Kittens are beautiful little balls that you want to give millions of kisses and pampering. Seeing them being born and then playing with their mother and siblings is a wonderful experience that softens our hearts, awakening the maternal / paternal instinct. But before raising our cat we must bear in mind that the vast majority of their children will not end up in good hands.
To avoid that suffering, it is very important to know the importance of birth control in cats.
A cat can have up to 28 kittens per year
You have probably heard that saying that they "breed like rabbits." Although it is a comment that can be a bit (or quite) derogatory, in the case of cats ... it is like that; that is, a cat can become pregnant at 5 months, and stay again at 5-6 months. After each gestation period, 1 to 14 kittens will be born, which in turn will have their first heat around the same age as their mother..
Do you know how many of those kittens will end up in a good family? Very few. To check it, just go to any kennel or animal shelter. They do not give enough of the amount of animals they have there. In these cages up to 30 or more cats can live together, which is tremendously stressful for each of them, since no feline, least of all the cat, is prepared to live with so many animals.
Domestic cats do not know how to fend for themselves outdoors (and less in a city)
By "domestic" I mean cats that have been living with people since they were little. These furry they have a very bad time when they are abandoned. Yes, they are felines, but they are ones that throughout their lives have always had food and water at their disposal, so they have not been able to learn to hunt animals. To this must be added that, as they have been rather sedentary, they get tired right away.
And that's not to mention the shock to them being left without their family. No wonder they lose their appetite, and die shortly after. It also happens to those who have been collected and taken to an animal protection center.
The importance of controlling feline colonies
Until not long ago, and even today in many places, to control feline colonies what is often done is to opt for the sacrifice of these animals. This practice, in addition to being cruel and senseless, is useless since the space that remains free is reoccupied by more cats ... for the simple reason that abandonment is the order of the day and that there are few people who neuter their cats before they have their first heat.
Therefore, what has been done is to take the stray cats, take them to castrate them, and when they recover, take them to where they were. This is known as the CES method, and it is what is working best.
There is an overpopulation of cats. Before we raise them, let's think well about the future that those kittens will have.