AS kitten season remains in full swing, Vetora Ōtorohanga wants to do its bit to reduce the number of kittens being born and roaming free or having to be fostered like the one pictured. PHOTO BRIANNA STEWART
EVERY year, kittens are taken into veterinary clinics and animal rescue centres in droves.
The busiest period from about spring to autumn is known as kitten season, but an Ōtorohanga vet said last year kitten season never seemed to end.
To help mitigate the issue of reproducing felines, Vetora Ōtorohanga is hosting a “spay day” on Wednesday, with community service card holders able to get their cats desexed for half price.
Vetora vet Priyanka Kulkarni said there were myriad benefits to getting cats desexed, including for the health of the animal, helping the environment, owners’ pockets and busy rescue centres.
Last year, the clinic received stray kittens through to mid-October and had only about a two-month reprieve before the season kicked off again in December, she said. Rescues were at capacity.
Kittens could get pregnant as young as five months old, Priyanka said.
“Which means that they are not getting enough nutrition, they are not reaching their potential of growth and keeping their health optimum if all that nutrition is going into its kitten.”
Priyanka said cats could get pregnant again just a month after giving birth, creating a vicious cycle.
“It is quite important to get the females desexed, but it is the males that do the majority of the roaming,” she said.
“They can end up kilometres away causing trouble, getting into fights, getting into accidents because of roaming.”
Those fights could expose the cats to diseases like feline AIDS, which Priyanka said was prevalent throughout New Zealand.
“Getting them desexed discourages them from fighting.
“Things like cat bite abscesses, wounds; more trips to the vet that you could possibly avoid if your cat is desexed.”
Vetora Ōtorohanga clinic manager Ben Hodgson said cats could also impact native wildlife, with bats a particular concern around Ōtorohanga.
“So, the more we can help people reduce roaming cats, it’s better for the environment, for the wildlife.”
Ben said the team wanted to do their bit for the community by offering the half price procedures.
To have a cat desexed in the Vetora Ōtorohanga spay day, community service card holders must contact the clinic before Wednesday to make a booking.
By Tuesday they must have visited the clinic, showed staff their community services card and paid the amount due.
Cats should be at the clinic by 9am on Wednesday in a carrier and are expected to be discharged after 4pm.
Because female cats will leave with stitches, they should also have an e-collar, which can be bought at the vet for less than $20 or the pet owner can provide one of their own.
The female cat will need to return 10-12 days after the procedure to remove stitches.
Cats heavier than 1kg can be desexed.
