Kittens in the rehoming thread

Vel

I can't (but can!) believe the amount of kittens looking for homes in the rehoming thread (I know its kitten time right now). I'd be interested to know if the people looking to rehome them are doing so because their cats got pregnant or if they are stray kittens that they have taken on.

If it is a case that they are their own cat's kittens, I am wondering if they deliberately mated their cat in order to produce kittens or if it was an accident as they haven't bothered to spay and neuter?

I am hoping that all of the mother cats will be spayed as soon as possible and that the kittens will only be rehomed to people who will spay and neuter as soon as they are old enough.

The cat situation in this country is depressing and completely out of control. I reckon its worse than the dog problem.

I personally find it so irresponsible that people don't spay and neuter their cats :mad:

star-pants

It can be a case where the cat has gotten pregnant before they've been neutered, perhaps they were young and hadn't been thought they'd get pregnant yet.
A lot of people find stays having kittens in their back gardens/sheds.

I think that the fact people are trying to rehome them is a good thing rather than destroy them.

womping

If you look on the dspca site, they have a LOT of kittens right now too.

Not everyone knows that cats can go into heat quite young - I'm sure there are plenty of people who have waited until their cat was six months only to have a few little surprises before then

As star-pants said, at least they are making an effort at rehoming. Only the other day I was in tears after hearing about someone I know drowning a litter of pups. They didn't even attempt to find a home for them.

I don't know anyone who has purposely bred their cat just to give the kittens away... I'd say most kittens were not planned.

sweetnjuicy

ok am i blind?
where is the rehoming thread gone to?

doctor evil

Cats can still be spayed when pregnant, don't know if it's done in very late pregnancy.

Kittens can be spayed/neutered before six months, no idea how common this is in Ireland.

sweetnjuicy

alot of vets wont spay before 6 mths in ireland.
I know kittens can be spayed from approx 12 - 16 wks old depending on the weight etc. But vets just wont do it.

My 2 girls, Socks and Charlotte (Charlie), are 13 wks old and I will be keeping them indoors, unless I am with them, untill well after they are spayed.
I know some people are against indoor cats but it is best for everyone that a cat stay indoors if it is not spayed. There are too many kittens out there looking for a home.

I have seen first hand how badly kittens and cats can be treated if not wanted.
I got Charlie last week from a lovely woman in cork who hand rears kittens for the Animal Care Society in cork.
If anyone is ever looking to adopt a cat or kitten just PM me and I will give you her details. She does marvellous work, for a great cause.

Vel

Star pants and womping I never criticised anyone for doing their best to rehome the kittens. That wasn't the point of my thread at all, rather how are people coming to be in possession of these kittens. If that can be answered then we might be able to begin to get a picture of why the cat problem is so bad, i.e is it that owners are allowing their cats to get pregnant because the stray cat getting pregnant situation is one thing but there is no excuse for people not to spay their cats.

If they have allowed their own cat to get pregnant they have a duty to rehome the kittens and a further duty to ensure that they spay mother cat and try to ensure the kittens get spayed too. If they are people who are helping stray cats I think they are great. That's why I started the thread, to find out.

My point was that they could have been prevented if people realised how voraciously cats breed. People need to be responsible animal owners and there is no point excusing it by saying 'they hadn't thought they'd get pregnant yet' :rolleyes:. The problem is way too great and there are so many cats in horrendous states roaming this country for it to be excused.

I just hope they ensure that any cats they are in charge of are then spayed and that they urge the new owners to do the same with the kittens, otherwise they could be responsible for tens of thousands more cats as a result of them letting their cat get pregnant.

And I hope that those helping the stray cats somehow get support to be able to spay and neuter the cats or otherwise while well meaning, what they are doing is ultimately fruitless because there will be more and more and more cats just like this present batch of kittens.

Luxy

You know what surprises me a lot? The number of owners of MALE cats who seem to believe they're off the hook somehow in terms of neutering their pet. So long as they don't have find homes for their pet's offspring, it just doesn't matter to them. There are several owners of unneutered male cats in my area who simply allow their tom to roam free, "sowing his seed" where he sees fit!
Is keeping the overpopulation of unwanted kittens in check not JUST a much the responsibility of male cat owners as female cat owners?

Adventure Pout

Yes unfortunately the situation with cats and kittens are terrible in Ireland.
It is also a very wrong idea from people who owns cats (particularly a female one) that their cat have to have the 1st litter before being neutered. THat is WRONG WRONG WRONG!
There is no need to wait for a cat to have the first litter before neutering.
If you get a cat from a shelter, they will neuter before giving to you or contact you to have kitty done before 5-6months of age.
Unfortunately there are not enough homes for animals and that is very very very sad to know that they have to be put down because of that.
I think people in Ireland need to be well educate on that area and stop having those wrong ideas I wrote above,of neutering their pets.

Sweetnjuicy - I believe you got your 2nd kitty from Anne from the ACS (is that her?) - I support that charity very much because I find them absolutely BRILLIANT and so genuine on their work.

