Category Archives: Spay and Neuter
Cat Survives Gas Chamber Twice
I'm not supposed to scratch or bite my boo-boo, but it really, really ITCHES!
Sometimes I feel sorry for myself. Just now I was sad for me because my family is down with a terrible flu. We have been sick since my birthday which was New Years Day.
To make a long story short, I thought I deserved to feel sorry for myself……that is, until I read about a plucky little cat who refused to die when people tried to execute her in a gas chamber.
From MSNBC;
Officials at West Valley City’s animal shelter in Utah say the cat named Andrea hadn’t been adopted for 30 days when shelter officials tried to put her to death in October. She survived, so they gassed her again.
Shelter officials detected no vital signs and presumed she was dead after the second try, so they put her in a plastic bag in a cooler. But when they checked the bag, they saw she had vomited on herself and had hypothermia but was alive.
The shelter then decided to stop trying to kill her.
“It was just one of those things where they thought this cat obviously really wants to live,” West Valley City spokesman Aaron Crim told the Salt Lake Tribune (http://bit.ly/ylvSDw ). “Let’s give it a chance to find a permanent home.”
The newspaper reports the cat has since been adopted and shelter officials are investigating why the gassing failed.
I absolutely hate the idea that animals must go through so much just to prove they have a right to live. In my opinion, this cat should not have been put in the gas chamber the first time, let alone the second go round. We simply must get to the place where no-kill shelters the rule rather than the exception in this country.
I know sometimes an animal is too sick or too hurt to save and I understand that. What I can’t understand is murdering cats, dogs and other animals just because we humans decide there are too many of them or some politician gets a bug up their big butt and decides to thin out the pet population.
Wouldn’t the money spent on murdering these innocent animals be better spent on an intelligent spay/neuter campaign and laws? If we significantly reduce the number of “unwanted” puppies, kittens and other pets, it will be a whole lot easier to find forever homes for the ones that are here. Then maybe we can junk the gas chamber thing altogether and have only no kill shelters for the few animals that get lost or have other bad luck which puts them on the street.
I am smart enough to know that most people won’t be listening to what I have to say about this subject. That doesn’t mean I am going to shut up about it. It is the right thing to do and until my last breath I will be speaking out in favor of no kill animal shelters and rescues. I will speak for those who do not speak human.
Why Spay and Neuter?
It is Spring again and that means lots of new animals being born. In the wild bear mothers are out of their dens with their new cubs, birds are eagerly building nests and all types of wildlife is welcoming new life into the world. In the more tame world, dogs and cats are getting ready to make new puppies and kittens.
But in the world of animal rescue and animal shelters, they are preparing for the influx of unwanted animals. Puppies and kittens are pretty much born year round, but the Spring seems to be when the heavy numbers arrive. The unfortunate truth is the more of them there are–the more of them that will be euthanized. People who work in animal rescue of all kinds are aware of this.
I personally hate the idea of having these wonderful puppies and kittens born only to know many of them will be killed. It is one thing if young animals die to a predator in the wild. That is the way nature works. It is a far different thing for them to be eventually euthanized because a permanent loving home cannot be found for them.
In a perfect world, all domestic pets would have good and loving permanent homes. They would be valued for their work or as pets and companions. But the truth is that isn’t the way it is and we will never get to zero kill shelters unless we have our pets spayed or neutered in order to reduce the population of unwanted animals.
Please, if you have a pet dog or cat have them ‘fixed.’ Don’t put it off. Don’t take an attitude about keeping your pet ‘whole.’ The fact is your dog or cat will live longer and most likely be healthier if they are spayed or neutered. They will also be a better pet because their mating instinct will diminish and their entire focus will be on their human family.
Please also don’t think it is better to have one litter before spaying or neutering. I have heard that said quite often, but I have yet to see any evidence that it makes any difference to the cat or dog. Ask your vet and they will probably tell you they would rather just go ahead and do the surgery and that one litter won’t make any difference to the animal. So please don’t put this off. You will find a link below that will direct you to low cost spay and neuter clinics in your area. Do the right thing by your pets and get it done.
Just look at a few facts from the ASPCA by way of Care2;
Here are some facts from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) to share with people who are on the fence about spaying or neutering their pets:
- There are about 5,000 animal shelters nationwide.
- Approximately 3 million to 4 million companion animals are euthanized in shelters annually.
- Only 10 percent of the animals received by shelters have been spayed or neutered.
- The majority of pets in the U.S. are obtained from friends, family and acquaintances whose animal has given birth to a litter.
- The second most popular way pets are obtained is through purchases from breeders or pet shops.
- Only 10 to 20 percent of people adopt their pet from an animal shelter or rescue group.
- Five out of ten dogs in shelters and seven out of ten cats are euthanized because there is no one to adopt them.
- The average number of litters a cat can produce is one to two a year – with 4 to 6 kittens per litter.
