Spay And Neuter What’s It All About

Published on February 24, 2016February 24, 2016 by Service Cats U.S.35 Comments

Mr. Sunshine!!! Where are you? Lady Spring!!! Me thought you was comin’ early? Oh, meowllo everypawdy how ya’ doin’? Member all dat purretty weather me had reported ‘bout? Well it went away and Old Man Winter came back with da colds, da storms and all. Mommy had been tellin’ me it was comin’ but me kept remindin’ her dat da weather guessers was sayin’ just da opposite. So Tuesday night when da sky started rumblin’ and lightin’ up like Cristmas trees mommy ‘splained to me dat da weather guessers must not know old man Arthur-Itis like she does. Me told mommy she needed to quit hangin’ out with old man Arthur-Itis cuz all he ever brought round was bad news, pain and yucky weather. Mommy agreed with me but sed he was an innerloper, an uninvited guest dat showed up whether you wanted him to or not. Bein’ da Southern Belle me is, me thinks dat’s just rude.

It iz rude Dezi, but old man Arthur-Itiz visits most of us az we get older. I hiss at him and old man Winter ever year and yet they still come back.

Well sissy me thinks sumpawdy shuld teach him sum manners. And dat’s all me’s gunna say ‘bout it fur now, cuz in all da stormin’ and cold we missed World Spay day.

As ya’ know we believe in spayin’ and neuterin’ your anipals. As with any medical purrcedure there’s a little controversary surroundin’ da when it can/should be done. Mommy remembers a long time ago when VETs recommended waitin’ till an animal was 6 – 8 months old or da females had their furst heat cycle afur altering. She even remembers a time when they thought it was good to let a female have 1 litter afur bein’ spayed. (shakes head) Fank Catness we know better today. With so many unwanted anipals in da world, da last thing we need is a bunch of kitties and puppies bein’ born to respawnsible pet owners. Anyways, in recent years spay and neuters have become commonplace in very young animals. Da new requirement seems to be dat da anipal in question must be 6 weeks old and weigh 2 pounds. This purrcedure is technically called a Gonadectomy and refers to the removal of the sex organs or gonads in both female and male animals. Spaying a female animal means dat da ovaries and usually da uterus are removed. Neutering a male entails removal of da testicles.

Neutering is about more than just de-sexing an animal. It can also alter some of da behaviors exhibited by in tact animals. Fur instance, neutered animals no longer feel da need to breed and pass along their genes and thus rarely exhibit territorial behaviors such as spraying, fighting or caterwauling. The medical benefits of neutering an animal include, reduced risk of mammary gland tumors, testicular cancer is eliminated, a decrease in da risk of prostrate disease and ovarian and uterine cancer is reduced or eliminated; especially ifin done before da furst heat cycle. And of course it does away with the vicious cycle of propagating and adding to da nummers of unwanted animals in shelters and rescues. As with any surgical purrcedure there are risks. But da benefits far outweigh those risks in most cases. Ifin you have any concerns da bestest thing to do is talk with your VET.

World Spay Day is an annual campaign by da HSUS and Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association to bring awareness to spay/neuter fur companion, community and street animals. But every day can be Spay Day as far as we’re concerned. Ifin you have trouble comin’ up with da funds to spay or neuter your furry furiend, check with your local shelter. More offen than not there is a low cost clinic dat can help you out. Even we have one about 35 miles from us. Mommy used to volunteer a lot; and me was spayed there many years ago now. Me was 6 months old at da time of me’s spay and sis Lexi was a bit older. But only cuz she was so tiny and her VET wanted to cut down on da risks of surgery by allowing her to gain weight afur goin’ unner da knife. Ifin him only knew. Sissy hasn’t seen those tiny days in a long time. MOL Mommy purrsonally isn’t a fan of da Gonadectomies and purrfurs da 6 month time line, but we encourage you to talk with your VET ifin you have any concerns. Spay, neuter and adopt. Words to live by.

Contrary to some beliefs, neutering does not make your pets lazy or gain weight. Your anipal will stay active as long as you continue to purrvide stimulation. And a propurr diet and play life will keep your pet healthy and weight appropriate. Me’s gunna go now and try to find Mr. Sunshine. Or maybe me will just take a nap by da lectric fireplace.

What are your thoughts on early spay/neuters (Gonadectomy)?

Till da next time…………………………………..Be Blest!!!

Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses

Dezi and Lexi

References: Miriam Webster Dictionary (Definitions) and da ASPCA website (World Spay Day definition and clip art)

All Cats Are Feral…

Published on April 14, 2015April 14, 2015 by Service Cats U.S.30 Comments

According To State Law sed…

Meowllo evewypawdy, hope all is well wiff ya’. And yes, me will splain da title of meez posty, don’t worry. Altho’ weez hope weez not get kicked outta da Bloggin’ A to Z challenge we can’t pawlogize fur missin’ yesfurday. And once you hear why, weez guessin’ quite a foo of ya’ wulda dun da same fing. Anyways, furst let me say dat da letter fur today be K. Well now ain’t dat special. Sis Lexi and me be grown kittens. And wuldn’t ya’ know it, kittens stawts wiff a K. Yep dat’s wight meez gunna do a little talkin’ today ‘bout kittens. Me wuz born in November but sis Lexi wuz born in Apwil almost 16 years ago. Yep she’ll be havin’ a Meowday (birffday) this mumff on da 29ff. Udder than makin’ an announcement ‘bout hers Meowday what duz dat have to do wiff anyfin’ yous ask? Well a lot ifin yous work in a shelter or kitty wescue. See kittens can be born any time of year these days cuz mowe and mowe of us live inside where wedder is conducive to year wound bweedin’. But ow outside counterpawts swing into high gear duwin’ this time of year and da wesult is sumfin’ wescuers call Kitten season.

