A London pet owner’s feline family soon expanded faster than he could have anticipated when the cats had seven kittens.
All three of the owner’s cats were unneutered and able to road freely outside, and in just a few short months, he found himself with seven new born kittens to look after – and future litters undoubtedly on the way.
The owner quickly realised he would struggle to cope with a constant cycle of pregnancies and the long-term welfare of the cats and kittens and called London-based animal charity Mayhew for advice.
After assessing the situation together and discussing the best outcome for everyone, Mayhew’s Animal Welfare Officer’s (AWO’s) were granted permission to take the three adult cats to Mayhew.
The three cats were renamed Papaya, Guava and Apricot and Papaya had very recently given birth to her litter of five kittens, who the owner also signed over to the charity.
The young kittens were named Kiwi, Mandarin, Lychee, Coconut and Cherry and are currently being looked after, along with their mother by a foster carer, until they are ready to be neutered and rehomed.
A spokesperson for Mayhew said: “Many pet owners are unaware of the risks of keeping unneutered animals and can quickly discover that the cat or dog population in their home has snowballed out of control.
This can then result in multiple pressure points for the animal and owner, including mounting care costs, an increased amount of time needed to train and socialise new-borns, and the additional stress associated with re-homing if an owner is unable to cope.
We therefore firmly believe that neutering is the most responsible and caring action you can take for your pet. As well as reducing the number of animals in need and the unnecessary stress and suffering for animals and owners alike, neutering has many benefits – including less risks to a mother’s long-term health, decreased chance of developing certain disease, and a lower chance of displaying adverse behaviour such as fighting and spraying.”
Apricot was also a relatively new mum, having given birth to two remaining male kittens just a few weeks before. She has now been neutered and is reserved by a potential new owner, whilst her original owner decided to keep the two kittens himself.
He has agreed to take the two kittens into Mayhew to be neutered once they are old enough to prevent a similar situation happening again.
Happily Guava has already found here own happy ending – she was neutered and adopted shortly after arriving at Mayhew and is now fully settled in her new home.
To find out more about Mayhew’s low-cost neutering services, you can visit www.themayhew.org.
