a fertile cat can produce 3 litters a year with an average of 4-6 kittens per litter!
so hypothetically if a female cat is fertile for 10 years it can produce 180 kittens!
and if each kitten has a litter of kittens that could equal up to 3240 kittens!
and since its 10 years and cats can start reproducing when they are as young as four months then all those kittens could have kittens equaling 58,320 kittens!
what all this means is FIX YOUR PETS!
a fertile dog can produce 2 litters with an average of 6-10 puppies per litter!
so hypothetically if a female dog is fertile for 10 years it can produce 200 puppies!
and if each puppy has a litter that could equal up to 4000 puppies!
and those puppies having litters could equal up to 80,000 puppies!
so, once again, FIX YOUR PETS!
6-8 million cats and dogs enter animal shelters every year
for 3-4 million pets, this is their last stop.
only 30-40% of dogs are reclaimed by their owners in shelters, and 2-5% of cats
Cats and dogs never stop reproducing, as they get older they have more difficult pregnancies with less babies but they never go through "menopause."
If people spend $40 at low cost sterilization facilities to get their pets fixed there would be a huge decline in the number of animals we saw at local shelters, thus lowering taxes over time!
Sterilization not only keeps your pet from reproducing, thus adding to the overpopulation problem, but it also has the following benefits: eliminates cycling (periods) for the female, less likely to wander, less likely to bark or howl, less likely to spray, less likely to contract uterine or ovarian cancers, less likely to get mammary tumors, less likely to be aggressive and territorial, males are less likely to get tumors/cancers associated with the male reproductive organs.
Sterilization does not make your pet gain weight! Age, inactivity and overfeeding can make your animal gain weight but not sterilization.
Sterilization is NOT MEAN either, some people think that we are "interferring with nature" but we have already interferred with nature by domesticating these animals so the best we can do for them is let them lead the longest lives they can!
Feral cats (cats with no homes) are fine where they are. Cats will make due outside but they are the number one concern to be sterilized because they will travel miles to impregnate every female (given that it is a male cat) they can. If you have a feral cat around, please look under the "How You Can Help" section for the trap and release program for fixing these cats!
If you have a litter of kittens please PLEASE seek out a local animal rescue or a low cost sterilization clinic to fix these little guys before you put up a "Free Kittens" sign. Often the low cost clinics will work with you (sometimes they have sterilizations for $10!) and then charge an adoption fee for the kittens. What I have found is that if the kitten is fixed and someone really wants it, they will have no problem paying $20 for it, and if you do get the $10 deal you will actually make a profit! (I do not suggest breeding cats for this purpose though, the reality is, sometimes they can take time to get homes for) And don't give your kittens to just anyone, ask them questions and feel them out, maybe even ask for references (vet?) because usually if people are looking for a kitten they have had a cat before.
So what other reason do you have not to get your animal fixed? If you express an interest in fixing your animal at a low cost clinic they will do just about anything (whether it be money, time, etc) to help you. The reality is, overpopulation of pets could be a thing of the past if we all made an effort to spay and neuter our pets.