Lilly, available for adoption from Take Me Home Pet Rescue
Do you have a new cat or kitten, or are you thinking about adding a furry feline to your family? Do you know what you need to do to keep your kitty happy and healthy? This series will examine the basic elements of proper cat care: Spay/Neuter, Vaccinations, Food, Safe Transport, Water, Litter, Scratching Post, Identification, Grooming, and Play Time. Let’s start with the most important tip of all: Spay or Neuter your cat!
If you’re adopting a cat or kitten from a shelter or rescue group, chances are it’s already spayed or neutered. If not, it’s important that you get that done as soon as possible. Spaying or neutering will help keep your new kitty happy and healthy, and help you avoid a long list of nuisance behaviors commonly associated with unaltered cats. A female cat in heat can be disturbingly vocal, attract male cats, and demonstrate all kind of annoying behaviors. Males may develop unacceptable marking behaviors if left intact as they near adulthood.
Spaying or neutering your pet saves lives, too. Every year, more than 7,000 adoptable cats and kittens are euthanized in Dallas shelters. Most are loveable, cute, happy, and healthy. There simply are not enough homes for them all. Spaying or neutering your cat or kitten will help save lives by preventing accidental and/or unwanted litters of kittens from being born, only to end up in a shelter
Most vets recommend spaying or neutering cats around four months of age – some earlier – so check with your vet about when to take your cat in, or call one of the local spay/neuter clinics for advice. You’ll be doing yourself a favor and doing your part to reduce the huge number of unwanted pets in our community. Tip: For a list of low-cost spay/neuter options, see “Help end pet overpopulation: Resources for low-cost spay/neuter.”
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Copyright Rebecca Poling 2011. All rights reserved. Email DFWAnimalRescue@att.net if you have a story you’d like to share
