An urgent warning has been issued to anyone with, or thinking of getting a cat, after a one-day-old kitten died.
As we head into kitten season, cat owners are being urged to protect their pets with a simple surgical procedure. Although cats can breed all year long, they predominantly breed and give birth during the spring and summer time.
This can cause many problems for both cats and owners, from major health problems and financial issues. So owners are being urged to get their cats neutered to avoid any potential heart-break.
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Like many rescues across the UK, the Wirral Animal Samaritans is inundated with a huge demand of unwanted and abandoned pets. But currently, one of their main concerns is unneutered cats resulting in unwanted litters, deceased pets and and ill cats, all resulting in increasing vet bills.
Co-founder Corrie Plumpton told the ECHO: "We are inundated as it is, we've got cats, dogs, kittens, everything including rabbits now and we are heading into kitten season already full. We are at the start of kitten season and we are already struggling so by the end, it's going to be a nightmare and it's getting worse every year.
Having an unneutered cat could lead to behavioural changes during heat season as females can become "grouchy" as well as being in pain during their season time and males can become "more aggressive" as they want to get outside. As a result, cats tend to stray further from home as they "travel for miles to find a mate".
Corrie added that this in turn leads to an increase in fatalities due to road traffic accidents. She said: "Neutered cats don't stray as far but if they are unneutered they can travel for miles to find a mate. They will go from a small area they know to a larger area where there are things they don't know.
"They can even cross motorways. There is no reasoning once instincts take over. Many people wrongly believe their house cats don't need to be neutered but they become an escape artist when they are in heat."
She went on to say that unneutered cats can develop illnesses and infections such as urine infections, abscesses and FIV. But devastatingly, unneutered cats result in unwanted litters and occasionally, heart-break as owners do not know how to look after a newly born litter.
Just recently, the rescue took in a litter of kittens just one day old after being rejected by their mum. Despite the owner trying their best to handfeed, the kittens died. Corrie said: "This is the reality when things go wrong with litters.
"This isn't unusual to see, all rescues are facing this and it's devastating. Whether watching a kitten die or picking up a cat from a road traffic accident and telling the owner, or picking up pregnant cats on the street, it's heart-breaking to see. And quite often it's the rescue centres picking up the bill."
Corrie said vet bills can be expensive, but once a month there is a Cats Protection neutering scheme for £10 which is "definitely worth doing". She added: "There's no excuse really not to get it done. There's a huge lack of awareness and the cost of living does play a part but the chip and snip voucher can save massive vet bills down the line so it makes sense."
Corrie also urges people to do their research and to understand that kittens grow into adult cats. She said: "The amount of cats we take in when they reach 12-months is heart-breaking and people just come up with silly excuses. On top of that, people don't think about vet bills, they are real and need to be thought about properly."
More information about the Cats Protection Chip and Snip voucher can be found here for the North Wirral branch, or here for the South Wirral branch. Anyone not living in Wirral can get help by contacting their local Cats Protection branch.
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