8 Reasons why you must have your cat spayed or neutered.

Each day 10,000 humans are born in the U.S., and each day 70,000 puppies and kittens are born. Pet overpopulation is an ever-spreading epidemic in our society. The statistics for the number of offspring a pair of cats can produce is staggering. According to the Animal Rescue League of Boston, "An unspayed female cat, her mate and all of her offspring, producing two litters per year, with 2.8 surviving kittens per litter can total 11,606,077 cats over a span of nine years." These numbers show why it is so very important for owners to be responsible and have their pets spayed or neutered.

Every time I hear someone say they just want their cat to have one littler so their kids can see the birth I want to smack them up-side the head!
That is a terrible reason to bring more unwanted/unneeded animals into this world.

If you want your kids to see a birth let them watch Animal Planet. At least 20 times a week they have some kind of animal giving birth on that show.

Reason #2 death of Kittens and or mother

Ok so you have a cute cat, but that does not mean her Kittens will be cute.
Letting your cat breed can bring on risks to her health and that of her unborn kittens

WHAT IF DURING THE BIRTH
1. The Kittens are too large for the female. She never goes into labor, the Kittens die and she becomes infected by the decaying bodies.
2. The Kittens are coming breech and they drown in their own sacks before they can be born.
3. The first kitten is large and breech. When it starts coming your female starts screaming, and before you can stop her she reaches around, grabs the kitten in her teeth and yanks it out killing it instantly.
4. A Kitten gets stuck. Neither your female nor you can get it out. You have to race her to the vet. The vet can't get it out either. She has to have an emergency caesarian section of course it is 3:00 am Christmas day.
5. A Kitten is coming out breech and dry (the water sack that protects them has burst). It gets stuck. Mom tries to help it out by clamping her teeth over one of the back legs. The head and shoulders are firmly caught. Mom pulls on the leg, hard, peeling the flesh from the leg and leaving a wiggling stump of bone.
6. A dead Kitten gets stuck in the birth canal, but your female is well into hard labor. She contracts so hard trying to give birth that her uterus ruptures and she bleeds to death on the way to the vet.

Please be advised you may fine the following pictures unsettling

Whoops your kittens are NOT so cute

Sure everyone said they want one of your kittens but will they be so willing if they turn out like this.

This is Grimmy
A cop brought her and her Brother and sister to a shelter in 2006. They had been abandoned. He was in tears, he was a rookie and was worried she would have to be put to sleep.

She had 2 eye surgeries to try to save her sight before they removed her left eye. She can see only shadows now.

Gimmy was one of the lucky ones, she was saved.
She now has a forever home with people who love her.



Grimmy now.

Even if you think you have found your kittens good home do you really know how they will be treated after they leave your house?

Meet Fleabag
She was found July 5th half dead, she couldn't stand or even open her eyes. Her previous owner had staved her and left her for dead.

In addition to being severely under weight she was literally having the life sucked out of her by fleas. She had so little blood left in her that it was October before the vet could draw blood from her.

Big, fat, happy Fleabag now. With a new family that spoils her rotten.

Ok so you let your cat get pregnant, she has the kittens and they are even cute.
But your cat wants nothing to do with being a momma and reject one or more of her kittens.

So what do you do now?

Well you will have to become mommy.
Be prepare to not get any sleep for a few nights, unless you are lucky enough to have a helper.

Newborn kittens need round the clock care.

Newborns need 9 - 12 feedings a day, about 32 cc (1.1 oz.) of formula each meal.

You can get kitten formula at Petsmart, your vet, maybe your local grocery store.

You will need a kitten-sized baby bottles with kitten-sized baby nipples.

Just like human babies, kittens need to be purpped.
Hold one hand under his abdomen and gently patting his upper back. Not too hard - you don't want him to spit-up.

You have to stimulate their bottom to pee and poop. Use a cotton ball and just jiggle it on their openings and it'll happen! Do it after feedings and don't worry if it doesn't happen every single time.

Kittens aren't able to regulate their body temps until they're about 10-14 days old (about the time they open their eyes) and they need to be kept warm. Keep the room warm. Some people like using heating pads, or you can use bean or corn filled packs that you put in the microwave to heat. They retain heat for a few hours and they're easy for the kitten to move towards or away from if they get too hot or cold.

Yes, taking care of a newborn is alot of work.

For more information on how to take care of a newborn kitten Click Here

Meet Phoebe
She was just 2 days old when her mother rejected her.

Her foster mom had a terrible time getting her to eat. Turns out foster mom wasn't putting the nipple deep enough into her mouth, and wasn't being persistent enough.

