Get Your Cats Fixed. (Please. For the Love of Everything.)
By Ashley Schausten
Let me say it plainly, and then I'll say it a few more times in increasingly dry ways, because apparently once isn't enough:
Get. Your. Animals. Fixed.
We are currently raising funds to spay and neuter every cat in our multiple foster homes — and, just as importantly, the future cats who will come to us needing these surgeries to live healthy lives. This isn't a vanity project. Spay and neuter is the single most effective thing we can do to mitigate the cat overpopulation problem here in the Grand Valley, to decrease the number of animals languishing in shelters, and to free up vital, life-saving space in our rescues and shelters. Every surgery we fund is a whole branch of the family tree that doesn't happen — in the best possible way.
Here's the thing, though: we shouldn't have to be the only ones doing this. So, a few public service announcements, delivered with love and a little bit of exasperation:
- Yes, your indoor cat still needs to be fixed. "But she never goes outside" is famous last words. Cats are escape artists. One open window, one unlatched screen, one curious afternoon, and suddenly you are the proud grandparent of four to six kittens you were not planning for. Congratulations. Now call me.
- "But I want her to have just one litter" is not a reason. I promise you, she does not have a bucket list. She does not feel unfulfilled. She will not resent you. She will, however, be healthier, calmer, and at a dramatically lower risk of certain cancers. Wild how that works.
- "I'll get to it" is how we end up with litters. The appointment you book next week is worth exactly nothing to the three kittens born on Tuesday. Book it today. Today.
- One unspayed female cat and her offspring can produce hundreds of thousands of cats in a few years. I am bad at math, but even I know that number is rude.
Okay. Sermon over. (Mostly.)
Here's where you come in. We've launched a GoFundMe to fund spay and neuter surgeries for the cats currently in our foster homes and for the cats we know are coming — because they always come. Every dollar goes straight into these surgeries, which means straight into fewer kittens born into hard lives, fewer cats euthanized for space, and more room in our shelters for the ones who truly need it.
Help Calico Hearts save these cats — donate to the spay/neuter fund here
And if funds aren't your thing but you still want to help — supplies help just as much. We always need kitten milk replacer, wet and dry kitten food, non-clumping litter, heating pads, and clean towels. Drop them at Schausten's Autobody & Paint, or message us and we'll make it happen.
Get your cats fixed. Help us fix ours. And we'll keep showing up for the ones who haven't been born yet.
