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Anonymous
Hey /an/,

This is my cat Chiquita. She's starting to go into heat, and so I figure its only a matter of time before she sneaks out and gets knocked up.

I've already decided to let her have a litter of kittens. I dont want her to be a kitten mill, It just seems strange to me to have living creature in my midst that I respect and strip them of an experience that all other living creatures get to have. Having babies makes living things happy, this is my experience.

After she has a litter though I am going to have something done.

I have had other cats, and it seems to me like full hysterectomies (spaying) has negative side affects. Weight gain and personality changes are the big ones.

Is there anything else you can do to keep your cat from having too many babies? Keeping her indoors all the time sounds tempting, but I want her to be able to go out and play sometimes if she wants.
>> Anonymous
You could kill the cat

Though it looks like shes going to die anyhow
>> Anonymous
yeah, life is a terminal condition... but lots of babies could happen between then and now. Her snuggles value is too high to off her right now.
>> Anonymous
You are an idiot.
>> Anonymous
I really hope you're a troll and you don't actually believe that the "experience of motherhood" is a valid excuse to let your cat pump out unwanted kittens and potentially put all parties involved in a lot of danger. Or are the realities of pregnancy and birthing complications completely lost on your puerile little mind? Oh, who am I kidding, what do you care? People like you, who are obviously selfish enough to put OH CUDDLY KITTENS ^_^_^_^_ before the safety and well-being of their own animal, don't have the capacity to think that far ahead.
>> Stabby
Grow up and stop anthropomorphisizing. Non-human animals simply do not think in abstract terms like "having children is meaningful".

Second, the world does not need more kittens. Period. We euthanize 5-9 million cats and kittens dumped in shelters every year because people let their animals breed for all kinds of stupid reasons and without a thought as to where the offspring will end up. Even if your plan is to give them away -- what does that really mean? Where will they go? Can you screen potential takers to make sure they will provide the kittens with good homes for their whole lives?

Also, the personality change thing is a myth. Cats' behavior will change some as they age, that's just how it goes. And if you're concerned about her weight, put her on an 'indoor' or 'lite' food.

If you want to the 'most humane' thing for all cats in general, you will spay her as soon as possible.
>> dr. dick
>>304375
Please don't take the replies in this thread personally, but they are right.
>> Anonymous
You guys are fucked up... All I wanted to know was if there were alternatives to total hysterectomies for cats.
>> Anonymous
and it does cause wieght gain. That's a side affect to cutting off an animals sex organs.
>> Anonymous
yea really, you're very foolish to breed a cat. go adopt a kitten from a shelter if you want a fix. your cat can take care of it like her own, even though she would'nt want anything to do with it cuz SHE'S A CAT.
>> Anonymous
Also I dont see how putting an animal through the trauma of a complete hysterectomy would not change their personality. It has changed every cat I have ever had before this one.

I just want my cat to have a limited breeding so she can be more of a normal living creature than stuffed animal that has a mind of its own. I want to control her reproduction, but I dont want to have her spay in the traditional sense because no matter what peta tells me, I dont trust them.
>> Anonymous
By not spaying her, she could develope uterine infections and cancer. So do you want your cat to be health and safe or do you want it to breed and produce kittens that the world doesn't need? hmmm?
>> Anonymous
Yea, cats don't see childbirth like people do. If you were to take a kitten away from the mom, she would forget about that kitten after a week. She doesn't want babies, she just horny. Do you have a baby everytime you get horny? That would be retarded.
>> Anonymous
>>304441
It's not a trauma. They give anesthesia. They have no idea of what happened and you can also give pain killers for a while.
>> Stabby
>>304432
I've never heard of one, why don't you ask a veterinarian? (assuming they don't laugh in your face... but they're probably more professional than that.)

>>304434
No shit. That's why you put her on a low calorie food.

>>304441
When done by a competent vet the surgery is not at all traumatic. And you're fooling yourself/ making excuses by insisting that it'll changer her personality. I know plenty of females cats who haven't "changed" after being spayed.
>> Anonymous
Pet Overpopulation is indeed a serious problem OP. Read and learn: http://www.petpopulation.org/research_euthanasia.html
>> Anonymous
Not OP, but how much does it cost to get a cat spayed?
>> Anonymous
so there's no way I can responsibly let my cat have kittens just once, and Im an idiot for not wanting to have a major organ system chopped out of my cat if there is an alternative?

Spaying works. If you cut that stuff out of an animal, they can't breed any longer. Also, they will continue to eat, sleep, poop, and do all that life like stuff. I just would rather have a less radical procedure, something akin to the ways that human reproduction can be ceased (I know there are women who get hysterectomies, but its not the majority of women who undergo reproductive surgery).

