Thousands of cats and kittens are destroyed by Animal Welfare Organisations and Local Council Pounds each year!

Every year thousands upon thousands of cats and kittens end up in shelters and local pounds across Australia. Their only crime was being born. Sadly 80% of these shelter and pound cats will never find a home and will be euthanized. The problem goes far beyond that, as all of these homeless cats don't end up in shelters. Many more struggle on a daily basis to survive on the streets or in the wild. In addition, many of these cats suffer cruelty and torture by people who hate cats. You can do your part to help control the cat population by having your cat desexed.

Please use caution if you are planning to take an animal to a pound or shelter.

We have been brainwashed to believe by humane societies that taking unwanted  companion animals to a pound or shelter, with the likelihood  it will be euthanized, is the kind and humane solution. Nothing could be further from the truth!

Injecting a needle into the stomach of a kitten crying in terror for its mother is inhumane!

Putting an animal in a strange environment locked in a  cage while it waits for its execution is inhumane!  Imagine if you were locked in a cage and had no idea where you were, or what would happen to you!

In addition, people who work in pounds and shelters can become desensitised to the suffering they cause these poor animals and forget they are living, feeling creatures.

Many shelters and pounds in various parts of the world, including Australia, sell  animals that come under their care to universities and corporations to be used for animal experiments.

In some cases, people hired to work in these places actually dislike animals, and abuse them. There have been shocking, dreadful reports of horrific cruelty to animals in shelters and pounds across the United States. Many of these shelters are supported by well-known animal welfare organisations. Many of these animals were beaten, burned or starved to death. Many  were taken to these chambers of horror by well-meaning people. Please do the right thing and get your cat desexed!

Kittens advertised 'free to good homes' in newspapers, community notice boards, animal welfare websites, street corners and elsewhere can meet terrible fates. People wanting to use these kittens for snake food, dog training and worse, look for these type of advertisements. Years ago I  witnessed a woman handing out five week old kittens on King Street, Newtown to anyone who would take one. I  recently drove past a house in Carlingford with a big sign on the front lawn advertising free kittens. If you have kittens needing homes please seek advice from a reputable animal welfare charity and get your female cat desexed!

HEALTH BENEFITS OF DESEXING

Desexing female cats is the surgical removal of the  reproductive organs including ovaries, uterus and fallopian tubes. This eliminates the chance of developing ovarian or uterine infections or cancer. The risk of developing tumors of the mammary glands is greatly decreased after this procedure as well.

Testosterone is known to weaken a male cats immune system.  Removing the testicles will reduce the level of testosterone in his system, thus strengthening his immune system and decrease his risk of developing testicular cancer. He will be less territorial, and therefore not get into as many fights with other cats in the area. Less risk of injury and complaints from the neighbours.

Both males & females permitted to breed at random are also at risk of contracting Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) or Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV). Both  are caused by viruses, and once caught are fatal.

UNWANTED PREGNANCY

The removal of the reproductive organs will prevent your cat from becoming pregnant. You won't have the burden of finding homes for litter after litter of kittens. A female cat can become pregnant again ten days after giving birth.

NO HEAT CYCLES

DETERS ROAMING

Undesexed cats endanger their lives wandering around the streets looking for a partner. They are at greater risk of car accidents, dog attacks, getting lost or even being abused by cruel people.

DETERS SPRAYING

Undesexed males (and females) are likely to spray. Cat spray is extremely pungent. Most cat breeders keep their stud cats in a separate cat enclosure because of this problem with spraying. Generally females don't spray, but it's not unheard of. It's more likely to happen in undesexed females.

MORE AFFECTIONATE

LONGER LIFESPAN

Giving birth and raising kittens can take it's toll on a female cat's body over the years. Eliminating this along with the risk of certain reproductive cancers can greatly increase a cat's life expectancy.

Many people try to justify not desexing their cat. Common excuses and misconceptions:

1. The procedure is too risky.  As with any surgery there are risks, but they are minimal. It would be riskier not to have your cat desexed. Veterinarians perform many of these procedures each and every day without complications. Your cat will likely spend a night at the clinic and be ready to come home the following day. Within a week she will be right back to normal.

2. I need to wait until my cat comes into heat or has a litter.  It is best to perform the surgery before your cat has reached sexual maturity which occurs as early as 5 months of age. If done before the first heat cycle or first litter of kittens the procedure is simpler and less involved.

3. My cat will get fat if I have her desexed. This procedure has no effect on your cat's weight. Proper diet and exercise is what will keep your cat fit, not the presence of reproductive organs.

4. The operation is expensive. It may be a little pricey, but there are organizations like the Cat Defence Network across Australia that will cover a percentage or the entire cost of the procedure. Check to see what is offered in your community. Even if you have to pay part of the bill, it's a small price to pay for the health of your cat.

5. I will deprive my cat of experiencing motherhood. Cat's don't think like humans. They don't feel a biological clock ticking away compelling them to give birth. Not having kittens isn't going to send her into a downward spiral of depression. Cat's mate out of instinct and nothing more.

6. I want my children to see the miracle of birth: Bringing another litter of kittens into the world just because you want to show your children is not a valid excuse.  Female cats can encounter numerous problems during labour resulting in dead, deformed or sickly kittens. Rent a nature video instead. You can see lots of animals giving birth. 

Taking everything into consideration there really is no good reason not to have your cat desexed. Unless you are a licensed breeder desexing is the responsible thing to do. Not only for the health of your cat, but for the sake of the millions of cats who didn't ask to be born, but will be put to death because someone didn't feel the need to desex their cat.

The National Desexing Network: What to do about cats in your community

With spring and summer comes a rush of kittens which sees mums and litters dropped off at shelters with heartbreaking frequency. Some shelters receive over 400 kittens a week during these peak times.

But why? Well, cats are very good at breeding. They can get pregnant from around 4 months old and can have two litters a year of 4-6 kittens. It�s not hard to see how quickly numbers add up!

Also, since most of these mum cats are themselves 'orphans' (strays who've never had a real owner) they are missed by desexing campaigns and often have a couple of litters before they finally wind up at the shelter. So the cat population stays pretty much the same every single year and shelters kill hundreds of thousands of kittens annually.

Cat desexing is obviously the answer to less litters, but as cat lovers we need to go even further than just desexing our own cats. We need to take care of the orphan cats in the community who have no real family. We need to keep them from becoming young mums. We need to care for our Community Cats!

Consider this: there is  an estimated 500,000 orphan cats in Victoria alone. That's an awful lot breeding and breeding each year. But there are also five million people in Victoria. If everyone who loved cats desexed one 'extra', as well as their own, we'd be well on our way to no breeding cats. Imagine how great that would be! A year where hardly any new kittens were born and there was none killed at the pound.

The reason desexing our Community Cats works is because each of these cat orphans has a 'territory' that it protects from other cats. If you happen to feed your orphan, or if it can find shelter on your property, it will fight even harder to keep its 'home' safe from other cat intruders. By contrast, if you remove this cat and take it to a shelter, it will be quickly replaced by another undesexed cat. The official name for this kind of desexing is 'Trap, Neuter and Return', and it's how they have started to manage the cat populations in other countries like the US, UK and New Zealand, with great success.

That is why we're asking you to desex your Community Cat. It doesn't matter if it's the local stray or the cat you occasionally feed. What's important is that you've desexed this orphan. It's a slightly different kind of donation to what animal rescue normally request, but it's a seriously important one that will make an enormous difference!

Need help desexing your community cat? Contact the National Desexing Network for assistance.

"As anyone who has ever been around a cat for any length of time well knows, cats have enormous patience with the limitations of the human kind."    Cleveland Armory