Imagine your neighbours having kittens at home. They adore cats, they adore watching them playing. This was something that started slowly: last year they had two kittens, a beautiful yellow female and a pretty grey male; these kittens have grown up and meanwhile they produced a litter of four. Four lovely kittens, with a mixture of their parents’ colours, fatty and well taken care of.

So far it is a wonderful image. However, these neighbours, who love animals as much as we do, are against male and female cat neutering/ spaying, for they believe that it is a crime against the animals´ dignity. Further, they consider that cats, having such a large territory, have the right to go out and wander around the neighbourhood.

Soon these kittens will grow up and will escape outside into other yards, bothering the neighbours, killing birds and catching potentially fatal viruses and diseases, spread by feral or outdoor cats, which they will subsequently transmit to other cats during their territorial catfights.

Even worse, eventually, sooner than later, these four cats will mate and probably 16 kittens will be born, a few months after we will have  32 cats, later 64, 128, in a progression linear only because some of these stray cats will be run over or poisoned. Those that are not adopted and neutered/spayed will contribute to the gradual increase in the numbers of stray cats.

What should we do?

We should cut the root of all evil by neutering/spaying the cats, especially those that live in yards. But the biggest problem lays with the stray cats, those abandoned and the ones that live in feral colonies. It’s imperative that stray cats are neutered/spayed to prevent their increase in number. Some animal rights defense associations are already adopting this procedure.

How we can help?

We can help by neutering/spaying our domestic cats when they are kept outside in our yards or when there is the danger of their escaping outside (some cats are known to be excellent escapists) and we do not want them to procreate.

Advantages:

A neutered male is less probable to go roaming long distances.  Roaming puts cats in danger for they may be hurt by dogs and people or hit by a car, to mention just a few dangers. They are also more likely to catch diseases or be injured during catfights over females and territory. If you neuter you tom cat it’s less probable that he fights (and thus it’s less probable that you have to spend money to treat him)) and less probable that he walks to mark its territory with piss.

The spayed female becomes more docile. Also there will be no heating periods, which can try your patience, let alone the undesirable pregnancy…