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AIBU?

to let my cat have a litter of kittens?

166 replies

StartRight · 12/02/2013 13:43

I am hoping for lots of YABU.

We have a 6 month old cat we bought from the local rescue centre. My children (and dh bizarrely) all want to let her have one litter of kittens before we get her neutered.
Even my mum when I ran it past her said it would be a 'wonderful experience' for the children.
We would give the kittens away to friends or the local pet shop.

I don't think it is a good idea. Aside from the obvious problem of too many unwanted cats in the world, I don't want the house overrun with cats and cat litter etc.

I feel like I am being mean, so am wavering hence this thread.

OP posts:

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apostropheuse · 12/02/2013 20:59

My two female cats were adopted from Cats Protection at about four/five months old. I had to agree to them beng spayed - it wasn't possible for them to be done before I took them home for various reasons. I seem to remember having to get the vet to send something to the Centre to prove they'd had the operation.

I'm glad you have her booked in for the operation, OP. It's the responsible thing to do.

I cannot believe anyone with any modicum of intelligence would let their cat have kittens in a country where we are over-run with homeless cats. The centres are at full to busting point and are desparate for good homes for these animals who already exist and need to be taken care of.

I had no trouble getting our girls from Cats Protection. They did a home visit, interviewed us and all was fine. My grandson was two at the time and it wasn't a problem. We were given kittens in fact, so that the kittens and my grandson would get used to each other and he could be shown how to treat animals kindly etc, but at the same time the kittens had no fear of him or anyone as they had no "baggage". It's all worked out wonderfully and one of the cats in particular now thinks she's his mother.

Trazzletoes · 12/02/2013 21:34

I can understand what Amber is saying to an extent (though I completely disagree with it) as we were refused by all the local rescue centres due to being relatively close to a busy road and at work during the day.

We were fortunate to be able to get our gorgeous girls from a "professional rescuer" who was known to family but I have to say otherwise we would have remained cat-less.

Trazzletoes · 12/02/2013 21:36

By professional rescuer, I mean a lovely little old lady whose house was overrun with cats as she couldn't bear to see them risk being put down.

apostropheuse · 12/02/2013 21:39

trazzletoes the centres sometimes have some "indoor" cats who can't go out for various reasons, or have always lived indoors in their previous home. Perhaps that would have been an option for you - or for anyone else who would like a cat but live in an area deemed unsuitable for cats who go outdoors.

pooka · 12/02/2013 21:39

They are being unreasonable.

Stay firm.

A litter of kittens, all of whom would go to new homes where you'd have no control over their reproductive future = too many cats when there are plenty of cats needing good homes.

Trazzletoes · 12/02/2013 21:45

apos the fact that we worked outside the home was also an automatic refusal.

And I was definitely not saying Amber was right! I think it's appalling to breed from cats in this day and age. There is no need for a cat to have a litter.

Our 2 are still rescued. A man was paid to shoot them(!!) but couldn't bring himself to do it, thank god. I just feel that it's a shame that rescue centres have such stringent criteria and rule out many potentially good homes, though obviously they have their criteria for a reason.

Lovecat · 12/02/2013 21:48

So glad you're having her spayed, OP!

As I type this I have 3 kittens running round my feet/over the keyboard/my head/up my leg and their mum is shut in the kitchen as she has cat flu and we have to keep them apart - we adopted them a week ago. The poor mother cat, who is barely a year old, originally had a collar on her and is definitely domesticated - rescue centre presumed she was abandoned because her fuckwit owners didn't bother to spay her and she'd got pregnant - she was found under a shed with 5 kittens (the other 2 have been homed, would have loved to have them all but six cats?!).

They are lovely but OMG they are destructive little gits! Anything left on the floor is pooed on (at least it's teaching DD not to strew her clothes all over the floor when she gets undressed) and they like to do circuits of the house at midnight... in the meantime the poor mum is recovering from being spayed and is v. snuffly with cat flu, costing us a fortune at the vets...

All 3 kits are girls, they will be spayed as soon as they hit 16 weeks.

