Page 2 | To hate the excuse “she got out before we could spay her”

Soubriquet · 2020-07-07T12:21:53+00:00

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.

vanillandhoney · 07/07/2020 16:09

There are a lot of posters on here who just seem to accept that kittens will get out and get pregnant and that there's nothing you can do to prevent it, or to stop the pregnancy once it's happened.

I've never, ever had a cat escape from the house before getting spayed/neutered. And if they did, they'd be hauled straight to the vets for spay/abort surgery. In this day and age, there's really no excuse for letting your cat (or dog, for that matter) get pregnant and carry a litter to term.

I wish spay/neuter surgery as more widely promoted here - it seems to be much more known about in America.

OwlBeThere · 07/07/2020 16:10

Both my cats got pregnant because a Tom got into my house 🤷🏼‍♀️. I hadn’t spayed them because one was too small and the other I’d only just rescued in the middle of a pandemic.

QuestionableMouse · 07/07/2020 16:13

@vanillandhoney

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.

I didn't know mine had been out and by the time I realised she was very very pregnant. Iirc she gave birth about two weeks later and I'm personally not comfortable 'aborting' at practically full term.

I know... Shit cat owner not realising, right? She was my first cat and is extremely fluffy so I thought she was just fat! I really got a shock when I felt a kitten move.

Wolfiefan · 07/07/2020 16:13

Our kitties were tiny and we had to wait to slay them. On (trusted) vet advice. They were also bloody quick.
So we had a rule of always having one door shut between them and the outside. No windows open at all.
Big sigh of relief when we could safely have them spayed.
Volunteer in a rescue. Every bloody year they are overrun. And there’s always a “reason”.
There isn’t one. Just an excuse.
Too many cats in rescues. No cat needs to have a litter.

BertieBotts · 07/07/2020 16:14

If you are not familiar with cats you may not realise that they will transform from completely laid back kitten not in the slightest bit interested in open windows etc to the horniest, most rampant, insanely persistent animal the minute they gain sexual maturity. So I can believe that for many people it's unexpected.

StCharlotte · 07/07/2020 16:15

Our brother and sister kittens were due to be neutered on 25th March. They'd have been nearly five months and that was early by our vet's standards. Appointment was cancelled due to Covid of course. The vets relented and they were actually done in April because boy-cat kept trying to mount her.

But if they hadn't and there had been kittens would you still have blamed me?

SoupDragon · 07/07/2020 16:16

Both my cats got pregnant because a Tom got into my house 🤷🏼‍♀️

Did he teleport in?

Alsohuman · 07/07/2020 16:19

I didn't know mine had been out and by the time I realised she was very very pregnant. Iirc she gave birth about two weeks later and I'm personally not comfortable 'aborting' at practically full term

Same here. I’m very uncomfortable with ending life for convenience. Ending up with four cats was preferable to me. I know it’s unfashionable on MN but I really don’t see the problem if the kittens go to good homes.

We’re planning on our Jack Russell having a litter next year and she’ll be spayed after that. She’s impossibly sweet and cute and we want her genes to be passed on. We intend keeping one too.

Jenasaurus · 07/07/2020 16:21

@FudgeBrownie2019

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.

Your not my niece are you? She has a cat called Stevie as in Stevie Nicks, not heard of another cat with that name before. :)

Redhair23 · 07/07/2020 16:23

I do wonder if the posters in support of all the breeding have ever looked round a rescue or even looked at gumtree/Fb with all the animals being sold or given away. The ones that get bought by a lovely family who are used as a front for getting bait for dog fighting.

So many reasons not to breed and so many animals getting put down every day.

Witchcraftandhokum · 07/07/2020 16:23

Our dog has managed to come into season twice the week we had booked an appointment to have her spayed. The first time we weren't really aware of the timing as we had just got her and the second time we were told to wait 3 months then make an appointment, she came into season the day before the appointment. Thankfully she is kept on a lead when we're out and we have a very secure garden!

JammyHands · 07/07/2020 16:24

TBH, if a female cat is in season it will do anything it can to answer the call of the wild, and this takes people by surprise sometimes if they aren't prepared

And before people pile on, all the cats I've personally had have been boys.

EveryFlightBeginsWithAFall · 07/07/2020 16:26

Mine were due to go in bit it was cancelled due to lockdown. They are male and I'm keeping them in, don't want them fighting or roaming.

One has turned into a total arsehole now he's reached maturity. The other one won't be far behind I don't think

OwlBeThere · 07/07/2020 16:27

@SoupDragon no he broke my catflap to get in. I had no idea that was a thing they did. Thankfully, I then trapped him, got him neutered and rehomed him. Both females Are now spayed and the kittens they produced are rehomed due to be spayed/neutered when old enough. I’ve kept cats for 20 years and this is the first time I’ve had this happen. Shit happens 🤷🏼‍♀️

thecatneuterer · 07/07/2020 16:27

@StCharlotte

Our brother and sister kittens were due to be neutered on 25th March. They'd have been nearly five months and that was early by our vet's standards. Appointment was cancelled due to Covid of course. The vets relented and they were actually done in April because boy-cat kept trying to mount her.

