PUHI — The Kaua‘i Humane Society is offering several free cat spay and neuter clinics this year, thanks to generous donors.
In 2021, a full 75% of the cats that entered the shelter were born that year. Only 10% of all animals entering the shelter are already spayed or neutered.
“Thanks to generous donors, we are able to offer multiple free spay/neuter clinics to Kaua‘i’s cats,” said KHS Executive Director Nicole Crane.
“This is an important program for KHS because last year more than 700 cats were born and entered KHS. This was 700 more cats that needed to find a home in addition to all the juvenile and adult cats KHS was working hard at finding adopters for,” she said.
”This large cat population leads to KHS operating beyond capacity and overcrowding, which can put cats at risk for disease and stress. It also resulted in multiple kittens growing up in cages. With so many cats and only so many adopters it can take months for a cat to finally find a home of their own. Cats belong in homes, not in cages.”
Spaying or neutering pets helps them live a longer, healthier and happier life.
Dogs and cats can be fixed once they reach two pounds and two months of age.
Getting pets fixed as early as possible is best because it can help deter behavioral issues such as spraying, roaming and fighting. It often helps with calming down high-energy pets, and it can help to prevent certain types of cancers in felines.
“Spaying and neutering also decreases Kaua‘i’s cat population, which minimizes a potential threat to our local wildlife,” Crane said.
A 4-month-old kitten can become pregnant and produce a litter of three to six kittens on average. A single cat can have up to five litters a year. Within four months, each of those female kittens will continue to reproduce on the same schedule.
The KHS takes in thousands of animals every year, and by spaying or neutering pets owners help to ensure that there are less animals coming into the shelter this year and in the years to come.
“Cats are spending an average of 60 days in the KHS shelter,” Crane said. “For a kitten, this is important socialization and human-bonding time that is missed. Cats come into KHS on a daily basis, adding to the population while also increasing the length of stay for cats and decreasing their one-on-one attention with adopters. If more kittens continue to be born every year it makes it difficult for Kaua‘i to get ahead of the issues surrounding cat overpopulation.”
The next free clinics are scheduled for Mondays, May 9 and 16, June 6 and 13 and July 11. Future clinic dates will be announced on the website, kauaihumane.org.
