So, I started giving that food to them, figuring that it would be
better to do that rather than just have it go to waste. Of course, the
kittens grew. Now there are 5 kittens left, plus the mother.
My wife is saying she would like to get them fixed. About 8 years
ago, I got my cat fixed for $35, and now it is $55 at a local shelter.
We are facing up to $4,000 in medical bills because of a recent
change in our health insurance over the next 4 months, and I'd really
like to curtail any unnecessary spending during that time to make sure
we can come up with the $. My wife believes (probably correctly) that
one or more of the cats will end up pregnant if we don't have this done now.
Of course, I sort of feel like they are just wild cats, and not
really our responsiblity. They don't let us pet them or anything.
$330 is just too much right now, and seems like a really bad idea
with us having to come up with $4k over the next 4 months for my wife's
pregnancy. It seems like our family should come first.
Anyone have any suggestions?
Even feral cats, if you are feeding them, are going to stick around
and will bring their babies to be fed too. By this time next year you
could have hundreds of cats in your vicinity. Most animal shelters
offer low-cost S/N surgery and some will provide you with traps to
capture the feral cats, so you can bring them in. (Our shelter only
charges $15 for each feral cat.)
HTH,
Bebe
$15, you're lucky. Is that spaying or neutering? My daughters recently
wanted a cat, so we asked around and some friends gave us one that had
started hanging around their garage. It has turned out to be a good
pet. We searched and searched and the cheapest we found for spaying and
the required immunization was $75.
Think I paid about $60 each for spaying my adopted dogs. The shelter
farms it out to a regular vet, and requires it be done.
But this was 7 and 10 years ago.
My 12 year-old dog is almost unable to walk with arthritis and muscle
loss, and going soft in the head. Have to put her down real soon.
If I was in the country I'd shoot her and bury her myself, but I think
the vet doing it is going to cost me a couple hundred bucks.
Anybody have experience with this?
--Vic
Your first mistake was feeding them - you could've donated that food
to a shelter or anyone with a cat.
Call your animal control and see if they can come out to trap these
creatures. Or see if there are any groups in your area who trap
neuter and release.
I used to run a low cost spay clinic - our worst nightmare was someone
who fed the ferals and let em breed out of control. So, please don't
compound the problem.
Shoot the cats.
This is for a Trap, Neuter, Release Program for ferals only. No owned
animals, and no shots are included. Call around to your local Humane
Society, etc for help. There are also cat rescue groups who will help
you. Look online.
HTH,
Bebe
Unless you want 40 cats you better catch them and have them spayed.
I'm surprised more cats haven't shown up. They seem to have some sort
of underground communication system which tells every stray cat in the
vicinity that food is being passed out.
>My 12 year-old dog is almost unable to walk with arthritis and muscle
>loss, and going soft in the head. Have to put her down real soon.
>If I was in the country I'd shoot her and bury her myself, but I think
>the vet doing it is going to cost me a couple hundred bucks.
>Anybody have experience with this?
Sorry about your dog. When I had my dog put down by the vet in early
2007, IIRC it was around $60, including cremation and disposal of the
remains (more if you want the ashes back, but why would I?).
Definitely less than $100.
Great dog, heart gave out at only 5 years. I still miss her.
Dennis (evil)
--
The honest man is the one who realizes that he cannot
consume more, in his lifetime, than he produces.
Have you called around? It shouldn't cost you anywhere near that. My
24-year-old cat, whose kidneys gave out, was put down last year and my
regular vet only charged 75.00. Worth every penny and more, to me. It
took about half an hour, much longer than usual, because her heart just
wouldn't stop beating. Two more injections later, she finally gave up.
She always was a fighter.
Marsha/Ohio
> My wife is saying she would like to get them fixed. About 8 years
> ago, I got my cat fixed for $35, and now it is $55 at a local shelter.
>
>
$55.00 for spay and/or neuter? They can't all be females.
Marsha/Ohio
I read in the metro DC area they have fix and release programs. Don't
remember if they are free or not and it may be one weekend a month.
They fix them and than clip a bit of their ear to ID they're fixed.
They may have something similar near you. Don't know if it's worth it
for you to make a trip to DC.
Half an hour, that makes no sense. The object is to give them enough
juice to put them down quickly. And since they weigh only about 10
pounds it cannot take much. It's very sad to have to put a pet down
but I just wonder how that happened.
> Marsha/Ohio
>
>
Our local Humane Society will euthanize an owned animal free of charge
- they do ask to make a contribution of whatever you can afford. You
can stay with your animal during the procedure if you wish to, and
take the remains with you, if you wish to. I wish more people would
support and utilize their local shelters - most depend on donations to
stay open & operate.
I took one of my cats to the local SPCA to be euthanized after
multiple trips to the vet failed to improve his health. I believe I
donated $20 that time; same when I took in my elderly dog. However a
couple of months ago I opted to take my 2 remaining cats in to the vet
to be euthanized; I opted to be there for the procedure. It wasn't
cheap but I got to say goodbye. For OhioGuy I don't think that would
really matter. He just needs to trap and neuter those cats...and quit
feeding them!
> On Thu, 9 Oct 2008, Marsha wrote:
>> Have you called around? It shouldn't cost you anywhere near that. My
>> 24-year-old cat, whose kidneys gave out, was put down last year and my
>> regular vet only charged 75.00. Worth every penny and more, to me.
>> It took about half an hour, much longer than usual, because her heart
>> just wouldn't stop beating. Two more injections later, she finally
>> gave up. She always was a fighter.
> Marsha/Ohio
>
> Half an hour, that makes no sense. The object is to give them enough
> juice to put them down quickly. And since they weigh only about 10
> pounds it cannot take much. It's very sad to have to put a pet down
> but I just wonder how that happened.
>
First they gave her a shot that I think was a muscle relaxer. Waited a
few minutes, then gave what was supposed to be the final injection. She
was in renal failure and so dehydrated that he had an extremely hard
time finding the right spot, but thought he was successful. Waited
again, but her heart just kept beating. Another difficult injection.
Heart still kept beating. By this time, I was beginning to think she
was supercat or something. Third and final injection, thank God, and
she finally slipped away.
Marsha/Ohio
It is a frequent refrain that pregnant women and cats should not mix.
There's some bug carried by many cats that can easily transfer to humans
and pose a major danger to the fetus. Rather than rely on my vague
recollection (that it can result in abortion) I refer you to google.
I'm offline ATM or I'd search further myself.
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)
First, the cat has to have toxoplasmosis. Second, the pregnant woman has to
come into direct contact with the feces of the infected cat. Third, "fresh"
feces do not pose the same danger as day-old or older feces. Bottom line:
change the litter box once a day and you're fine.
No, the bottom line is: The cats are wild and don't have a pot to piss in
or a litter box to be changed.