But if they hadn't and there had been kittens would you still have blamed me?

Yes, Covid has certainly thrown a spanner in the works and no, I wouldn't have blamed you (I realise it wasn't me you asked).

Crinkle77 · 07/07/2020 16:28

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.

Not necessarily. I grew up on a farm and all our cats were neutered. We used to get loads of pregnant cats dumped at the farm though. Usually we'd end up keeping some of them and they'd get done too.

vanillandhoney · 07/07/2020 16:29

@Alsohuman

I didn't know mine had been out and by the time I realised she was very very pregnant. Iirc she gave birth about two weeks later and I'm personally not comfortable 'aborting' at practically full term

Same here. I’m very uncomfortable with ending life for convenience. Ending up with four cats was preferable to me. I know it’s unfashionable on MN but I really don’t see the problem if the kittens go to good homes.

We’re planning on our Jack Russell having a litter next year and she’ll be spayed after that. She’s impossibly sweet and cute and we want her genes to be passed on. We intend keeping one too.

No point trying to reason (or argue) with someone who thinks it's acceptable to let their dog have a litter because they're "sweet" and "cute".

vanillandhoney · 07/07/2020 16:32

@StCharlotte

Our brother and sister kittens were due to be neutered on 25th March. They'd have been nearly five months and that was early by our vet's standards. Appointment was cancelled due to Covid of course. The vets relented and they were actually done in April because boy-cat kept trying to mount her.

But if they hadn't and there had been kittens would you still have blamed me?

I don't think anyone would blame you in that situation - absolutely nobody could have predicted COVID. You had your kittens booked in like a responsible owner!

Wolfiefan · 07/07/2020 16:32

My dog is lovely too.
But I don’t knew enough to have a litter from her. I don’t have the knowledge, the expertise, the ability to choose the best sire or to find perfect homes for puppies and take back any that unforeseen situations meant they had to be returned.
So I won’t have a litter.
My dog doesn’t want one!

Gwenhwyfar · 07/07/2020 16:32

Someone I know claimed she didn't know they would mate with siblings if kept inside. She had something like 10 cats and dogs. I think it was a kind of mental illness, like hoarding.

thecatneuterer · 07/07/2020 16:32

I really don’t see the problem if the kittens go to good homes.

You see that's the problem (and I'm not laying blame here - it's just unless you are involved in the rescue side of things you don't see the overwhelming over-supply of cats/kittens and you don't see the bigger picture). The problem is that every kitten born is adding to the huge imbalance between the number of cats and the numbers of homes available. Every cat born effectively means that another one, somewhere, doesn't get homed and will probably get put down. Even if you get good homes for your kittens you are taking up one of the finite number of homes available, that could have gone to other unwanted kittens.

user1481840227 · 07/07/2020 16:32

People are weird about cats.
I read something a while ago during the initial lockdown period about a cat showing symptoms or that had tested positive for covid-19.

The advice given was to keep cats in if they had symptoms or if any member of the household had symptoms or had tested positive for covid-19.

A lady commented apparently genuinely confused about how she was supposed to keep a cat in the house!!

MitziK · 07/07/2020 16:34

@JammyHands

TBH, if a female cat is in season it will do anything it can to answer the call of the wild, and this takes people by surprise sometimes if they aren't prepared

And before people pile on, all the cats I've personally had have been boys.

Our DTwatCat #2 - who I was assured had been spayed when I rescued her - was quite prepared to go interspecies if she thought it would answer her call. She presented herself to the postman (automatic closing double doors to block so she wouldn't have got outside), DP, the other (very neutered) cat, the dog - anything with an XY Chromosome was potentially Mr Right.

The wait to get an appointment for a spay was bloody long, as at the time, they wouldn't do it if they were actively on heat and her seasons (as the first one had apparently been ignored by the lying arse who got rid of her) were every 3-5 days. Although the same 'accident' had happened to her previous cat - and hers had managed to get through a solid steel door just like ours...

QuestionableMouse · 07/07/2020 16:35

The moggy i had growing up used to be able to open doors and windows. Had to lock them to keep her in!

Alsohuman · 07/07/2020 16:36

No point trying to reason (or argue) with someone who thinks it's acceptable to let their dog have a litter because they're "sweet" and "cute"

That’s not the reason. And no, you’re right, there’s no point at all. Particularly since there’s already a friends and family waiting list for the hypothetical puppies.