- The average number of litters a dog can produce in one year is one – with 4 to 6 puppies per litter.
The ASPCA offers an easy to use database for people looking for a low-cost spay and neuter clinic in their area. Click Here to see clinics in your area.
Petition for Spay & Neuter
If you have a pet dog or cat, or if you simply love dogs and cats, then please take a moment of your valuable time to sign the petition below from the Care2Petition Site. State spay and neuter programs are helping to reduce the number of animals that are euthanized at rescues and shelters every year. This petition lets the State of Massachusetts know the facts and urges the legislature there to pass a state spay and neuter program for the benefit of the animals in the state.
Follow the link in the email to sign the petition.
|
What Age to Spay or Neuter
At What Age Should I Spay Or Neuter My Dog or Cat?
Ron Hines DVM PhD 10/25/06
There are a lot of conflicting recommendations as to the best age to spay or neuter your pet. Traditionally, veterinarians suggested that dogs be neutered at six months of age. In the majority of dogs, this precedes the first heat cycle in females and the onset of male dog behavior (lifting their leg to pee, showing of sexual interest, roaming, aggression). Smaller breeds of dogs tend to mature a bit faster than larger breeds so many toy and miniature breeds were spayed at five months of age.
Female cats reach sexual maturity more rapidly than most dogs. I have found that once a female cat weighs 4.5 pounds, it is often fertile; and it usually becomes pregnant on its first estrus (heat) cycle. Males cats mature more slowly and when they do breed, it is usually someone else’s pet that becomes pregnant. If your male cat has begun to spray urine in the house, it is time to get him fixed. However, many male cats never spray. Unneutered male cats should never be allowed out-of-doors unsupervised. If they are simply shown the door, they will invariably get into fights with more dominant Tomcats and become injured.
American Heartland families would often allow their new pet to have one litter so the pet or the family’s children could experience the “miracle of birth”.
As humane organizations and animal shelters became more common and powerful, popular recommendations changed. Shelters and animal rights advocates are opposed to the indiscriminate breeding of pets. They have good reason for this – the more unwanted puppies and kittens that are born, the more difficulty these groups have in finding homes for them and the more likely it is that these youngsters must be “put down” (killed). Many shelters are so adamantly opposed to this, that they have strict bylaws or rules that no unneutered pets can be adopted. That is why they favor early spaying. They also know that if a pet they have adopted out is not neutered in it’s first 8 months, it is unlikely to ever be neutered. So, for them, this is a social, not a medical, issue. I know of no medical or behavioral reason to neuter a pet before its estrogen or testosterone levels begin to rise. By definition,this does not occur, in immature animals.
Some veterinarians prefer to neuter very young pets because their ovaries or testes (testicles) are still quite small. In this condition, there are less blood vessels that need to be tied off (ligated, sutured) so the risk of bleeding is much less. On rare occasions, female pets have died do to loss of blood when surgery did not go as planned. In very infantile (young) puppies and kitten, no suture need be used internally, instead all internal incisions are made with an electric knife called a cautery.
Veterinarians also appreciate that healthy, immature animals heal and rebound more rapidly after surgery. There are also economic incentives to neutering pets at a very young age.
Neutering pets was never part of God’s design or Plan. We do it to ameliorate problems that we and these animals experience as humans adapt Nature to their own desires.
It is my personal opinion that estrogen, testosterone and other chemicals, secreted or influenced by the ovaries and testes (testicles), are quite important in the normal, healthy, development of dogs and cats. These hormones affect everything from brain and bone development to the percentage of fat in the body. There are likely many other lingering hormonal influences on the body that we do not yet understand. Because of this, I do not suggest spaying dogs or cats at a very young age.
I have examined a great many puppies and kittens. I have never seen an instance where I felt that a puppy or kitten needed to be neutered before sexual maturity was imminent. I developed a way to decide the best time to neuter pets – I am sure many veterinarians made the same observations. Just before a pet reaches sexual maturity, permanent, upper canine teeth (fangs) replaced the ones they had as puppies or kittens. When these permanent teeth first erupt, every pet I have ever examined was still immature and showed no sexual traits. But very soon after these new teeth reached their final length, sex hormones begin to rise. That is when I set an upcoming appointment to spay the pet within 14 days. If, for some reason, you can not have the surgery in female pets, securely confine your pet and allow it to complete it’s first heat cycle before scheduling the surgery. This surgery can be done during estrus (their period) but it becomes a much more serious operation and the crash in hormones must be quite uncomfortable.
Decisions based on hormonal analysis of the blood of your pet might be more scientific. But I have observed through many years of practice that examination of the canine teeth is quite accurate and effective.
Waiting too long to spay your pet is also not a good idea. After dogs mature, they often deposit abdominal fat that increases the difficulty of the surgery. Waiting too long can also lead to your veterinarian having to spay a pregnant pet.