Thousands of cats and dogs are put to sleep every year because they are unloved and unwanted. They are the result of pet owners who do not fully consider the implications of owning a reproductively capable cat or dog.

Have you ever tried to put a condom on your cat?! If you answered yes, then you know how futile the effort is. It’s fiddly, it’s fussy and that’s if you can actually find your cat’s penis in the first place. (If you aren’t a vet but still rate your chances of finding a cat’s penis, get yourself a more wholesome hobby, like origami.) So, ditch the pet condoms and get your animal sterilised.

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Feline on the Prowl

Cats cover a lot of ground in their daily wanderings. They spend a lot of time out of sight and can very easily roam to the pad of another fertile feline! If this scratchin’ post’s a rockin… The heartbreaking reality of these felines on the prowl is a plethora of kittens born and subsequently put down or dumped every year because a cat owner did not spay or neuter their pet.

There are additional benefits to sterilisation. Female cats that have been ‘fixed’ will be quieter, more settled and less likely to call out all night for a mate. Male cats will be less inclined to mark the walls of your house with their foul-smelling urine. Furthermore, cats enjoy health benefits from sterilisation. Females are less likely to suffer mammary cancer and Feline AIDS, and male cats will be less likely to fight for territory and suffer bites that put them at risk of abscesses and communicable feline diseases. Finally because cats are less likely to wander when sterilized, there is less chance they will find themselves using up their nine lives on cars and other vicious bits of world.

As an additional note, the growing population of feral cats poses a threat to native Australian species. Typically feral cats hunt native Australian species, and when a feral cat and possum cross paths, the loser is almost always the possum.

Bitch in Heat

Don’t be lulled into thinking that just because your dog generally stays in your yard, it is not important to have them sterilized. In Perth alone, 20,000-30,000 dogs are put down every year. It is easy to be carried away by the idea of having a litter of puppies or kittens at home. Most people, however, find the reality to be far less enjoyable. The honeymoon is over very quickly and a huge percentage of these helpless animals are abandoned, some at local shelters, many on the side of the road. If dumped animals somehow manage to survive, then most will reproduce and the cycle continues. So, talk to your vet and get your dog fixed as soon as appropriate.

If you are still not convinced, think back to the ‘sex talk’ your parents tried to have with you during adolescence – that was between parties who had at least a basic command of English. If you’ve mastered the subtle art of verbally manipulating your pet then perhaps you’re in the unique position of having an alternative means of breeding control. But, if like me, your dog still defecates on the carpet no matter how much you reason with her, get her sterilised!

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Holly Brown