Choices

Well, she did it again.

Yesterday, I thought to ask Laura to help me trap the pregnant tabby on Hayward that I had tried to grab by the scruff yesterday morning, to fill my one clinic appointment for this morning.  Little Mama had a limp no less.  I knew it would be tough for me after my failure, because there are at least four other tabbies, and they mostly look alike (I’ve TNR’d most of them), and also Little Blackie, who is very friendly, but gobbled and hogs the food when I refill their bowls each morning.  I knew most likely chances of the right kitty going into the trap were slim.  Laura has a drop trap, and is highly skilled with it, a computer monitor hooked up to it and all.   She got there in the dark this morning, as I began my rounds, and within the hour, I got the text “got her!”.  I was thrilled.

Yes, this is a pregnant cat and her pregnancy will be terminated today.  Some may frown upon this, and call it a sin.  I have mixed feelings about it myself, but in the long run, terminating the pregnancy wins.  And only for the fact that there are millions of kittens being born each day outdoors, and millions don’t make it past the first few days, due to sickness, dangers such as injury or death from being hit by a car, being harmed by another animal or person and diseases and parasites.

A cat is spayed - they remove the reproductive organs, and with them any fetuses. People have choices about if they become pregnant or not - cats just mate. And when unwanted human babies are born, they are adopted into loving homes. Excess animals are taken to the shelter and killed, as there are millions and millions more animals than homes for them all.

Go to your local shelter and look around at all the cats and kittens looking for homes. Ask one of the volunteers there how many cats will be put down this week. How many last month? How many so far this year?  Then pick four or five of those cats. Those would be the ones put to death because you let your cat have kittens and those kittens took homes that would have gone to them. Why should these unborn kittens live and those shelter animals die?

Cats are best spayed even if pregnant. Rather take them unborn, than to take them alive and aware to the shelter and then euthanized because there aren't enough homes for them. At shelters all through the country, thousands and thousands of kittens are killed daily, their only crime was to be born and that people didn’t have their pets spayed or neutered.   That’s pretty sad. But reality.  We need to do our part to help animals who have no choice.  Maybe one day there won't be more kittens than there are loving homes for them. But that day is still pretty far away.

Have a great day!

“In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility.”