>>304445
I believe these risks are mitigated by the actual risk involved in the surgery, and also I've known several cats who were fixed that still got UTIs.

>>304458
That article is about people who put their pets to sleep because of behavioral problems. I know pet overpopulation is something to be concerned about, but my one cat make 3 or 4 kittens is hardly a federal case. I think I can handle it responsibly.
>> Anonymous
>>304484

I still don't buy over-population of cats myself. At least around here. The cats do welcomed stuff like getting rid of voles.
>> Anonymous
Animals do not have babies because they 'want to have babies'. They just have babies to have babies, that is all. Your cat would not lament about how it cannot have kittens, and it would not look at other cats and go 'golly gee I wish my horrible owner had let me do that!' Instead of being one of the many, many people who justify letting their cat have kittens and thus contribute to the mass number of cats being homeless (it not directly, then indirectly vie adopting YOUR kittens and not kittens in need at shelters).
Please stop passing off our advice as useless simply because you do not agree with it. The facts are the facts. You have a plethora of people saying "this is a bad idea, you shouldn't do this" and you ignore it all. Your cat will be PERFECTLY FINE not having kittens and its life will not have any less tenure.
I want you to imagine if every single vet office, cat owner, and otherwise person made this decision. If everyone 'saw the light' and decided they didn't want to strip away their cat's right to have kittens, the world would be overrun with kittens all over the place. You are thinking personally instead of in the grand scheme of things. The idea is flawed and not good.
Get your cat spayed. There is no alternative, no cat-birth-control or anything. If you have friends waiting to buy the kittens, tell them to go to a veterinary office or pound and rescue one of the many who need it.


Please, listen.
>> Anonymous
>>304492
Maybe 6 kittens if its a big litter. End of world?

Also, you can spay the shit out of your cats, and Im sure you'll be totally happy. Im not, and there's no reason for you copy me if you're happy with the results.
>> Anonymous
Yet another serial pet owner caught absolutely unprepared by one of life's most common occurrences.
>> Anonymous
I have to agree with the people who are saying you should get your cat spayed. I've actually noticed personality changes in animals that have had babies. One of my mom's dogs got really bitchy and the other, I swear to god, has postpartum depression. The puppy she kept, that we got neutered before he knew what his nuts were for still acts like a puppy even though he's almost 12.

Eh, I think it cost me about $400 to get my cat spayed w/ a front and back de-claw at the same time. I don't feel that her personality changed after that. She was still playful and feisty.

Talk to your vet. S/he can probably help allay your concerns.
Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutering
>> Anonymous
I've never heard a more rediculous topic in my life. I work for a vet hospital and they encourage people to spay and neuter their pets. The facts are:

1. Spaying and neutering has no effect on weight gain. Body weight is determined by the intake of calories balanced by the amount of exercise.

2. Sterilization prevents careless breeding in addition to the health benefits that can be obtained.

3. A pet's chance of contracting certain cancers (such as testicular cancer and ovarian cancer) is greatly reduced when Spayed or neutered.

4. Newer, modern anesthetics and procedures have made spaying and neutering very safe.

Why wouldn't you want to spay her? Don't you love her?
>> Anonymous
BUT I WANT KITTENS AND MY CAT SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO EXPERIENCE THE BEAUTY THAT IS CHILDBIRTH THIS IS THE RIGHT OF ALL GOD'S CREATURES GOD WOULD NEVER LET ANYTHING BAD HAPPEN LIKE HAVING STILLBORN KITTENS OR INTERNAL BLEEDING BECAUSE ALL OF GOD'S CREATURES SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO EXPERIENCE SUCH A BEAUTIFUL THING ALSO I REALLY WANT KITTENS I LOVE KITTENS I DON'T LIKE THE HUNDREDS OF KITTENS AT THE SHELTER BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T COME OUT OF MY CAT
>> Anonymous
You act like I have 500 cats and dont feed them while I lay on the couch eating cheez whiz and watching Jerry Springer stewing in my own excrement.

I am responsible, I am concerned, and I am loving, I just dont want to do things they way you did them, and that does not make me bad or evil. I can be responsible in a way that is different than the way you are.

Spaying works, I already said that. Lots of people are happy with it, I already said that too. I am not those people though.

I wanted some input from people that may have chosen a less mainstream path in their responsible pet ownership, but I guess there arent any on this board.

I will talk to vets, of course. Humans don't categorically have hysterectomies, so Im sure that alternative, and equally effective measures exist, even if they are more expensive.