Vel

Definetely agree about the issue with people not bothering to neuter their male cats. I wonder how many litters of kittens they are responsible for without them even realising it :mad:

I just think its time to stop pussy footing (sorry for the pun!) around people who let their cats get pregnant and stop making excuses for them. This is someone's fault and its certainly isn't mine or people like me who spay/neuter their cats and it certainly isn't the people who run tnr schemes around the country using their own money. How hard is it to do some research and be a responsible owner? It wasn't hard for me to do a bit of research before I got my kitten, keep her inside and then when she was ready take her to the vet and get her done. This information is easily available if you are willing to look for it. Ignorance is not an excuse in this day and age when so many people have internet access.

And it isn't good enough to just rehome the kittens and think they are done with the matter. Unless they ensure the kittens are spayed/neutered too then they are only contributing to the cycle. So, if that means they need to hold onto all cats until they can be done and then rehomed, at a cost of time and money to them, then so be it. They are the repercussions of their actions. Otherwise, it is going to be left to others to pick up the pieces of their irresponsibility.

sweetnjuicy

And AP your totally right!
I got Charlie from Anne.
My aunt told me all about her work, after she got a 6 mth old male off her just over a year ago.
Her cat was rescued from shandon st, in Cork, where alot of kittens were being thrown over a 10 fot wall to there deaths.
Her cat, Beckham, was injured in this way but since being adopted by my aunt has become a little cuddly kitty. Hes so happy.
And if I were alowed to get more kittens in the morning I would def be calling Anne. And I would reccommend her to anyone looking for a kitten, because without finding homes for the kittens shes is caring for right now, she cant take in new kittens who need her.

PinkTulips

A stray cat adopted us last year with 5 week old kittens in tow, i naively presumed i could wait til she'd finished nursing them and as it was coming into winter she'd be unlikely to go into heat again. She fed til 14 weeks at which point she was obviously preg again.

Next litter arrived and i marched straight down to the vets to be told 'Sorry, we don't spay nursing queens' 'But she's gotton preg when nursing before!' said i' 'Sorry' said they.

She finished feeding the kitten from that litter we kept the week my son was born but he had to spend time in hospital and the household was in uproar so things got prioratised over the poor cat, next thing we know she's waddling again.

Kittens arrive, i march down to vets at 8 weeks and 'firmly suggest' he spays her or else takes responsibility for the kittens. He charges extra as she's feeding. Turns out she's several weeks preg with *6* more and he has the cheek to say 'I'm glad i decided to go ahead with it, i wouldn't have been able to do it further into the pregnancy, she was already very vascukar' :mad: He did a feckin hack job too

I have a kitten atm that i'll be posting on rehoming as soon as he's in better shape, found him dumped at the side of the road, starved half to death and eyes in a bad way. he's gained weight now but he's needed antibiotics for the eyes and it's been slow going getting him well. Lovely little fella though, if i didn't have 5 others i'd keep him for myself he's so cuddly and soft and friendly

annefitzy

I just want to Jump in here.....as a person that hand rears ophan kittens I am appaled at the number of kittens that are being born this year, even with eductation(sp) Cats are still not being nuetered:eek:

Not too long ago I had a semi feral kitten she was bearly 16wks old and was about 7-8 wks pregnant she was spayed and rehomed.

Back in April a new vet opened up in Cork it is Called the cat hospital and only deals in Cats they have a top of the range place, I should know I spend more time there than I do at home, but any way back to the point at hand
Clare Meade the vet will nueter and spay at 16 wks, I will be getting 2 males and one female done over the next 2 wks:)

Please anyone reading this get your cat nuetered or spayed:)

The Sweeper

Hooray for 16 week spaying!! See if she'll take it back a further step to 12 weeks after she's used to it.

I say it again, but in Oz vets will neuter from about 9 weeks onwards. It depends on the kitten - some kittens are big strong bruisers at 9 weeks, and they're good to go. Some are tiny and struggling, so they'll hold off for another two or three weeks on those ones. If the kitten's weight and health are good, they spay early and it makes a HUGE difference. The recovery time is so quick, and the females are barely shaved because the vet goes in through a tiny incision in their tummy instead of a hole in their side - and there's less hair on their tummy. The incision is about an inch long if even and closed with two or three stitches. They don't have to wear elizabethan collars - you just watch them for 24 hours to make sure they stay away from the sutures, after that they ignore them completely. The stitches still stay in for 10 days, and you need to restrict their movement for the first 24-48 hours so they aren't jumping around the place too excessively (being kittens).

It doesn't affect the size of the animal - it's the difference between a stallion and a gelding in horses. Geldings don't turn out pony-sized. They just don't fill out with hormone-driven muscle the way a stallion would. Neutered toms get to the same size, they just don't pee everywhere.

A cat's metabolism WILL drop when neutered - they don't get lazy, but a lack of hormones burns fewer calories. If you neuter them while small, their normal growth pattern eats up the extra calories, and then as they get older you just come down from three or four meals a day to two meals per day and you shouldn't get the weight gain some people attribute to cats becoming 'fat and lazy' when neutered.