Cats prefer to breed in the spring, so kittens are likely to be available in every rescue centre right now. Try contacting the Paws and Claws Animal Rescue Service (The Mewes Vets’ chosen charity of 2017), Raystede, the Cats Protection or the RSPCA if you and your family are ready to give a forever home to one.
If you do decide to bring a kitten into your home, remember that the gorgeous bundle of fun now will be with you until he or she is 18 or 20 years old, or maybe more, with luck and good veterinary care.
If you have a young female cat who has not yet been neutered, then it is definitely time to visit your Vet for the ‘little girl’s operation’, unless you especially want to be responsible for finding good homes for four or five little people, in competition to all those rescue centres!
Some people find it hard to imagine how that procedure goes.
It is one of those procedures, like castration, that my profession has traditionally always performed at less than cost because we feel so strongly that we cannot allow cats to breed indiscriminately. If we did, every dustbin would be a home for a street cat, as you see in some less wealthy countries. There just would not be enough homes for them all.
A young lady puss comes in, just for the day, and we start with a very thorough health check and pregnancy check. We can do this operation from a very young age, but the cat will definitely need it done before they are seven months old. Female cats can become mothers at four months old in the spring!
Under full general anaesthetic we shave the fur away from the left flank, and use a keyhole incision to access her abdomen. Very carefully the Vet identifies the two ovaries and the womb, removing them after placing ligatures to prevent any bleeding.
Lady cats tend to recover remarkably briskly from this episode. We use painkillers, but they often think they can return to a normal lifestyle in just a few days. We don’t encourage this, but the incision is so small that the risks are generally low, as long as they do not pick at the invisible mending with their teeth!
If you are the owner of a female cat and would like more information, feel free to contact the Mewes Vets on 01444 456886 and we will gladly advise you.
