Patty was rescued after her owners moved and decided not to bring her along. Unfortunately, her owners did not take the step of spaying Patty while under their care. Before Patty was rescued, it's believed she had eleven kittens (about three litters) in under a year. 

 

Because Patty had three litters in under a year, three kittens did not survive her third and last delivery. Later it was found out that the only surviving female from her first litter started having her own kittens at only six months of age.

 

Shortly after Patty's kitten had her own kittens, they started displaying feral cat behavior. Luckily they were rescued young enough, and we were able to rehabilitate them to be wonderful loving companions. However, this is usually not the case in dealing with feral cats.

 

Every feral cat is a descendant of an unaltered domesticated cat, continuing the ongoing problem of the homeless pet population. Feral cats are hard to trap humanely, and they breed tremendously fast. Feral cats often do not receive any type of health care and treatment. The overpopulation of homeless pets could be easily resolved if pet owners would take the step of spaying or neutering their own pets.

 

Medical evidence shows that altered pets, female and male, are typically healthier than unaltered pets. Altered pets have less risk of reproductive cancer, have fewer issues with territory marking, and do not have to deal with the nuisances of a heat cycle.

 

Often times good people allow their pets to have litters with the thought that kittens and puppies are easy to find homes for. However, what happens to the kittens and puppies once they become adults? Every year more than 1.5 million unwanted cats and dogs in shelters are euthanized. On top of that 1 out of 4 animals that come into the shelters are purebred pets. Almost every unwanted pet that is killed would have made a great companion pet.

 

Please, before you allow a pet to have a litter of kittens or puppies, visit a local shelter. This is where the puppies and kittens will eventually end up. Please spay and neuter your pets.

 

All statistics were provided by ASPCA (2019). For more information on spaying and neutering your pet please visit the following site.​​​