Then mom was accidentally feeding her in the wrong position and Phoebe got a life threatening upper repertory infection. She almost didn't make it.

Feisty little Phoebe now
She is perfectly healthy, is over a pound in weight, occasionally uses her litterbox all by herself. Not bad for only 4 weeks old.

Some times no matter what you do, one just does not do as well as the rest.

It's so sad. They are so small the mother cat will often reject them. Even if the mother cat does feed them they often eat last because they do not have the strength to fight their larger bothers and sisters for the best nipples.

Please meet Itty Bitty


Itty Pitty has had a real rough start in life.
His mother was a young homeless cat with FHV ( Feline Herpes Virus )which she passed to all her kittens.
His mother was killed by a dog when he was about 3 or 4 weeks old.

The kitten's eyes were matted shut from the virus and it was caked into their fur. You can still see some of it stuck in Itty Bitty's fur in the pic above and that was after a week of constant cleaning and medication.

Itty Bitty was the smallest and sickest of his litter but he is trying to fight to live. Two of his siblings have succumbed to the illness.

The problem now is Itty Bitty is not growing and he is not very interested in eating. The rest of the litter are all infection free now and are all eating on their own.
Itty Bitty is still on the bottle and is half the size of his litter mates.



Itry Bitty center with Mason on the left and big sister Harley Sue on the right.



But there is hope for Itty Bitty in the form of Glop.

Glop is high in calories, full of nutrients and easy to digest. It has saved countless lives.
Itty Bitty has now eatten Glop twice on his own.
Hopefully it will become a habit and he will grow up to be a big 14 pound male.

Up-date:7/4/08

Sadly Itty Bitty passed way in his sleep on July 4th 2008. He was only 12 weeks old.

Up-date: 7/21/08

Harley Sue has been adopted and is a new loving home.

Mason is still under going treatment for his club foot and bowed leg, but he is doing very well.

Basic INGREDIENTS

12 oz water
1 envelope unflavored plain gelatin.
1 can 12 oz evaporated canned milk (not condensed) Regular, not the low fat. They need the fat.
2 Tablespoons plain unflavored yogurt
2 Teaspoons Karo syrup (light)
2 tablespoons Mayonnaise
3 egg yolks (no white)

DIRECTIONS

Heat water
add gelatin until completely dissolved
Remove from heat
Add 1 can regular evaporated canned milk
Add 2 Tablespoons plain live culture yogurt
add 1-4 egg yolks

Put in blender or whisk by hand until completely mixed

Pour into an ice cube tray and freeze

When frozen, pop the cubes out and store in a zip-loc plastic bag in the freezer

Or refrigerate if using completely within 3 weeks

To serve, microwave 10-15 seconds
refrigerate when not in use

Heat will kill the yogurt culture and curdle your eggs, so they must be added after the gelatin/water mixture has been cooled with the milk. Use live cultured plain yogurt. Pasteurizing/heat kills the live culture.

Even at room temperature, this mixture will "gel". It liquefies when warmed. The mixture works very well and the kittens seem to like it a lot.

In the refrigerator, it sets up rather like mousse and lasts for up to 3 weeks as a gel, and can be rewarmed at low in the microwave. In the freezer, it lasts indefinitely.

Most kittens love it. Moms will eat it too. As a "jello" it makes a good weaning formula.

Sometimes Mother Nature throws a cure ball and some strange things can happen.

Bald Cats



Purebred Sphinx Kitten

Unless your cat is a purebred Sphinx baldness is not a good thing. Most non-purebred hairless kittens do not survive. Those that do are often plagued with health problems.

Deafness



Odd-eyed white cat photographed by Rodrigo Arancibia in Iquique, Chile.

The genetic disorder for deafness in cats is strongly linked to the genetic code for blue eyes and white fur.
Not all white cats with blue eyes are deaf, but the majority of kittens born deaf, are white and have blue eyes.
Odd eyed cats are cats born with two different colored eyes. If a cat has one blue eye on the right and one eye of a different color on the left, chances are the cat will be deaf in his right ear.

On a side note

All white-eared cats have a risk of skin cancer if they sunbathe too much.

Cat with extra toes are considered lucky in some cultures.

POLYDACTYL CATS
Cat with extra toes.
Normal cats have five toes on each front paw and four toes on each hind paw. Polydactyl cats may have as many as seven digits on front and/or hind paws.

However my mother had a cat Named Dagmar who had 8 toes on each foot. Too bad they never contacted Guinness; he would have had the record for most toes with 32. The current record holder only has 28.

Hitting the genetic lottery

Every once in a while a star-crossed mating will produce off spring that will hit the genetic lottery.

