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Be a Part of the Solution, Not the Problem
The Myths
Myth: It’s too expensive to have my cat spayed/neutered.
Reality: There are many low-cost spay/neuter programs
available to the public. All Parma Animal Shelter cats are spayed
or neutered before adoption and all kitten adoptions include the
cost of a spay/neuter. If you are worried about the cost of the
neuter or spay, then how can you afford routine medical care, food,
litter, and possibly emergency medical care? DON’T GET A CAT IF
YOU CAN’T AFFORD IT.
Myth: My cat shouldn’t be spayed or neutered because
they are a purebred.
Reality: So are as many as 1 out of 4 all animals
brought to shelters. If you are breeding to make money, you are
a part of the problem.
Myth: As long as I find good homes for all the
kittens, I’m not adding to the problem.
Reality: Each time one of your kittens goes into
a loving home, there is one fewer potential home for another cat
or kitten that is already homeless and waiting on “death row” at
the local animal shelter. Also, you have no guarantee that the kittens
you placed will stay in that home for the rest of their lives. Nor
can you control the continued breeding of the kittens when they
are mature.
Myth: If I can’t find homes for all the kittens
in the litter, I’ll just take them to the animal shelter.
Reality: Such organizations do the best they can,
but the number of unwanted kittens and cats is vastly greater than
the number of good homes available.
Myth: It’s better to let my cat have “just one
litter” before spaying.
Reality: Medical evidence shows just the opposite,
that cats spayed before their first heat are typically healthier.
Myth: But my cat is so special, I want another
one just like it.
Reality: You can’t make a carbon copy of your cat
. Animal genetics cannot guarantee that they will be what you want.
Myth: My children should witness the miracle of
birth.
Reality: Even if your children were able to actually
see the birth since most occur at night and in seclusion, the lesson
you really will be teaching is that cats can be created and discarded
as it suits us. Instead, explain to your children that the real
miracle is life, and that preventing births of some cats can save
the lives of others.
Myth: My cat will become fat and lazy if I have
it spayed or neutered.
Reality: Cats become fat and lazy as a result of
overeating and lack of exercise.
Myth: My cat’s personality will change.
Reality: Since neutering and spaying is usually
done as the animal matures, behavioral changes are a natural result
of the aging process. The basic personality of your cat won’t change
as it is formed more by genetics and environment than by its sex
hormones.
Myth: I don’t want my male cat to feel less like
a male.
Reality: Cats don’t have any concept of sexual
identity or ego. Neutering a male cat will not change its basic
personality and it won’t suffer any kind of emotional reaction or
identity crisis when neutered.
Myth: It’s wrong to deprive my cat of the natural
right to mate and reproduce.
Reality: A spayed or neutered cat does not experience
the urge to mate and therefore is not being physically or psychologically
deprived of anything. And it is not natural for there to be thousands
of cats dying of starvation, disease or under the wheels of cars
because of the pet overpopulation problem.
The Facts
• Spaying will decrease a female cat’s chances for cancer in the
uterus, ovaries and breasts and will decrease her chance of a life-threatening
infection in the uterus.
• Neutering a male cat will reduce the incidence of prostate problems
and enlargement, as well as testicular or anal cancer later in life.
• Spaying a female cat at 6 months will prevent even one “heat”
cycle which is characterized by incessant crying, howling, sometimes
destructive behavior, false pregnancies, possible spraying and amorous
overtures to chairs, people, etc. This heat cycle can and will last
as long as 1 week and will be repeated again EVERY 3 WEEKS
until the female has mated. (And it only takes 1 time to get pregnant).
• Neutering a male cat at 6 months will make it less likely to want
to get out and roam, get into cat fights, mounting behavior and
territorial urine-marking.
• Spaying and neutering helps the community since hundreds of thousands
of dollars in tax funds are used to control and eliminate unwanted
pets and stray animals.
• Caring of a pregnant cat for 2 months until delivery can be costly,
as is caring for, feeding, raising and providing medical care for
the kittens until they leave your home (2 months). Bills can mount
to as high as $1000 for medical care and food.
• Spayed and neutered cats get along better with one another.
The Sad Truth
• For every person born in the United States, there are 15 dogs
and 45 cats born.
• Each day in the United States, 10,000 people are born and 70,000
puppies and kittens.
• 2 out of 10 cats brought into a shelter will be adopted and 8
will be killed. Only 2 out of a hundred will be returned to their
owner.
• 40% of cats killed in shelters are between 5 months and 3 years
old.
• The average number of kittens in a litter is 4 to 6.
• A fertile female cat can produce an average of 3 litters in one
year.
• If a female cat has a litter, and all the kittens from that litter
are allowed to reproduce and so on, then in 7 years that one female
cat and her offspring will be responsible for producing 420,000
cats.
• Over $2 billion is spent annually by local governments throughout
the country to shelter and ultimately destroy 8 to 10 million adoptable
cats and dogs.
• While you were reading the sad truth, nearly 45 healthy, adoptable
cats, kittens, dogs and puppies were “put to sleep” for lack of
a good home.
The Parma Animal Shelter is provided by the city of Parma for the
stray and adoptable animals of the community. Under certain conditions,
euthanasia is employed and the Animal Warden, will be responsible.
Our objective is to reduce the stress and trauma of lost, stray
and abandoned animals in Parma. Also:
1. Provide care for the animals while at the shelter.
2. Find new homes for abandoned animals.
3. Offer public education and awareness.
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