Spay and Neuter
It was sunny summer weekday morning and I had only two blocks to go to get to the cat hospital where I work when I saw a familiar black and white figure on the double yellow line up ahead. As I approached, I could see it clearly – a tuxedo cat, its colors smudged like newsprint with tar and debris from the road leaving permanent stains, highlighted in red by the cat’s internal organs which had eviscerated with the impact.
Nothing to be done to save the cat, I parked my car at work, went in to get some towels and walked back to where the lifeless cat lay. Back at the hospital, we looked for a collar and tag- none- scanned him for a microchip-negative- and could see he was a young male, unneutered and possibly unowned. A tragic end to his short life.
How could this have had a better ending? One where this handsome, sleek feline could have enjoyed a life like so many of the patients for which we care every day? He had been wandering or perhaps bolted across a busy four-lane road, very likely in pursuit of a female. Female cats, known as queens, can go through estrus or “heat” cycles every few weeks through the warmer months if they do not mate.
Their pheromones, or scent hormones, while odorless to us will bring male cats like our unlucky friend from other areas. And those tom cats will urine mark the territory they are attempting to claim, scratch to provide visual warnings to other male cats trying to vie for the female in question, and even fight to claim the right to breed her.
Spaying and neutering all cats not intended for registered purebred breeding will keep them from fighting, roaming, urine marking a territory they are attempting to claim, and most importantly, it will keep them from contributing to the already burgeoning cat population. Spaying and neutering is critical for the health of the cats, as females spayed before they go through a heat cycle have less than ½ of 1% (0.5%) chance of developing breast cancer. With every subsequent heat cycle, the risk of developing breast cancer increases.
Each year, the third Saturday of August is International Homeless Animals Day. Why not contribute and celebrate this year by helping cats in need of spaying and neutering in your community? Help out with a TNR (trap, neuter, return) program in your own community, sponsor a spay or neuter surgery for a cat in need at your local veterinarian, or volunteer at a local shelter or rescue organization that is committed to sterilization of both dogs and cats prior to adoption.
Sadly, our tuxedoed cat was all dressed up with somewhere to go, and it wasn’t home. So please spay and neuter, and celebrate a lifetime of health and happiness with your cat, and with cats in your community.
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