Recently a shelter received a pair of Chocolate brown kittens.
These mixed breed kittens are very rare indeed. Think about how many times in your life you have ever seen a chocolate brown cat.
These little guys are truly the color of Chocolate milk in person. They are still at the animal shelter and will be up for adoption after they have been fixed.
Sorry, even with their incredibility rare coloring that is not a good enough excuse to let them breed.

Godiva and Hershey are chocolate brown but their sibling are basic black and white.

So many things can go wrong during the development of a fetus, here are just a few.

Clubfoot

Sometimes one or more kittens in a litter are born with defective feet or tails.
A kitten with a clubfoot may actually out grow it. Others like the kitties blow have gross deformities that will need surgery and months of rehabilitation to over come.

These two are sister. The Tortie has the front two legs deformed and hops like a bunny. Her tail is also deformed and curls under.

The Calico above has 3 deformed legs. Her nose and tail are also deformed. She has no tear duct in 1 eye

These two special needs ladies have been in a shelter for over a year waiting for a home.

They are both sweet as can be. If you are interested in the challenge and joy of giving one or both of them a home please contact me and I will put in touch with the shelter.

Spina bifida

Spina bifida is a birth defect that involves the incomplete development of the spinal cord or its coverings. The term spina bifida comes from Latin and literally means "split" or "open" spine.

Kittens born with Spina Bifida usually have paralysis in their back legs.

Blindness

Blindness can be caused by many different conditions, including:

Bilateral uveitis due to a systemic bacterial, viral, protozoal or fungal infection, or from a tumor

Hyphema (blood in the anterior chamber) secondary to ocular trauma, a blood clotting disorder, or systemic hypertension (high blood pressure)

Cataract (dense opacity in the lens) formation

Lens luxation (displacement), particularly if complicated by cataract development

Glaucoma, which is sustained elevated pressures within the eye due to inadequate fluid drainage from the eye, resulting in damage to the optic nerve. Glaucoma in the cat is most often secondary to chronic uveitis.

Smudge who was born with empty eye sockets and a strangely shaped skull. Sadly Smuge only lived 7 weeks

Diseases your cat can get

Feline panleucopenia:
It is a highly contagious disease that can affect any kind of cat including lions, tigers and leopards as well as other animals such as mink, ferrets and raccoons. It is very difficult to get rid of and can leave an area contaminated for months of not properly sterilized. It is resistant to many disinfectants and also heat.
This disease has a high mortality rate and very little can be done once a cat has contracted it. The only prevention for this disease is to vaccinate against it.

Feline leukemia virus:
It is responsible for more deaths in cats than any other disease. It is extremely contagious!

Cats with the Feline leukemia virus will:
A. Fight it off and become immune to reification
B. Secom to the virus, leaving the virus to take over his system. These cat are HIGHLY contagious. The majority of these infected cats die within three and a half years
C. Fight it off but not completely. they may over time be able to eliminate the disease. If not he will develop FeLV related tumors

Feline immunodeficiency virus infection
Or Feline AIDS:

FIV is related to HIV,( human AIDS ) but appears to be able to infect only wild or pet cats. You can not get Human AIDS from your cat.
This disease is most common in male cat that are allowed to roam outside and are 6 to 10 years old.
Cats can live several years with FeLV but this disease is always fatal and there is no known treatment or cure.

Feline infectious peritonitis:

This disease is spread through the feces or saliva of an infected cat before it shows symptoms of the disease. Currently there is no specific treatment or vaccine. Most cats usually die as a result of infection.

Diseases your cat can give you!

Toxoplasmosis:
Or the toxoplasma gondii a coccidian parasite. This is often found in little boxes. It is very dangerous for pregnant women.
The symptoms are a slight fever, swollen lymph glands-like the flu. The female human passes it on to her unborn child during 5-6 months of pregnancy and it causes severe birth defects.

Psittacosis:
Psittacosis causes chlamydial eye and respiratory infections in cats but it can give you an upper respiratory infection too.

Ringworm:
Ringworm is is not really a worn but a fungal skin disease which for most people is more irritating than dangerous. It is also just gross ICK!

The itch from ring worm can be maddening!

How to get rid of Ringworm:

Topical anti fungal drugs containing miconazole (Daktarin, Micatin & Monistat), clotrimazole (Canesten, Hydrozole), terbinafine (Lamisil), butenafine and tolnaftate (Tinactin), many available without a prescription, can be used to clear up the infection. Pyrithione zinc, found in Head & Shoulders shampoo, is a very effective treatment for ringworm on the scalp and can be used as a body wash to assist in overall treatment.