Spay Cats by Five Months to Save More Lives

A project in northern Maine that encouraged pet owners to get their cats spayed by five months of age, instead of waiting until the traditional six months of age to have "pets" altered, proved that it is possible to reduce shelter intakes and save lives while not spending a penny more to do so. It is time to take note. Fix Felines by Five a project of Marian's Dream Foundation, was developed to both engage veterinarians and educate the public to act upon what is fully understood about the reproductive cycles of cats; they can get pregnant when they are five months old, give birth when they are seven months old and they produce two litters a year. The traditional advice to have pets altered at six months of age reliably prevents dogs from giving birth to accidental litters, however by six months of age many cats that are allowed outdoors have already become pregnant; if another month slips by, an unwanted litter is born. Numbers and estimates vary widely, and in much of the US there are no shelters to receive or track unwanted cats, however of the roughly three million cats that enter shelters, most are put to death and many that are turned away from shelters are left on the streets, becoming victims of starvation and cruelty. The only humane solution to the crisis is prevention. According to American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) there are 74 million pet cats in the US https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/Statistics/Pages/Market-research-statistics-US-pet-ownership.a...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news