Yep a season full of kittens. Shelters and wescues awe gunna be ovewflowin’ fur da next little bit cuz so many cats wemain unaltered (spayed/neutered). A kitten can stawt wepurrducin’ as early as 4 months. And yes me sed kitten, cuz at dat age they still be kittens. And they have no business havin’ babies. A litter can consist of any where tween 3 – 12 kittens. Sissy wuz 1 of 3 and me wuz da last of 11. And even tho’ weez boff pure breeds still we ended up needin’ wescuein’. See it dusn’t matter how purretty we awe, or what twaits and attwibutes we might have, ny of us can end up in a shelter or wescue. And at this time of year, these organizations whose wesources awe alweady stwetched to da limits, must deal wiff a pawpulation explosion evewy year.

Shelters and wescues can use donations of gween papers and supplies year wound, but specially this time of year. They need food and litter, blankets, toys, medicine, cleanin’ supplies, and volunteers just to name a foo. So we encourage you to check wiff yous local shelters or wescues to see how you can help. Maybe yous finkin’ ‘bout fostewin’. Mommy sez it’s vewy wewardin’ to know dat you saved a life and helped it to get a furever home of it’s own. Or maybe yous can help clean cages or purrticipate in spay/neuter clinics. Or maybe yous a fantabulous fotogwafur and can take fotos of da kitties up fur adoption to put up on websites. There’s sumfin’ dat evewypawdy can do. And ifin yous adoptin’ a kitty to shawe yous luv wiff, member to spay and neuter. It not only cuts down on da overpawpulation fing but also helps to keep yous furry furiend healffy.

Now fur da weason we wuz absent yesfurday. As weez told you afur we live in a vewy small town and doon’t have a shelter here. What we have is mowe of an old fashioned dog pound. Da peeps here be so backwards they still fink a bullet is da appwopwiate way to euthanize an animal. Many peeps and gwoups have twied to make changes to these purractices to no avail. Anyways, we do have new weaders, so me had to give yous a little back stowry afur we continued. Ow town has city council meetings evewy couple of weeks to discuss da goin’s on in ow town. Da last meetin’ wuz last week. Well ow neighbor mr. W bwought da newspaper down fur mommy to wead on Caturday cuz hims wanted to see ifin hims kuld get her all wiled up. Fur sum weason peeps like to get meez mommy all outta sorts. Anyways, seems dat duwin’ this meetin’ a discussion awose ‘bout kitty cats and how peeps not be keepin’ ‘em confined to their house. Well da city council sed dat ow towns “shelter” isn’t equipped to house cats, never has been and never will be. And dat accordin’ to State law all cats awe classified as FERAL and must be dealt wiff diffewently than dogs.

What’s dat? Oklahoma state law classifies cats as FERAL? Hmmmmmm Why is it then dat we have to have vaccinations? Or be licensed? And just how come there be shelters fwuout da state that house, and wehome cats evewy day? And why is it a cwime in this state to abuse a kitty cat? Well mommy wuz livid!! Her wuz angwy at da ignowance of city council members and da newspaper. Awen’t newpapers posed to investigate and weport facts? Cuz they didn’t even put quotation mawks wound dat statement. Well altho’ weez lived here in Oklahoma fur quite a foo years now mommy sed she knew she didn’t know all da laws and maybe she missed sumfin’. So she ‘cided to find out da twuff. Awe we of da feline purrsuasion classified as FERAL in this here state?

Mommy spent da entire weekend lookin’ up laws. And da only feral animal evew discussed wuz hogs. Yep we have feral hogs in Oklahoma. But nuffin’ ‘bout cats bein’ feral. So when Monday wolled wound, mommy got on da fone and hers search continued. Mommy is now discussin’ this ignowant statement/belief wiff members of da Oklahoma State Senate; cuz nopawdy else in da state has evew heard such nonsense. And da Senate wuz quite innewested in just why ow town still be usin’ bullets to solve their “stway” purrawllem. We don’t zactly have an answer fur ya’ today, cuz they’ll be getting’ back to us once they wesearch and look into this matter, but weez can purretty safely say dat da species Felidae is NOT classified as FERAL by da state of Oklahoma. Weez’ll keep ya’ updated and mommy’s gunna be writin’ a letter to da editor and contactin’ da city council ‘bout this. Mommy fawt settin’ da wecord stwaight wuz mowe purrtant than visitin’ or a posty. But weez back now and as soon as we get da word weez’ll tell ya’ zactly what da Senate sez.

Till da next time…………………………….Be Blest!!!