Sit and Stay

I love cats and I am worried about cats. Forever, there have been way too many un-owned cats-lost, abandoned, stray and surrendered to an uncertain future. And each year the problem gets worse as un-spayed females go into heat and become pregnant. There are a variety of reasons people give for not getting cats spayed and neutered. One of the most common is that people just don’t realize that pregnancy is possible as early as four months of age (after all they are just babies themselves) and don’t get it done in time.

Of course it’s just as important to neuter males as they can produce much greater numbers of kittens in any given period of time. Additionally, unneutered male cats are unhappy dudes. They get wounds and abscesses from fighting other males for territory and females. Additionally they are prone to viral disease like feline leukemia and feline immunodeficiency virus. Those viruses in turn lead to increased susceptibility to other disease like cancer–a bad deal all the way around.

Have you ever wondered why there are so many kittens born in the spring and summer and very few in the winter? Information is power so here are some things you may not know about the cats. We’ll call it reproduction 101.

Cats are quite different than dogs when it comes to reproduction so we’ll compare the two. Most dogs have two heat cycles a year, approximately 6 months apart. The heat cycle lasts about 3 weeks at which time, unless they become pregnant, they go out of heat and stay that way until they return to heat 6 months later. These heat cycles are independent of season of the year and most everything else.

Cat heat cycles are highly influenced by length of daylight and temperature (i.e., season of the year) so as spring approaches heat begins. And different from dogs, cats for all intents and purposes stay in heat until they become pregnant, get spayed or the fall/winter rolls around. If an un-spayed cat in heat goes outside, gets outside or lives outside, it’s almost a guarantee that she will become pregnant. Pregnancy only lasts about 2 months. And, contrary to popular belief, cats can go into heat again while still nursing their kittens, adding that many more to the list of cats needing homes.

So, here’s a little math to get an idea of the magnitude of the problem:

• Female cat born in August 2008.
• At the end of January she is 5 months old
• Mid February she has a litter of 4 kittens-3 females, 1 male = 5 cats
• Kittens are mostly weaned in mid-late April
• Female gets pregnant again in May, delivers 5 kittens in June = 10 cats
• 3 Female kittens from the first litter go into heat, get pregnant in early August (possibly by male littermate) and deliver a total of 11 kittens = 21 total cats

That’s a lot of cats and likely not a happy ending for many of them.

So, here is what I am asking you to consider if you have un-spayed and/or unneutered cats:

1. Get them to a vet right away–if cost is an issue, many communities have resources to help–check local shelters and Pet resource publications in your area
2. Pass on the information above to friends and relatives–advocate for those cats in your family, neighborhood and community
3. Be proactive with stray cats–if you can’t keep and care for them take them somewhere they can be cared for
4. If you have wild (feral) cats, see if your community has resources for trap/spay-neuter/release
5. Volunteer at a shelter–most are highly dependent on volunteers to keep things running smoothly
6. Make donations–food, blankets, towels, toys etc., are likely welcome anywhere homeless cats are being cared for
7. Consider adding a second or third cat to your household–it’s not as hard as it might seem. The best recommendation is to add a cat that is the opposite sex and a different age than the cat you currently have. There are lots of good resources for introducing new cats into established cat households. Here’s one brief article on the subject authored by Banfield. The only thing better than one cat is more than one!