1 'whole' cat

[Swissie]

1 non sterilised cat will produce about 12 kittens a year - which if not sterilised will produce    1 million cats in 10 years.

[Chrissie]

There is a terrific poster which shows 2 cats at the top, then a series of rows of ever-increasing cat numbers, with a timeline down the side.  Wonder if anyone can find it on the Web.  We could send it to all the people we know who can't be bothered to sterilise their pets......

Chrissie (81)

[Patf]

We had our cat sterilised in Nov.2008 - see this thread, started by Claire:

http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/7/1462762/ShowPost.aspx#1462762

But in April this year she gave birth to 5 kittens [8-)]

Went back to the vet's and he said he would re-do the op. in 4 weeks time. But too late - she was already carrying 5 more! He did the op. though.

So at this rate she could, in theory, have 5 kittens every 13 weeks! Which is 20 pa..

[andyh4]

Ctas in the normal free world do not produce over the winter Pat - so a lower number than your estimation

[pachapapa]

[quote user="Chrissie"]

There is a terrific poster which shows 2 cats at the top, then a series of rows of ever-increasing cat numbers, with a timeline down the side.  Wonder if anyone can find it on the Web.  We could send it to all the people we know who can't be bothered to sterilise their pets......

Chrissie (81)

[/quote]

http://www.dogsandcats101.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/cats_multiply_pyramid.pdf

[Chrissie]

Thanks for that - it's not exactly the same one, but just as effective.  I shall start sending it to people.  (Well, it's a lot less offensive than most of the spam we all get!)

Chrissie (81)

[Swissie]

Will you send it to those SPAs that do not sterilize?

[Russethouse]

 Since you feel so strongly Swissie, why don't you send it instead of getting someone else to ?[:'(]

Or you could write to them and let them know your feelings or even  become actively involved in fund raising to support a program of sterilizing...

[Swissie]

Think you missed the '?'  RH.  

As far as your advice- I can assure you I do both and have done for a long time, as sterilising is absolutely paramount in trying to solve the awful problem of abandoned and unwanted dogs and cats. I cannot understand how anybody in animal rescue could possibly refute this and even think of justifying anything else.

[Russethouse]

 No Swissie, I didn't miss anything  however I think you need to think about the 'real' world, not what we'd all like.  Of course sterilising is ideal, but often life just isn't ideal and we have to be content with doing what we can... what would you rather, the rescues rehome 'whole' cats and hope they are sterilised or that that the cats die, you choose !

[Swissie]

It is an extremely hard choice - almost impossible. And yet, I'd rather NOT re-home than badly re-home. If animals are not sterilised, it is just a terrible, dreadful vicious circle.  Most SPAs and the RSPCA have come to that conclusion. I'd rather put an animal to sleep than to badly re-home or to keep for years behind bars.  And I can assure you, it is not a choice taken lightly - but at our local refuge, we have come to the conclusion that if people are not prepared to pay for sterilisation (and we get a really good rate as we work closely with our local vets and vet school), they are unlikely to be prepared to properly care for a cat or a dog- and probably allow many many more unwanted animals to be born. For cats, about 12 a year and keep multiplying. That IS the reality.