Cindy forgot that the apartment repairman was coming to fix her sliding glass door that day. She forgot to confine her seven-month-old kitten in the bedroom. When she got home from work, there Kali was, waiting for her outside under a pine tree. "Thank goodness you’re okay," she sighed.
A week or so later, the kitten is putting on weight. She is pregnant. What a disappointment, Cindy thinks. She had been waiting for Kali to go through one heat cycle before she had her spayed—she’d always heard that was best. But Cindy isn't worried about finding homes for the kittens. She will just take them into the clothing store where she works and put them in the window.
Cats have surpassed dogs as the most popular pets in the United States, with 30.6 million households owning cats. As a result of this surge in interest, the number of cats entering animal shelters has also dramatically increased.
Given the rate at which cats reproduce, it becomes clear why there are so many homeless cats. For example, if Cindy’s cat were allowed to breed at will, it could be the source of 420,000 cats in only seven years. But 420,000 is not the root of the pet-overpopulation problem. Kali’s one litter is.
Well, the kittens are a real success. All 4 find good homes in one week. Cindy decides to get her cat spayed, but she is in no hurry After all, Kali never goes out.
Six months later, Kali's kittens are all in homes and have matured. The striped female who went to the mother with two children is no longer kitten-cute, and the kids don't pay as much attention to her anymore. She is left outside and out of the way most of the time. When she delivers 5 kittens, the family puts a free-kitten ad in the paper. Luckily, a man is interested in all 5. He says he wants to use them as barn cats on his property In fact, he sells the kittens to a local dealer, who sells them to a research facility The family does not have the mother cat spayed.
Every day, the newspapers are filled with classified "free pet" ads. Many of the people seeking to give away litters of puppies and kittens find success—they find "good" homes for each one in their litter. They think the book is closed once the last puppy or kitten leaves with its new owner, that the problem is solved. It isn’t.
In a recent case in DeKalb County, Georgia, a man was convicted of torturing and killing 77 cats. He admitted to torturing the felines and later photographing their remains. He kept detailed records of each cat’s acquisition, appearance, behavior, and treatment in a log he dubbed "TCJHTD"— "This Cat Just Had To Die." This man obtained cats through newspaper ads for free kittens.
The family that took the black male kitten says he’s a great cat. They let him out periodically, especially since it's summer. Now that the cat is eight months old and sexually active, he spends a great deal of time roaming the neighborhood looking for receptive females. One day his excursions take him across a highway, where a car strikes him. He is left to die near the median. The family discovers their dead pet, and the parents tell their crying children that these things happen and that they’ll get another cat. In his short life, this cat fathers 8 litters—5O kittens.
The young woman who took the black female kitten lives in a no-pets apartment. When her landlord discovers the cat, he orders her to get rid of her pet or be evicted. Unable to move and unable to find anyone to take a mostly grown cat, she takes the animal to the outskirts of town and abandons her. In the year and a half before this cat dies of distemper, she has 4 litters of feral kittens.
The young man who adopted the striped female has her spayed when she turns six months old and keeps her indoors always. She will be a healthy, wonderful companion for him for sixteen years.
Fifteen months after Kali first became pregnant, 83 kittens have been born. Cindy found "good" homes for Kali’s first 4 kittens, but she didn’t consider the other 79. The sad fact is, every litter, planned or accidental, adds to pet overpopulation. The cycle must stop before it starts—before that one litter.
A reprint from: HSUS News, FaIl 1990
