Caribbean Sun

What convinced me to spay pregnant cats?

When I began my journey into TNR, of course I immediately encountered a pregnant cat. And when I looked for help from the local cat rescue organization, they let me know they could take her in and spay her.

Like many people who have not been involved in cat Rescue, I was horrified. Weren't we out here trying to save their lives? How could we talk about spaying a pregnant cat?

Another woman had seen me setting traps and working hard to trap this elusive cat, and when she found out I was talking to the group who would spay this cat she said oh I can take her, let me take her. I'll let her have her babies and I'll work on finding them homes.

I did catch the cat, and I arranged to bring her to this woman's home. When I got there, the smell of cat urine was overpowering. Walking into the house it appeared clean - but all the furniture was covered in plastic, and there were cats everywhere. Dozens of cats.

We walked into a different room where this very kind lady wanted to just open the carrier and let this shy newly trapped pregnant cat loose in this house with dozens of other cats. I didn't want to offend her, but I could see this was not saving this cat. There's no way I could leave that cat. And so I looked at her and said “you know, I can leave this cat, but I had another offer of a home for her, and they would keep her as their own cat. Would you mind if I gave her to them?”

Yes, I lied. In my defense, I will say I lied out of kindness, because the only reason this woman offered to take the cat was because she was going to be spayed. She didn't need another cat, she didn’t want another cat, and she definitely didn't need a litter of kittens. And, as soon as she knew there was another home available, she was happy to let her go.

That year, our local shelter was euthanizing 40 healthy tame kittens a week. 40. Healthy, tame, already born kittens.

I took the cat to the cat Rescue; they kept her and she was spayed and adopted out. That cat's life mattered - and she got a home. And I saved several kittens, because by spaying this cat before she had kittens, already born kittens who may have been euthanized got into homes.

Every time I took on a new TNR situation and saw kittens in the bushes -sick kittens, dying kittens, feral kittens - I became more comfortable with spaying every cat I trapped. Every time I saw or heard of a pregnant cat with complications - pyometra, mastitis, complicated births which would have ended in death for the cat without intervention - I became a strong advocate of spay them all. I only hope others who find pregnant cats can put aside the emotional response, look at the reality of Rescue, and know, spaying those pregnant cats save lives.