Neuter Your Pets: An Appeal to Prevent Unwanted Births from Woodlands Animal Sanctuary
If you follow Woodlands Animal Sanctuary on social media, you may have seen their newest arrivals – a feral mum with now only 6 of her 7 kittens. Coming from a local farm, this feral mama, had given birth to 7 kittens, however, very sadly, one kitten has already crossed rainbow bridge. Another of her babies has a severe eye issue, most likely caused by an infection, and the team have very anxiously booked her in for surgery on Thursday. Surgery, at this age, poses a huge risk, to their tiny body, but to leave this vulnerable soul suffering the excruciating pain, the infection is likely to be causing them, is not an option. Therefore, the team are asking that every single person who reads this, crosses their fingers and toes for this little fighter and they all hope, with all their might, that they will get to hand rear this little one on the other side of a successful surgery.
Once their feral mama, now named Jess, by the team at Woodlands, has reared her babies, she will be neutered, before being returned to her home farm. This is the kindest course of action for her. As a feral cat, she is most comfortable, out in the ‘wilds’ being a cat, with the protection of the farm around her. And so, this is why she will be returned to her home. However, she will have been neutered. This will protect her and the possibility of any future kittens from going through the ordeal that two of her kittens so far are having to deal with.
Unwanted pets, and especially, unwanted babies, be that, kittens, puppies or any other type of pet, cause a huge amount of upset and suffering for all concerned. Neutering pets is the simplest way of completely avoiding this situation. Cats, especially if they go outside, are virtually impossible to track at all times and so unneutered pets are more than likely to either become pregnant or mate with another animal, often several times in their lifetime. As we have seen with Jess, they could have 7 babies per litter. If we average this out over their lifetime, that is a lot of unwanted kittens. Often born with issues, and certainly being born into more issues, is no way for life to begin. Neutering your pet is honestly cheaper than dealing with a pregnancy and babies. We all feel the pinch currently, but please, if we all work together and get our pets neutered, maybe forfeiting a meal out, or those expensive coffees you like so much, or even that new top you’ve got your eye on, we can make a real impact on the number of unplanned and unwanted pregnancies, eliminating the suffering that can go along with them at the same time.
If you have an un-neutered pet and are not sure how to go about getting them neutered, please speak to your vet. Even if you are struggling with your finances and see what payment options, they can offer you.