Cat overpopulation is a persistent problem in the UK, with cats being able to breed from a very young age, frequently and with large numbers of kittens per litter, the population is quickly becoming out of control.

Many rescue centres, such as ourselves, are experiencing high numbers of unwanted cats coming through their doors, with numbers expecting to increase each year. Neutering is recognised as the most effective way to control cat population. We neuter every cat we rehome, and offer support and educational services to our local community, hoping to stabilise the cat population. Each neuter costs us an average of £77, we neuter over 250 cats each year. Understandably this costs our charity a lot, taking money away from other essential veterinary treatments and procedures.

Neutering is so much more than controlling the cat population, running our Ashford Garden Cattery we see multiple cases where cats have suffered at the expense of being left unneutered…

Mia came to us in a shocking condition, she had been bred repetitively from a young age for profit. This left her underweight with sores over her body and fur loss, all of her energy went into her kittens. Upon further inspection we grew concerned, she was very bloated and discharging blood. Mia had pyometra, an infection of the uterus which can occur in unneutered females. Her womb was full of puss and blood, being extremely painful. She was neutered and the infection was flushed out, after a course of antibiotics and pain relief she was feeling much better. Mia is now looking like a happy healthy lady, waiting for her forever home.

Arthur came to us from a colony of cats that was forming. Cat colonies can grow very quickly, often starting with 2-3 unneutered cats in the area, because cats can reproduce from a very young age and have multiple kittens per litter, things get out of control rather quickly. Arthur was spotted by a member of public due to a very poorly eye, upon further inspection, his eye was a result of a long lasting infection from a sexually transmitted disease, most likely Chlamydia. Unfortunately due to having no treatment for such a long time, it’s resulted in long term damage. We are aware of several similar colonies forming that desperately need neutering services.

Lovely Broop came to us in quite a situation, being only a few months old and heavily pregnant. She was only a kitten herself. We monitored her closely. When she went into labour we knew something was wrong and rushed her to the vets for an emergency C-Section, sadly none of her 4 kittens survived. Broop was exhausted, all her energy went into her kittens, stunting her own growth. She received a lot of TLC, eventually going into her new home, where she can play and be a kitten again.

Many unneutered males end up like Larry here, with FIV, similar to HIV, it is spread when cats mate or fight (something that male cats tend to do very frequently due to their hormones). Cats with FIV have a compromised immune system, making them more susceptible to common illnesses, impacting their quality of life. FIV isn’t treatable, so all diagnosed cats will need to be kept indoors as only cats, preventing it from spreading. Most FIV cases in our centre are in unneutered males, so we can’t stress enough how important it is to have them neutered too.

We need your help to continue providing the neutering services we do locally. As an independently registered charity every penny you donate to us, goes directly into improving the welfare of animals.