As NatashaBee says, Celia Hammond on Facebook is doing loads of posts at the moment why not to breed from your cat, they tackle the 'great experience for the children' bollocks there.

gordyslovesheep · 12/02/2013 21:50

Amber the reason it's (H)ard is for WELFARE reasons - so you are basically going against that - well done - have a prize

CelticPromise · 12/02/2013 21:54

Trazzle we were also refused a cat by the RSPCA because of our busy road. Eventually a lovely slightly crazy lady who volunteered for CP gave us a rescue cat, but she said she'd have to write on the admin that she was homed as an indoor cat. She told us herself that the cat wouldn't be happy indoors and she knew we had a cat flap.

apostropheuse · 12/02/2013 21:54

trazzletoes I'm glad you did rescue your two. It's great that you gave them a home - and it meant there would be two less for the Rescues to have to deal with.

It's strange really, I suppose the Rescue people must all have different criteria. I work full-time and my daughter at that point was out all day at university. Perhaps some of it is even down to who actually interviews you. Who knows? !

RandallPinkFloyd · 12/02/2013 22:48

AmberSocks did you not read my post earlier? Or do you just not care?

If all the people you give these kitten to have the same ridiculous ideas as you then within just 18 months you could potentially be responsible for the existence of 625 cats.

Do you honestly know they will all be cared for? That's pretty impressive.

Trazzletoes · 12/02/2013 23:07

apos I'm glad too. They are lovely warm furry bundles of happiness.

How anyone could pay someone to hold a gun to the head of 3 day old kittens (as they were) defeats me.

floweryblue · 12/02/2013 23:28

To all those picking a fight with amber

Some of us live on farms, in the countyside, cats are helpful when it comes to vermin, as are dogs.

I don't live on a farm but my DP's dog (bitch, ready to go) and my cat (neutered male), have a lovely life. DP has made the decision not to sterilize our bitch, I made the decision neuter our cat.

18 months and 625 cats is a silly statement, even though, statistically, it is possible

Trazzletoes · 12/02/2013 23:31

flowery my 2 beautiful girls (that nearly got shot) were the unwanted product of a farmer who stupidly believes his Queens make better ratters because they are not neutered/spayed (whatever, I always get the wrong terminology!).

Anyway, it's not true, to my understanding, and there is no reason to allow your cats to breed unless you personally can take responsibility for those kittens throughout their lives.

AmberSocks · 12/02/2013 23:41

itstrue ime,my catsalways stop hunting once they have been spayed

seeker · 12/02/2013 23:47

Mine didn't.

RandallPinkFloyd · 12/02/2013 23:49

It's not silly at all, it's completely possible, it's why there are literally thousands of cats in rescue centres. If you live on a farm and want lots of cats then adopt lots of cats.

I've never had a cat that didn't hunt, spaying/neutering has never made a jot of difference.

JenaiMorris · 12/02/2013 23:57

There are lots of feral and semi-feral cats at our local rescue centre that need to be re-homed on farms rather than in average domestic settings.

IME left to their own devices (so "free" to have as many litters as they want - like they have a choice ), cats in farm colonies have short, hard lives.

AmberSocks · 13/02/2013 00:02

You can get contraception for cats,i would rather do that.

seeker · 13/02/2013 00:06

"You can get contraception for cats,i would rather do that."

Why?
Do you?

JenaiMorris · 13/02/2013 00:19

Better sex education and more easily accessible family planning clinics is what cats need.

nametakenagain · 13/02/2013 00:23

Noooooo, sorry. i had this dilemma - I have one of the prettiest fluffiest cats and I was really sure that we would have had no problem finding them homes- but when a colleague pointed out how many cats are homeless, I ad to accept it would be irresponsible to let her have kittens.

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AmberSocks · 13/02/2013 01:09

you can get the pill for cats.

Ullena · 13/02/2013 02:12

Yes, there are currently too many at present, so it is important to sterilise them...but I do hope we never end up in a world where there are only pedigrees and no moggies. Like to believe there will one day be a sensible sized cat population, that still includes moggies.

As from personal experience, pedigree cats are ten times the price and half the fun.

JamieandtheMagicTorch · 13/02/2013 06:44

How much does the pill for cats cost? A bloody fortune no doubt, an probably a pita to give to them. Silly idea imvho

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