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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / December 2003Pregnant Stray, Help
I live in an apartment building and already have a (100% indoor) cat. We are allowed only one pet in a unit here. Recently I saw a very friendly stray outside and gave her some food. Now she shows up at my door. It is also obvious that she is very pregnant. (She is so friendly that I know she used to live in someones household and was then abandoned.) I can't allow her to have kttens here but I don't want them to be born in the complex here and end up wild and then maybe get run over or something. I am afraid if I take her to the shelter they will put her and the kittens down, or maybe abort the kitttens. Recommendations? http://www.petfinder.org/ click on shelter and rescue groups indicate your location and it will give you a list of rescue groups in your area. Start calling around. You could also call a local vet and see if they know of any groups or people who might be able to foster the cat until a suitable home can be found for her. I live in an apartment building and already have a (100% indoor) cat. We are allowed only one pet in a unit here. Recently I saw a very friendly stray outside and gave her some food. Now she shows up at my door. It is also obvious that she is very pregnant. (She is so friendly that I know she used to live in someones household and was then abandoned.) I can't allow her to have kttens here but I don't want them to be born in the complex here and end up wild and then maybe get run over or something. I am afraid if I take her to the shelter they will put her and the kittens down, or maybe abort the kitttens. Recommendations? >I am afraid if I take her to the shelter they will put her and the >kittens down, or maybe abort the kitttens. > >Recommendations? You could get her spayed now, even though she is pregnant. Then you can find her a good home. You could put her up in a cat hotel until you find her a good home. You could also try to find a no-kill shelter, cat hotel or someone to foster her until her kittens are born and weaned. Then you could help adopt all of those cats. Make sure you get them spayed/neutered before adopting them out. Some places do spay/neuter for $20 each if they're young. You could also offer a friend boarding fees to foster her until you find her a good home. Thanks for caring for her enough to do something. I just discussed early neutering with my vet the other day. He has concerns that it can leave the cat more vulnerable to urinary tract problems particularly with the male cats. He recommended we wait till Boots is 7 months old to get him altered (6 months for girls). W >I am afraid if I take her to the shelter they will put her and the >kittens down, or maybe abort the kitttens. > >Recommendations? You could get her spayed now, even though she is pregnant. Then you can find her a good home. You could put her up in a cat hotel until you find her a good home. You could also try to find a no-kill shelter, cat hotel or someone to foster her until her kittens are born and weaned. Then you could help adopt all of those cats. Make sure you get them spayed/neutered before adopting them out. Some places do spay/neuter for $20 each if they're young. You could also offer a friend boarding fees to foster her until you find her a good home. Thanks for caring for her enough to do something. >I just discussed early neutering with my vet the other day. He has concerns >that it can leave the cat more vulnerable to urinary tract problems >particularly with the male cats. He recommended we wait till Boots is 7 >months old to get him altered (6 months for girls). My boys were neutered at 5 months -- I wanted to do it eariler but one of them came down with a URI and neither I nor my vet does non-emergency surgery on an animal that isn't healthy. Early Age Neutering has been done for twenty years or so, and has not been shown to increase the risk of urinary problems or bone breakage. The only effect that has been shown to happen consistently is that the gormwth plates close later, and so early-age neutered cats tend to be taller than traditionally aged neutered cats. Some links on EAN that you may wish to show your vet: http://www.winnfelinehealth.org/reports/early-neuter.html http://www.exoticbengals.com/spay.htm http://www.netcat.org/symposium/early-neuter-spay.html http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_neutering_the_male_cat.html Orchid See Orchid's Kitties! -- http://nik.ascendancy.net/bengalpage Want a Purebred Cat? Read This! -- http://nik.ascendancy.net/orchid > I just discussed early neutering with my vet the other day. He has concerns > that it can leave the cat more vulnerable to urinary tract problems > particularly with the male cats. He recommended we wait till Boots is 7 > months old to get him altered (6 months for girls). Change vets. Shelters have been practicing "early" sterilization for a couple of decades now, with follow-up reasearch to indicate no harm whatsoever done. Waiting until 6 months to spay a female is just asking for a first litter and pretty much guarantees an unnecessary estrus. Sharon Talbert Friends of Campus Cats > I just discussed early neutering with my vet the other day. He has concerns > that it can leave the cat more vulnerable to urinary tract problems > particularly with the male cats. He recommended we wait till Boots is 7 > months old to get him altered (6 months for girls). Change vets. Shelters have been practicing "early" sterilization for a couple of decades now, with follow-up reasearch to indicate no harm whatsoever done. Waiting until 6 months to spay a female is just asking for a first litter and pretty much guarantees an unnecessary estrus. Sharon Talbert Friends of Campus Cats Do you really think someone should change vets over this issue? He knew Boots was an inside cat when he made the recommendation. ...> Do you really think someone should change vets over this issue? He knew > Boots was an inside cat when he made the recommendation. Hi Wendy, I agree with Sharon that the O.P. should change vets. If the vet is so far behind the times in knowledge of spay/neuter, who knows where else he's not up to date. Some day his lack of current knowledge could mean a life or death decision in the treatment of a disease or condition of the cat. Annie culican@hotmail.com >...I saw a very friendly stray outside >.. It is also obvious that she is very >pregnant.... >I can't allow her to have kttens here but I don't want them to be born >in the complex here and end up wild and then maybe get run over or >something.... Sounds like she was dumped by an idiot (who didn't have her spayed yet let her outside!). Please do all you can to see if you can find help for this girl. You don't say where you're located, but it's winter time and the elements might be too harsh for the girl. Are there any local rescue groups who can help? (Do a google search to locate some, if you have no clue, and, perhaps, if there are PETCO stores around, call them...PETCO works with local cat rescue groups). Can you make room in your garage, if possible? Yes, please do not leave her outside. The best thing would be to have her spayed before the litter. There are tooooo many unwanted cats and kittens. Gail > culican@hotmail.com > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > are PETCO stores around, call them...PETCO works with local cat rescue groups). > Can you make room in your garage, if possible? > Recently I saw a very friendly stray outside and gave her some food. > Now she shows up at my door. It is also obvious that she is very [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > I am afraid if I take her to the shelter they will put her and the > kittens down, or maybe abort the kitttens. Call your local shelter and explain the situation. They may have foster homes available that can take a pregnant stray and keep the lot until the kittens are old enough to be weaned and altered and made available for adoption. If the mom is as friendly as you say and remains healthy, the shelter should have no problem adopting her out as well. |
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