Have Your Pets Spayed - Please!

by Scully 7 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Scully

  No. This isn't about "controlling the pet population", as Bob Barker would say.

  It's about saving your female cat or dog's life. We learned the hard ($$$$) way, in the past 24 hours.

  If an unspayed cat or dog is not being bred, chances are fairly high that following a period of estrus (heat), bacteria can find their way into your pet's uterus via the open-during-estrus cervix, and produce an infection. This infection of the uterus is called pyometra, and it's a silent killer of both cats and dogs, because very often the pet exhibits no symptoms, particularly if the cervix remains closed at the end of estrus while the bacteria breed and multiply internally. Eventually the uterus expands as it fills with pus, and can rupture, causing the bacteria to spread even more. The pet can become septic, and even die.

  We (well, our cat really was) were fortunate that she did have symptoms. She came to me yesterday morning, meowing loudly. Normally she is not a vocal kitty, except when she wants to play, but this was different, and we weren't sure why. She wouldn't touch her food, although she was quite thirsty. Then she sat on the floor in front of me, meowing some more. When she got up, there was a puddle of red-orange discharge (what is known as the classic "tomato soup sign") on the floor which had spilled from her vagina. She grossed everyone out by promptly licking it up off the floor. It was very alarming, and I knew this wasn't your average "heat", so we called the local vet, and had her seen immediately.

  She went for emergency surgery to remove the pyometra. It turns out that her uterus was 4 to 5 times larger than normal, and it ruptured as soon as they removed it. Had we ignored what was happening, or had she hidden herself somewhere and kept cleaning up after herself, she would be dead right now.

  We'd always planned on getting her "fixed". It's just that something always seemed to come up, so that the $$ was not readily available. Yesterday's trip to the vet was over six times what a routine spay procedure would have cost. Yes, it was expensive and it cramped our Christmas budget, but we thought it would have been worse for the kids to have had a dead kitty just before Christmas.

  Do your pets and yourselves a big favour. Get them "fixed" and keep them healthy.

  Love, Scully
• 

  Shakita

  So glad that everything turned out ok for you and your cat. I never heard of that disease before, thanks for the info. I have always had male dogs and cats, so I guess that is why. And, we always had them fixed.

  In the winter, a few years back, a wild mother cat and her kittens were under the porch of our home. When my kids would go near the porch, the mother cat would get angry and sometimes come after them. We had to call the animal control people to come and get her and her kittens. I felt so bad. But, what was I supposed to do. These were wild animals. And, the kittens were too young to be separated from the mother. I feel bad about turning them in down to this day. But, I was worried about my kids getting bitten or scratched by her. I just hope that at least the kittens were adopted. The mother was wild, and I don't know if she had a chance of being taken in. Another reason to "fix" your animals.

  Mrs. Shakita(cat lover)
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  Xandria

  Wow, Scully!

  You have explained to me something that happened to one of the many cats we had in my childhood. An brought up, one of many of the several bad child-hood memories I have. We would "adopt" the strays.. but never had the funds or were taught by our parents to fix them. So you could imagine the population growth.

  There was one cat named "Chocolate" although she was white. Well she was the neighbor's cat who was not fed or cared for so we fed it and it was friendly to us. Well she had kittens that died.. and there was an infection. That led to flies and creepy crawlies...I won't go into everything.

  Just let it suffice.. that the kitty came up to us in apparent distress and when we approached we saw why. A majority of her mussel area had been eaten away by the maggots that infested her insides. We ran to our parents very upset to see, Chocolate in such distress... and I tried to clean those off her face. Not knowing what was inside her, until later. Because she kept getting them back on her face when she "cleaned" herself.

  My step-father wanted me to take a board and kill her. I cried hysterically... I never killed anything in my life. An I was not about to start. Us kids, were begging our parents to take her to the Vet. At least the Vet would either help her or put her peacefully out of her distress. Even to us kids, we knew that it would be much more kinder to take her to the Vet.

  My mom, called animal control.. and they took thier time getting there. An by the time, they did. Chocolate had died...purring even in distress and pain. I did the best I could to comfort her. To this day it haunts me and how helpless I felt. An how angry, I was at how callous my step father was then and still is. An the way my mom did not take the lead and deal with the matter once in for all. It makes you wonder about other things in this wacked out religion. If they can be this callous to a living creature.. to what extent could they go.

  A few times, I have had nightmares about that cat.

  Xandria
• 

  JH

  I love cats alot. I have a female cat 9.5 years old. I always did get my cats spayed or neutered. Living alone, makes the cat a real friend. I hope your cat gets well.

  Edited by - jh on 4 December 2002 14:33:27
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  Scully

  Here's a picture of my kitty. She's a real sweetheart. And quite clever too. She knows how to open the screen door to the back yard, she begs for treats and is getting quite good at catching treats in mid-air with her front paws.

  Thanks everyone for the kind wishes and good thoughts. I really appreciate them and I'm glad you're all here so I can cry on your shoulders!

  Love, Scully
• 

  refiners fire

  less than 8 months ago we got two little kittens. now we have 13 cats around the place. Thats how fast it happens. Definitely time to take action I think, in another 2 years, at this rate, we'll be swimming in cats.
• 

  Mary

  Scully,

  So glad you saved your kitty's life!! I'm like you, I don't care how much it costs, it's worth it.......they're like family and we have to take care of them.
• 

  Scarlet

  I always spay my girls at 6 months this way the personality change isn't that noticable and you get them before they go into heat. I also never let them outside til they are spayed. I always think it is so sad to see all the cats at the animal shelter that need homes. I wish I could help them all.