PET expert Pauline Dewberry tackles the important issue of neutering your cats.

In theory, your female cat can give birth to up to three litters of kittens each year.

Assuming she has an average litter of four kittens, that’s 12 kittens a year.

Over an average lifespan for an indoor kitty of say, 15 years, that’s about 180 kittens in her lifetime.

Now, factor in if she has two females per litter and each female has three litters of kittens per year, that could add up to a staggering 370,000 kittens in seven years.

Double this figure to get a more accurate number of kittens if our breeding mothers all live to about 15 years of age.

That's a lot of animals to re home and is a stress on the mother!

So what happens to all those kittens?

Not every single one of them will find a loving home.

Cats Protection helps 200,000 cats every year, but that still leaves a huge number waiting for their forever home.

Other animal charities, like Battersea Dogs and Cats Home,

the RSPCA, the Blue Cross, the PDSA and all the hundreds of smaller charities throughout the UK all take in unwanted pets.

Space at these charities is at a premium, however, and sometimes cats are euthanised to allow room for more to be taken in.

As we are during a pandemic people can't afford to have their cats neutered but rehoming and neutering is not always the answer.

These charities make the decision to euthanise a cat based on its condition and whether it has any long-term illness or disability which could affect its quality of life, therefore its adoption prospects.

This is a catastrophic situation which could be resolved so easily. Neutering and spaying cats (and dogs) before the age of maturity – around four months now for cats – and this feline explosion and needless euthanising of healthy animals could end almost overnight.

Allowing a female cat to have endless litters of kittens is tantamount to cruelty.

It takes a lot out of her to feed her kittens and once they’re weaned, then if she gets pregnant again, her body hasn’t had chance to fully recover.

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