Felines need to be fixed by five months

    Because of the large number of unwanted and unplanned kittens born each year in Maine, there is a new campaign to promote “fixing felines by five.” Cats who are altered before “maturity” will not produce unexpected early litters, not go into repeated stressful heat cycles and almost certainly not develop unwanted behaviors such as spraying and howling. Plus, they have a 91 percent reduced risk of developing mammary gland cancer.

    If people spay cats before they can ‘litter,’ the number of unwanted cats will drop and homes can be found for those cats whose guardians can no longer care for them.
    The campaign, funded by a grant  to Marian’s Dream and Spay Maine (www.spaymaine.org) from the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation, is called “Fix Your Cat by 5 Months.”
    This grant is limited to residents of Piscataquis and Aroostook Counties. Low-income and working low-income households can get their cats fixed for just $5. The slogan is “Fix your cat by 5 months for $5.”
    In Piscataquis County, Marian’s Dream and Spay Maine have partnered with P.E.T.S in Dover-Foxcroft to schedule these surgeries. To see if you are eligible, call Mary at P.E.T.S at 564-8092.
    The program is geared to fixing these cats by five months, but if people have older cats or feral cats who have not been “fixed” they too will be eligible for this service. There is a solution to the suffering of all these homeless cats and that is spaying and neutering and remembering that when you adopt a cat it is for life.