I can adpot out the kittens in a responsible manner. Im not a fool, Ive been a few places, seen a few things, and I actually have learned a little bit about people too.

Peta has a hard line about spaying and neutering, and as a public relations professional I can tell you exactly why: they are trying to keep the lowest common denominator from being encouraged into doing the wrong thing: irresponsible pet ownership.

If they said sometimes or maybe, then extreme dolts would take it as a cue that they can have 500 cats and not feed them and its ok. If they said spaying was one of many effective measures you can take, then somebody would have 500 cats because they used a crystal healing method to birth control because peta said other things work.

Im not bad, Im not callus, and Im not ignorant. I just want to do things in way that's outside convention, and you guys are being total fascists about it.

I know you love animals, I do too. No one is going to get hurt, and Im not going to lead to an army of cats at a shelter getting put down.
>> Anonymous
There are cats and kittens waiting in shelters for homes and being put down because there aren't enough homes. So you want to bring more animals into the mix.
You should see the TINY little kittens and the once "loved" cats who have been abandoned being thrown away like trash behind shelters who cannot keep up.
People like you suck.
>> Anonymous
>>304505

You de-clawed your cat?

Get the fuck out.
>> Anonymous
>>304513

Humans, you fuckwit, don't have hysterectomies because there's this thing called MENOPAUSE. Natural spaying.

Stop thinking your cat feels things just like a human and spay it, it'll be the best for her.

If you're not happy, there's birth-control injections you can give her. Enjoy your cancer.
>> Anonymous
There are already too many domestic pets. Go into an inner city shelter and watch them put baby kittens to sleep because there is no hope for them, then let your cat bring more kittens into the world.
>> Anonymous
FOR THE LAST TIME YOU CHRISTIAN FUCK, CATS DON'T "EXPERIENCE THE BEAUTY OF BIRTH" THEY'RE CATS. THEY DON'T FEEL THE SAME WAY. SHE WOULDN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT A KITTEN WAS UNLESS YOU PUT ONE INFRONT OF HER. TAKE IT AWAY AND SHE WOULD FORGET ALL ABOUT IT. YOU"RE A FUCKING IDIOT!
>> Anonymous
>>304513
Animals get hurt.

Lets say your cat has 6 kittens (which is very likely)

You give those 6 kittens (providing all of them survive) to 6 new homes

Now those 6 people have a new kitten

But 6 kittens sitting in the shelter wont.

so 6 thrown away kittens will be put down becuse there's no more people to open there homes to.

Since you're probalbly still going to breed your cat like an idiot,

just remember when your cat has 6 new kittens,

6 shelter kittens will die.
>> Anonymous
>>304535
do you speak to kittens

ARE YOU THE KITTENWHISPERER?

plz, tell us more on the motivations and thoughts of the inner being of teh kitteh
>> Marx !ztENIsXjtM
Good fucking lord, I lul'd.

It's an idiot and a herd of morons arguing.

Your cat's personality won't change and she won't care if she doesn't have kittens.

However, five kittens aren't going to change the fucking world. Get off this, "Over population" bullshit. Yeah, cats and dogs are put down. Guess what? Humans are overpopulated too. Want to line up for being neutured?
>> Anonymous
>>304555
Sure, you first asshole.
>> Anonymous
>>304549
I'm with you. fuck these people who want to breed their cat. They obviously don't care about animals.

Oh and "Cat breeder", good luck with killing kittens shitbag.
>> Anonymous
>>304526
Lots of women, such as my own mother, have surgery to halt their reproductive fitness earlier than menopause. In humans its called tube tying and involves doing something with phelopian tubes but the reproductive organs stay intact.

Maybe this is the alternative the OP is looking for? It works like magic in humans.
>> Anonymous
>>304565
So why are we still commenting?

I'm sure there's other things we could be doing then trying to convince this person that breeding is gay.
>> Anonymous
>>304574
Because one of us wants to be the one to make OP go OH GOD YOU ARE RIGHT I AM AN IDIOT, and at least feel like we did something to prevent this from happening.
>> Anonymous
ITT stubborn fags.
>> Anonymous
I don't think the idiot is going to realize their an idiot. I give up. I don't even know why they posted this. Spay your cat, Don't spay your cat. Whatever. People are fucked up.
>> Anonymous
as tactless as everyone's being, (there's no reason to be that rude, other than the simple fact that it's 4chan and everyone here is an asshole pretty much), I'm glad that the general consent is to do the right thing for cats and do what it takes for them to stay healthy.

