A frequent excuse for "oops litters" is "I couldn't afford to spay my cat." In this day and age, there is really no good excuse for failure to spay & neuter our cats. It is the most responsible act a cat owner who professes to love her cats can do.

I've seen too many cast-away cats that were last year's cute kittens. Today, they either roam the streets looking for food, or they wait to die in overburdened shelters because they are wanted no longer. They fight, mate, and spread diseases such as FeLV and FIV, and their feral kittens do the same. They are easy prey for packs of dogs, other predators, and street gangs with too much time on their hands and easy victims in the form of a cat. Simply put, irresponsible cat owners have foisted their "problems" on to those of us who care enough to be responsible.

I've received a couple of emails in the past week asking me to put Friends of Animals on my site as a source of low cost spay and neuter. Actually, that link has been on my site for a few years, along with other resources in the title link. Do me a favor please. If you know of someone who hasn't "got it" yet, and still allows his or her cats to breed indiscriminately, give them the link. If you are one of those who "don't get it," please, from the bottom of my heart, GET IT! I can't really think of a more polite way to put it. It will be the very best New Year's gift for all of us.
_{Photo Credit: © Franny Syufy}