To hate the excuse “she got out before we could spay her”

[Soubriquet]

With cats

It’s never, “we wanted one litter” “or we thought she would make a good mum” even though these are awful excuses its always “she got out before we could spay her and we didn’t know she was pregnant”

Someone I know, her cat has just had kittens. I haven’t said anything as it’s none of my business, but I know this would be her excuse

Seriously, spay your cats! They can get pregnant from 4 months of age. That isn’t fair to what is essentially a teenaged mum. Vets will spay from 4 months. No need to let her have a season unlike dogs

Neuter your toms. They will roam for miles fighting other males if left intact. They will stalk females and yowl for them.

YANBU to encourage others to spay their cats but sometimes they really do escape when they're still very little. One of ours, Stevie, who has grown up to be a complete bolshy old cow, escaped when she was 5 months just as she was about to be spayed. Fortunately she came back scuffed up but not pregnant, but as experienced cat owners it does happen occasionally.

I’ve had to neuter (and pay for...) 12 neuterings now, bloody reckless cat owners. What do you think happens to the kittens?! Normally become strays with no decent life. We found a litter hit by a car by a mum who’d given birth in a hedge, awful scene. The mum was owned by someone who said he had no idea she wasn’t neutered, intended to get round to it blah blah. Well he had to clean up four dead kittens

FYI most vets and local animal charities will lend you cat traps if you’re dealing with feral cats (that’s how I caught ours)

I'm waiting for all the projecting cat feminists who think it shouldn't be up to the "women"...

I had an accidental litter. Had her booked in and the surgery flooded so it was cancelled. Rebooked her and she injured her leg (being an idiot and jumping off the wardrobe!) so the vet cancelled it.

Booked her in for a third time and had to go on a course with work that involved an overnight stay. Asked my dad if he'd house sit and left strict instructions not to let her out.

He did. 🙄🙄🙄

A few weeks later she had four kittens, all of which are in good homes.

And yes, I know I could have had her done while she was pregnant but no one told me she'd been out. I suddenly realised one day when I felt a kitten move.

Just because a cat or dog gets pregnant doesn't mean it has to stay pregnant

But my dog was done as a pup, when I had rabbits they were done. Same with my guinea pigs.

It was just an unfortunate and unusual series of events with said cat. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

@QuestionableMouse agreed my post wasn't aimed at you it was just unfortunate post timing.

Out of interest did your vet spay female piggies?

I had a cat that hadn't been spayed yet and the local tom broke through a window at night to get in!

Anyway, I think the thing is, not everyone is very organised about their life in general. Cats included.

I know this is completely against the grain of mumsnet morals but I'm completely fine with people allowing their cat to have a litter. Part of growing up in farming community perhaps. We had two female cats as children, both were allowed to have a litter. When the kittens were old enough they were adopted by people we know and trust as family pets. None of them ended up as strays or were sent to rescue centres. Plus if you keep one of the kittens, you then get a mother and child pairing which in my experience is really lovely. They dont fight as much or see each other as competition.

Obviously if you dont think you can look after kittens or rehome them responsibly then yes get them to the vets.

Mine did this!
I still have one of her kittens who'll be 8 this month.

YANBU.

Even if a cat escapes and gets pregnant, why on earth would you not take her straight to the vet for a spay/abort? No need to bring even more kittens into the world just because you didn't get your cat spayed in time.

Mine escaped before she was neutered (we were burgled) as I knew she had likely been mated she was neutered a week later.

Yes kittens sometimes escape, but that doesn’t mean you then leave them to have a litter.

I agree but we got a rescue kitten end of Feb, then the vets closed so she couldn't be spayed. Oh my goodness trying to keep a wilful cat in was hard work, more like impossible. She did escape, out of sight, twice (in three months) Luckily the vets opened again and she was spayed. We are very responsible pet owners, it's not always idiots that it happens to.

Literally happened to us. The cat was actually booked in at the vets when it became apparent that her weight gain wasn’t due to too many pies. We kept all three of the kittens.

My vet (about 7 years ago) refused to spay our cat until she was 6months, she got out. Luckily she only had two babies so we kept one and my sister the other.

I mean neuter I always get the two mixed up.

I had four kittens, two went to a friend and I kept the other two, only two left now, we have one each, one was knocked over, and I lost one to cancer last year.

Plus if you keep one of the kittens, you then get a mother and child pairing which in my experience is really lovely. Our mother hisses and growls almost every time she sees one of her daughters.

This happened to us when I was a kid. The cat was like Houdini my mum locked the cat flap, put the bin in front of it with a cushion smushing there door and then a heavy bookshelf in front of that but the cat still managed to break out! I remember the cat in the back garden with a Tom cat and my mum chasing it with a brush shouting ‘get off her!’.

I've been in this position, my cat got out before she was spayed, luckily it was the day before her appointment so we just went ahead with the spay anyway. I agree though, if she hadn't already been booked in, I'd have booked her in ASAP and had a spay and abort if absolutely necessary. No cat needs to have kittens, it's 40-50 quid, if you can't afford that, you shouldn't have a pet imo.

Happened to me, I rescued a cat from an acquaintance who was being made homeless. I stupidly just believed her when she said it was spayed. I let her outdoors as soon as she was settled. I got back from work one day and found three kittens on the bottom of my sons bed.

I was lucky to be put in contact with someone from the cats protection league who gave me a voucher to have her spayed at a very discounted price but the telling off I got when picking up the voucher made me feel awful. All kittens found lovely homes and lived long and happy (neutered) lives.

@Woodmarsh

Just because a cat or dog gets pregnant doesn't mean it has to stay pregnant

Very, very true, and something that needs to be more widely understood and accepted.

@DrPatient .

Yanbu they end up getting given away or sold on FB in my area and goodness knows what happens to them. Our local rescue is full too.

Mine genuinely did get out the night before she was due to be spayed.

She didn't get knocked up but she did climb a big tree, couldn't get down and I had to get my FIL with an industrial size ladder to come by at 2am as I was scared she'd freeze to death / get eaten / run off into the wilderness!

That was 12 years ago and she is still a pain in the arse!

[quote Woodmarsh]@QuestionableMouse agreed my post wasn't aimed at you it was just unfortunate post timing.

Out of interest did your vet spay female piggies?[/quote]
Yeah I figured that it was just a cross post. 😂 @Woodmarsh

I only had boys but yes, I believe they did. Haven't had GPs for ages now (must be 7 years since the last one died). My dog would probably try to eat them and I don't need the stress 😂