03/08/2025
WARNING - this is going to be a long post so well done you if you read it all and of course you don't have to read it - but we think that rescues have quite a few purposes and not just the most obvious - and one of those is raising awareness because whilst our main purposes are, of course, to help cats and kittens and their owners who life has thrown a curved ball at/their finders in the case of unowned cats/the people who want to find their forever family members, THERE ARE SIMPLY FAR TOO MANY CATS AND KITTENS IN EXISTENCE and they must be protected of course and helped as much as possibe by people who care BUT PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE THE WORLD NEEDS NO MORE OF THEM.
In fact we stumbled across this post this morning and we are sure Kitty Time won't mind us sharing it here because the purpose of it is to point out why ensuring cats are neutered (that means the spaying of the females and the castrating of males) before the females can reproduce and before the males can impregnate females. The number of cats and kittens in existence is almost incomprehensible and the vast majority of those cats and kittens do not have homes.
Many struggle to survive, many don't survive and suffer terribly.
We don't judge anyone who comes to us but please don't take on a cat or kittens and not have him or her neutered. We get people make mistakes - we are all human after all.
Cats do not choose to have kittens and they shouldn't have to. There is no benefit whatsoever to a cat to produce a litter and there are so many reasons they shouldn't, including the overpopulation of cats in the world.
In feral colonies where breeding is rife then there are often lifelong health issues as interbreeding happens - sons mating with their mums, their sisters, their grandparents, aunties etc. It's incredibly sad and can be prevented.
If you are aware of colonies of cats then ask your local rescue for help with trapping and neutering them (we are unable to take on any more TNR jobs just now as we are working in several locations at present - but will always help if and when we are able to do so).
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=721177790817605&id=100087761718662&__cft__[0]=AZU7fxikh24Dmc1vcLjXMLW46KSZesAl1fdFpQ2RQ2GkSq3xuPWDq3LT8sRdlOeEBKQTsifgMkFnj-VSJDI1uWKh4wFTV5fMviIkuALeyuAezA&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R
There are an estimated 600 million to 1 billion cats living around the world today. Around 370 million of them are kept as pets, while the rest live as strays or feral cats in urban and rural areas.
Asia is home to the largest cat population — close to 400 million — and the United States has one of the highest numbers of pet cats, with about 88 million living in homes across the country.
Cats are found on every continent except Antarctica. Their ability to adapt to a variety of environments has made them one of the most widespread animals on the planet.
These numbers show just how important it is to support responsible pet ownership, spay and neuter programs, and community care for stray and feral cats. 🐾
