26/09/2024
Is the mom's life important?
Do you know what pyometra is? It is a life-threatening infection of the uterus.
How old does a cat have to be to develop pyometra? While the risk increases with age and older cats are most at risk, it can happen at any age. It's always a shock to see a kitten or very young cat with pyometra – but we've seen it all😔
Pyometra is completely preventable – just have the cat spayed. With no uterus she will never develop pyometra.
What if she's pregnant? Years ago, while helping a woman get her free roaming cats spayed, she told me "I can't have her spayed, she's pregnant". While I worked to be diplomatic I pointed out to her if by chance the cat had pyometra, and she was living outside, she was going to end up dying a painful death in the bushes. After some thought the woman agreed to let her be spayed, and I was present in the clinic during the spay. That cat had a womb full of decomposing kittens and pus – she would have died within days.
This week, Sara and Laurie gave up their time to help a group of five trapped cats. The clinic had an emergency and could not get these free roaming cats altered, and they asked these women if they could possibly hold them so the cats did not get released before being fixed. They not only held them awaiting surgery as well as for recovery afterwards, they changed their own personal plans and then ended having to drive to and from the clinic - a distance of 20 miles one way – a total of 5 or 6 times. That's 100+ miles and many hours for cats they personally had not trapped, in spite of numerous cats they were already helping. But it was all worth it to them in the end - because there was a mom cat and her five month old daughter in the mix, and that mom cat had pyometra... and her five month old daughter was pregnant.
Many people romanticize pregnancy in cats – but there's nothing romantic about it. An endless cycle of being in heat, pregnant, going through labor and delivery and two months of nursing babies only to have it repeated again and again – and with so many threats to the health of the mother cat, like pyometra. If you are serious about saving lives, make sure you're not wearing rose colored glasses. Is it possible the female cat is pregnant? Her life matters – and don't forget if she has developed pyometra she'll die along with the kittens. A painful death.
The best way to save lives is to make sure those cats are spayed. Spay and neuter them all!
