|
 This
delightful little cat is Arwen, who was handed into West
Lothian Cats Protection in May 2007. She was a tiny slim girl aged around
13 months when she came to us, although from her appearance you could easily mistake her
for being much younger. She was barely more than a kitten herself and
when we picked her up she was still living with one of her beautiful
9 week old kittens. Her owner had bought her from a pet shop as a
'male' cat and, because she had never been sexed properly by a vet,
he continued to believe she was a boy. Even allowing for his
misguided information, he should still have taken the cat to the vet
at 5-6 months to be neutered before letting her outside. Because
this did not happen the inevitable took place and she became
pregnant when she herself was only a few months old, so instead of
her being able to enjoy all the things kittens love doing, she was
feeding and caring for her own three kittens. When we took her into
foster care we were alarmed as her stomach seemed to be swollen and
her teats were protruding even though we had been assured that it
was some time since she had been feeding the last remaining kitten.
We had her vet checked the same day and our worst fears were
confirmed - she was indeed pregnant again, so she will have to go
through the trauma again of giving birth and feeding her second litter
when she should be playing with toys, chasing balls and having fun in
the sunshine. Added to this situation we had to find loving homes, not only for Arwen herself, but also for
her litter. There is also a good chance that if the original owner
put no importance on neutering her, then the owners of her first
litter of kittens will be of the same attitude and so the problem
cycle goes on. It just isn't fair or kind and it displays no sign of
responsible animal ownership. |
