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It’s estimated that by the year 2005, nearly 100 million cats will roam the United States. This high number of cats wouldn’t be a problem if there was an owner for each of these cats. But guess what? There isn’t. In fact, shelters kill more than seven-million cats each year because they are unwanted.
The easiest and most inexpensive ways to control the cat population is spaying and neutering of cats. This is something that individual pet owners must do in order to do their part. But alas that doesn’t happen in most cases, especially among poorer pet owners, who may not even be able to afford the normally reasonable fees of spaying and neutering.
But there are other forms of birth control on the market available for pets. If you don’t want your cats to reproduce and yet you don’t want their sexual desires to be taken away, you can perform a vasectomy or a tubal ligation. A vasectomy is a procedure that includes removing part of your cat’s vas deferens, a key reproductive organ. This keeps sperm from traveling from your male cat’s testicles to its urethra. A vasectomy includes tying of the Fallopian tubes of your cat. Keep in mind that with these methods, your cats will still be active sexually. Your female cat will still go into heat, and your cat will continue to spray urine. If you give your cat a vasectomy, your male cat can still have sex with a female cat and sexual desires will be fulfilled. However, you will help control the pet population, because you don’t run the risk of reproduction.
In the near future there will be yet another method to control the birth rate among animals. A chemical birth control is being developed that can be given to cats--both strays and domestic-- in order to keep the cat population from being excessive. Many veterinarians and pet advocates are excited about this chemical birth control, as it can be easily administered to stray cats that are a major contributor to the reproduction rate of the species.
But still... right now, the main way to control the pet population is to have your cats spayed or neutered. This is essential for anyone who is not looking to breed her cats. If you can’t handle the rigors of breeding, you should give serious thought to taking care of your pet’s reproductive rights.
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