Each of those cats got on this earth the same way. Someone didn’t spay or neuter.
The cat should stay the way God/Nature meant them to be.
Ah, the stand on principle. People who say that don’t live that way themselves. They freely use cars and clothes and microwaves and dental anesthesia. They have no problem coloring their hair, shaving their beards, or having their appendix out. They should live in a hut they built themselves, eating only food they gathered or hunted, and tame their own wolves and bobcats. Get back to me on how that works out.
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I’m taking something away from them!
It’s something they don’t use as pets. In fact, it’s something that interferes with them being pets. Unless our idea of a great pet is dealing with howling and wailing, outwitting cat Houdinis who are determined to escape from confinement, refereeing territorial fights, and having urine sprayed on our stuff. In which case, enjoy!
They’ll miss it.
No, they won’t. Unlike declawing, which takes away something the cat needs, altering takes away the hormones and the behavior, and the cat doesn’t miss them. Without the hormone signals, the cat doesn’t have the urges. Since they don’t know what they are missing, they don’t miss it. As intelligent as cats are, this is far too abstract for them to grasp.
They need to “experience their hormones/have a first heat” to develop properly.
No, they don’t. In attempts to control cat populations, some shelters have been altering kittens once they are past two pounds in weight. They have found the kittens recover faster and show no ill effects, so cutting-edge veterinary medicine now supports early altering.
I want them to reproduce so I can have more kittens like them.
Musical ability is considered one of the most reliable of inherited traits, and Robert Schumann had seven children, while Gustav Mahler was one of fourteen siblings. They founded famous musical dynasties… no, wait a minute. They didn’t. If this is the goal, start on that degree in genetic engineering right now.
He/she is a recognizable cat breed. I want to make money with the kittens.
Responsible cat breeders study genetics, carefully match potential mates, and have a purebred pool to choose from. Yet even they cannot reliably create the traits they want when they want them. They have to balance their love of the breed with the fact that, in the meantime, these unaltered cats are not always the pets they could be. They don’t do it to make money. By the time they provide proper prenatal care and get the kittens their checkups and vaccinations, they are breaking even.
While the shelters are full of great cats of all shapes, sizes, ages, and yes, breeds. There’s cat rescues full of purebred cats looking for a home. The demand is there, but smart pet buyers buy from the professional breeders if they have any sense. The “backyard” breeders who fail to provide the proper care and socialization of the offspring is how the rescues stay full. A restricted gene pool requires precautions to keep bad traits from multiplying. How’s that genetic degree coming along?
In a recent experiment it took 39 days to count to a million. It would take between 117 and 195 days to count how many cats die in shelters for no greater crime than not having a home.
There’s no excuse for that.
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Hi, I’m here from Making Light. I’m with you on the sterilization part, but I think I differ with you regarding the inheritance of musical ability. In South Asia it’s quite common for musicians and dancers to pass down their trade father-to-son – Ravi Shankar’s family were renowned musicians in India; the filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s father and grandfather were acclaimed authors, and Ustad Akbar Ali Khan was but one member of an illustrious musical family. Obviously, part of this has to do with casteism, where people who are from a non-musical family are discouraged from pursuing music – I speak from personal experience, as I am one such person. So you’re right on the unreliability of genetics, but don’t discount the combined effect of an adequate genetic inheritance, a nurturing environment and perfectionist parents.
Good point! It’s true that musical ability can be inherited. We have musical families in the United States, as well. (Though I always wondered what happens when someone in that family isn’t… do they stand there and lip synch?) My point was that even experienced cat breeders can’t hit the nail on the head every time. Thus, someone unused to the process, and with only an eye to selling kittens, would be even less likely to get the results they are after.
And if all they care about is selling kittens, their buyers are the ones who should beware.
For more about the unpredictabilty of cat genetics, see my post, Hybrid Vigor.