OP, i know our pets become close friends, and it's pretty easy to think of them anthropomorphically and apply judgment based on what would be best for people. But, the truth is, they're not people. They're kitties. And kitties simply reproduce to reproduce. She wouldn't be missing any sort of experience that she'd actually give a crap about missing.

It's obvious that you love your cat, just by the fact that you worry about her experiences. Try not to take all the tactless browbeating to heart.
>> Anonymous
tie some condoms to her collar
>> Anonymous
>>304610
I understad that the cat is loved but it's not going to make the cat feel anymore love by having kittens. She is a cat. Not a person. She doesn't know the concept of giving birth so just spay her and prevent the problem from even happening, cuz it will happen more than once.
>> Anonymous
Her personality will change more after giving birth than getting spayed.
>> Anonymous
Geez, what a shit storm
>>304572
Yes, this is the kind of response I had been looking for. I too had wondered if there was a way to just tie the tubes of a cat instead of having a complete hysterectomy.

I should have never brought up my cats happiness, because you all are right, that is silly.

To all you other wackos, my mind was made up about the grand sweep of how my pet would grow up long before I posted this thread. I just wanted to know about alternate surgeries that might be available. There was never any chance that you were going to convince me that I am incapable of being a responsible parent to my cat in any fashion that I see fit. That was not why I started this thread. I just wanted to know what the options were for permenantly taking away my cat's ability to breed when I was ready to do that.

You guys are vastly over-simplifying things, and its actually all of you who are being overly sentimental about things. You also assume way too much about what kind of a person I am. Just because I think its ok for my cat to have babies ONE FUCKING TIME doesnt make me stupid or dumb or mean or fucked up. Insisting that everyone make the same descisions as you on the other hand is.
>> Anonymous
Dude you're fucked up. Don't breed. It's retarded. Get a kitten from a shelter.
>> Anonymous
Are you stupid. Having her tubes tied is called "Spay" Your preventing her from breeding by tying her tubes, you'd be spaying her. GOD YOUR DUMB!
>> Anonymous
Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutering
I posted this before, but no one seems to have followed the link.
This says they can do a tubal ligation on a cat but that you'll have a hard time finding one who will.
In any case talk to your vet. It's beyond me why pet owners consult the 'tards here on /an/ about veterinary matters. You won't ever get a real answer.
>> Anonymous
>>304679
No, dumbfuck, having her tubes tied is a tubal litigation and while it's the common practice with humans few veterinarians offer this procedure. Having an ovario-hysterectomy performed is called 'spaying'.
>> Anonymous
>>304710
Few veterinarians offer this procedure because it's a careless way of fixing the cat.

Just spay the damn thing and stop being a fag.

goodnight.
>> Anonymous
>. Just because I think its ok for my cat to have babies ONE FUCKING TIME doesnt make me stupid or dumb or mean or fucked up.

Actually, it does. Add selfish and naive to that list while you're at it.
>> Anonymous
Why is everyone yelling?
Is there a real need to call names and insult people?
What's going on here looks pretty bad....
Side 1, they have a point, spaying your cat would probably be a better thing to do, and she's probably less likely to get sick if you do.
Side 2, there's no reason to scream at them like this.
It seems like there was a lot of over-reaction over all of this. If they want their cat to have a litter before they spay them, fine. They also have a point, because most cats that I've had spayed, their personality did seem to take a turn for the worse, and screaming that "no that's impossible what kind of dumbshit are u" isn't any bigger proof that they're wrong. Different cats, possibly different reactions? Makes sense to me.
And may I remind that females cats are biologically supposed to breed? So there has to be a way they survived mass killings when cats were considered "Of the devil" and diseases. So them letting their cat breed once will not kill it. Anymore than the possibilities of it dying during the spaying. Probably equal chance.
>> Anonymous
>>304441
Honestly, cats don't notice a damned thing. Mine came back groggy from the anaesthetic, but once that wore off they were fine.

One is still a cocky bitch, and the other one was spayed while in full I-am-a-retard-i-sound-like-a-kitten heat so she had to be put on hormones, but shes in permaheat now. Dunno if that is common but if you do get your cat spayed, try not to do it when shes in DO ME mode.

Also, you're a fucking idiot. Read what these other posters are saying. People like you make me rage; if you know people who want cats or kittens, get them to adopt from a shelter instead of making more babies.
>> Anonymous
>>304919
I got my cat spayed in DO ME mode, she was peeing on the bed before and after for a few months, but Feliway made her stop. She got over it after about 5 or 6 months. Dunno if this is the same as yours
>> Anonymous
>Having babies makes living things happy, this is my experience.

I still can't believe I actually heard someone say something this fucking stupid.