Kats & Kits: Springtime Problems Again

I know that I am constantly on my soapbox, holding forth about the need for neutering and feel I am probably preaching to the converted in that anyone who reads the Kats&Kits blog, and who take the trouble to give a kitten, or a cat, a good home, will do the right thing and consult the vet about neutering. Cats and kittens over six months from rescues, Cats Protection, RSPCA and other organisations will invariably be neutered, but it will be the responsibility of the new owner to have their kitten neutered by six months. Don't be diverted by the cry of "let her have one litter" and guys, get over that threat to your masculinity and have your tom cat done. Yes that does happen! Just one litter of kittens, if they go to homes where they are not neutered, can engender hundreds of cats in a very short time.

This however is not the whole story, we and other rescues, are constantly called out to situations where cats have become a nuisance because they have been allowed to breed unchecked, resulting every year in cats, in poor condition, having more and more kittens, many of which die or get killed.

In rural areas there is still very little interest in the welfare of farm and feral cats which are kept, for the often erroneous reason, to keep down vermin. It has been proved however, that neutered, properly fed, healthy cats will be better hunters than the poor creatures trying to feed kittens that we often see. In one location we and other rescues, have been involved for over two years and, with the help of some local residents, are trying to contain a problem that never goes away.

In urban areas industrial estates attract cats, especially if there is food available and these are frequently left until the numbers are so great that it can take weeks of trapping to catch them. It happens also in closely populated parts of towns where kittens are passed around with little thought. Over three years in a small area of Devizes, Kats&Kits arranged for and sometimes provided, transport and vouchers for forty cats to be neutered.

This situation is draining on human and financial resources. Our helpers may have been out all weekend trying to find kittens that have been reported by a member of the public, but the day to day work of the sanctuary still has to carry on.

We are very lucky in having an energetic and dedicated RSPCA inspector Kate Davies, but she has a very large area to cover and cannot be available to us 24 hours a day.

If you can see this happening where you work or where you live, please ask for help sooner rather than later and give these animals, once neutered, a chance to find a good home.

Kats & Kits

The Diary of a Rural Cat Sanctuary

Character Cats

12 June 2007

Springtime Problems Again

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