kittens put into boxes and left in dumpsters, drowned in creeks and god only knows what else.

While kitten abortion is not anything that anyone wants to do, IT IS NECESSARY. If that pregnant (pg) girl is allowed to have her kittens and they are actually found homes, then that means 4-6 kittens at the KCAS and HSKC that will be killed. This statement is not to defame either organization. It’s just a matter of fact.  We are not yet a NO-KILL nation.  We are still having to euthanize healthy, adoptable animals every day in this country.  Our area is no different.  Though I’m happy to report that both the Humane Society of Kent County and The Kent County Animal Shelter do use humane euthanasia by lethal injection (many other Michigan shelters still “gas” and “heart stick” as their methods of putting animals down).  REALITY.  This is REALITY.

In the name of all that is holy. Get that pg cat spayed NOW! I have spayed countless pg cats. Some I didn’t know were pg. Many I did know. But I have no remorse. Simply because, I don’t want to see sweet little living fluff balls killed. Can you imagine how hard it is for the people who have to do that job?

Worse yet is allowing a FERAL cat to have her kittens. She will hide them and it might be very difficult for us to find them all and TNR them later. And even worse yet, if she has her kittens, and we trap her, and haul her off to be fixed, we may be leaving a litter of kittens in peril because their mother has been taken. At this time of year, we must be very careful to check cats to make sure that they are not showing signs of nursing. And our vet will not spay a nursing female. He will call us immediately and have us pick up the cat so we can return her to her kittens. But God only knows if we will ever get HER in a trap again.

Something to really consider is this. Even with all the rescue work being done to find cats homes, this truth remains. For every cat or kitten I PERSONALLY take into my program and find a home, that means ONE cat or kitten WILL be killed at HS or KCAS because THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH HOMES OUT THERE.

The ONLY humane solution is TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return). It’s proven and it works. But not if the spring rolls through and people get ultra sentimental about having to spay a pg female.

I can assure you that that pg girl cat didn’t wake up one day saying “Hey, I think I’d like to raise myself a family, I’ think I’ll go out and find a tomcat to impregnate me”. NO! What happens is that the female “in heat” and the boy get together and the results are less than perfect. The tomcat basically rapes her. If you haven’t seen cats having sex, I assure you, it’s not a pretty sight. Then she is miserable and pregnant for the better part of 63 days. If she is a homeless stray or feral she likely won’t be getting the proper nutrition to bring about a healthy litter. But even if she is, I’m sure that the birthing process isn’t something she was looking forward to. I had a cat give birth in my garage in the spring of 2006 (the night before I was taking her in to be spayed). I was horrified by the yowling. I would have done anything to take that burden off her. Burying the still-born kitten wasn’t fun either.

Then to add insult to injury, this homeless female cat has to worry tirelessly about the wellbeing of these kittens till she can ween them and teach them how to fend for themselves in the elements. She will practically kill herself to care for her kittens. And heaven forbid if she is hit by a car and her kittens are left defenseless somewhere (like my Toby who was found with a broken leg on the side of the road next to his dead mother). If she is feral, she will teach them how to be feral and there will be more, very hard to capture feral cats out there for us to TNR.

If you have a pg cat in your neighborhood or know someone who does, please, Please, PLEASE have them call me. 616 560-0555. I’ll do right by that girl cat and the 4-6 totally unrelated but already born kittens that will be killed later in the shelters.

And if this cat is owned, then shame on the owners for not having fixed her before allowing her outside or in the same room with an unaltered male. But forget that. If these people are wanting their children to witness “the miracle of birth” (like i have heard so many say), have them march their kids down to the shelter or look at the statistics and let them understand the gravity of DEATH.

Ok, I’m done now. I know most of you who read my blog are of a like mind as me. I too, was heartsick when I first learned that kittens were aborted during spays…even though I’m pro-choice. But I quickly got over that and we all need to. FAST!

Please help spread the word.  WE CAN AND MUST FIX ALL CATS….AND ESPECIALLY THOSE THAT ARE PREGNANT!

I mentioned earlier that it is both safe and humane.  I have taken countless very pregnant cats to be spayed and never had any adverse effects to the mama cat.  My veterinarian humanely euthanizes each kitten individually in the sack.  So kittens are not suffering.  They never see the light of day.

Allow her to have her kittens and sit in the knowledge that these kittens who are already

born are going to be killed at one of the big shelters because

her kittens are taking up the homes that they might have had?

REMEMBER:  When you say YES to one thing…you are saying NO to something else.  This rings truest in this example.

Thank you for looking at this in a different light.

Carol