Well, that was a bust.

[conuly]

Over at a park near me, they're having the mobile ASPCA clinic today. Usually getting there half an hour early is sufficient, but I wasn't able to get there half an hour early because the carrier needed the door replaced first, and then when I got there I saw they were utterly swamped. They only have room for the first 25, and I was number 23 on the sign-up sheet... but of course, some of the people ahead of me had more than one pet.

So now I have a few options. I can print out a voucher that a local vet will accept and get this cat altered for $45. Pros: I can do that on my own time. Cons: bus travel, plus it's more costly.

I can go tomorrow to 14th street to the mobile clinic there. Pros: get it done tomorrow! Cons: I would have to leave the house at 4:30 in the morning. And take a bus. And a boat. And a train. And another bus. And then do it again to get home.

I can wait a week and go to another mobile clinic on the Island. Pros: I could sleep in and not leave until 5:30, yay! Cons: bus travel, and waiting a week.

I can wait until they come back to the park near me. Pros: I can walk there. Cons: that's at least another month, possibly longer.

Comments

[houseboatonstyx.livejournal.com]

Which cat, the male or the female? If it's the male, why interfere with his nature, as that will not affect the number of females that get pregnant. An intact female will just use another male

[conuly]

The tom. A neighbor already got the queen fixed.

And there are several reasons to alter a tomcat. First, unaltered toms are more territorial. That means it's harder to acclimate them to a household with cats, and they're much, much more likely to spray and yowl and, importantly, get into fights. They can get seriously injured or sick fighting, and the spraying and yowling don't make them easy to place.

Secondly, unaltered toms have a strong roaming instinct. They have a wide territory, which puts them at risk not only of the aforementioned fights, but of disappearance. Again, that makes them really hard to place.

Third, there is a slim risk of disease in unaltered cats, both of the sexually transmitted type and of cancers.

Finally, the earlier you can get the operation done, the easier the recovery is for the cat, and the less likely you will have behavioral problems.

And, of course, queens who cannot find a tom when they are in heat will not get pregnant. The fewer intact males you have roaming, the greater the chance of an unsuccessful heat cycle.

[houseboatonstyx.livejournal.com]

All it takes is one intact male in the area.

Using round numbers here for illustration:

If there are 100 males on your island, and you neuter 99, soon there will be just as many pregnant females as before, and that 1 intact male will be very tired and very happy.

Using more realistic round numbers:

Even if you get all the males in some limited area, one of the 10 intact males left after you neuter the rest of the 10,000 on the island will very soon move into that vacant territory.

(In the meantime, the intact female will have wandered further and further away seeking, and eventually finding, an intact male.)