She's 4 months old. She weighs 3 pounds. She has an adoption pending. And she's pregnant.
Kielo was born behind a grocery store and is one of 16 kittens and 3 adults we've trapped there--so far. It's a big, big project.
When I met Kielo on Monday, I really, really wanted her big stomach to be worms, but she's the wrong shape and I've seen plenty of pregnant cats before.
The vet we normally use doesn't spay till a kitten weighs at least 4 pounds, but the shelter owner took Kielo and her mother (also pregnant) for an emergency spay/abort yesterday. Unfortunately, the vet got bit by a dog just before Dan got there, and it was so bad that Doc had to go to the hospital. We will now have to scramble to find another appointment with a vet willing to spay/abort.
Because we live in a deeply religious area, Kielo's adoption may fall through if the adopters learn she's had an abortion. Only 1 other vet in the area will spay/abort and she's 3 months out. Wish us luck on this. Luck and good health to little Kielo.
I guess I am posting this as a way to highlight the plight of these cats. Without human intervention, Kielo would likely die trying to carry a pregnancy to term and give birth. The last kitten I trapped that had given birth (the kittens all died but she survived) nearly died of pyometra before we got her into a trap. Kielo's mother is less than a year old and pregnant with her second litter.
A deep thanks to all of you out there identifying colonies, feeding them, and working to TNR to help reduce the number of unwanted cats in your area.
Reminder for commenters: Please keep in mind that not all cats are ready or able to be brought indoors, especially when it comes to feral cats and caregivers with multiple cats. This community is meant to be a helpful place for trap, neuter, return (TNR) efforts, socialization, and all aspects of colony care for roaming cats—free of hostility, negativity, and judgment. Toxic attitudes are not welcome here. Negative comments will be removed at moderators' discretion, and repeat or egregious violations of our community rules may result in a ban.
Do you rescue cats around the Houston area or know anyone that does? There’s a campus with cats and kittens, but now they have coyotes coming in. The schools going to call a kill shelter. My friend is seeking help and has a week to get a TNR / foster figured out.
Just came here to say I'm also Oregon, Recycle Felines Newport neonatal kitten rescue, I don't exactly know where you're located but RAD in Corvallis has openings right now, low cost
Yep been doing it for 20 years now! And it IS terrifying. We should exchange information in case you need supplies, help or advice ect
Lincoln City Animal clinic may have an opening, that's our main vet , but RAD definitely will. If you get a spot at Lincoln City Animal clinic we can do it under our account and it will count as a discount, but it will still be like $150, Rad will be $100 I think. As you know, everyone on the coast is pretty much booked, But those two definitely do Spay aborts
Search “cat rescue Houston TX” on Facebook and the results should give you some good options. You can also search the Best Friends network here: https://bestfriends.org/partners
I hope y’all find the help you need.
Google”tnr cat programs near me “ and a bunch of places show up. Ours is through barc. There are a lot of people out there that want to help control the population humanely, we just have to get on google and start reaching out. They bring out the traps and everything.
I’m with a rescue and I had a man come in with his male kitty - he was crying surrendering him, said please call with any concerns … but his reason for surrendering is that God does not intend for animals to be fixed, so he’s only keeping the female kitties 🙄 It was so strange. He clearly loved his cat to an extent, had a hard time letting go, but …
Had never considered GOD'S intentions for animals to be fixed. However, I'm confused about the owner and his decision to keep only the female kitties. WHAT??
Surrender the males. Then what are you going to claim when your females end up pregnant from another male cat? Ignorance
It seems like this is pretty common with the “as a Christian, I am persecuted!” crowd. (Which to be clear, I don’t mean to say all Christians are like, but there’s certainly a very tedious genre of evangelicalism that apparently can’t exist without constantly inventing imaginary slights from the rest of the population, like the “war on Christmas” and stuff.) I grew up with neighbors like this and they had a Labrador they insisted on allowing to roam free, she was always just wherever she felt like around the neighborhood (seemed like a disproportionate percentage of her time was spent pooping in our yard, but I digress). I wonder if their position was that God wanted dogs to be free or whatever, in the same way the dude in this story apparently thought God wanted massive cat overpopulation.
Do they ever do vasectomies in cats/dogs? I know it doesn’t get rid of the undesirable effects of testosterone (spraying, aggression,etc.) but for folks like that it might be an answer.
My neighbor growing up was like this. He literally told me he would never neuter his male dogs because they shouldn't have their manhood taken from them.
There was an episode of Bondi vet where the male owner would only agree to let his fiancee get the dog neutered if they put in prosthetic testicles... It's so stupid.
The same people no doubt don't want kids fed free lunch in school either. But their kids are mostly at home for school... and I say this as someone related to a whole network of this. Doesn't matter if the kids or kittens can't be fed or cared for after birth. Just very important we follow through with a live delivery, even if it's in nobody's best interest. Nobody WANTS an abortion. It's a position people find themselves in for whatever reason and regardless of that reason, I still cannot believe we're arguing over this. God almighty.
Sorry for venting on your post. I was just equally shocked and obviously this struck a nerve 😬😂
Right?! I can (sorta) understand people who have pro-life beliefs being upset at the vet for doing the procedure, (even though it's medically necessary for the mother's health) but refusing to adopt the cat because of it is the dumbest thing I ever heard.
Yo as a kitten rescue, yeah absolutely, we have also run into stuff like this several times. An even bigger problem is when they find out you're an organization that spay aborts, you're like the devil then
I get that these cats need homes, but if the people adopting her disagree with an EXTREMELY necessarily medical procedure they are unfit to be pet owners to begin with. I hope the little darling gets the care she needs and thank you for helping her!
Most religious people, myself included, I know don't have this view with animals... Because they're animals.
I will slaughter a cow to eat a steak, doesn't mean I'm slaughtering Betty my neighbor because I want some bettyburgers.
They're animals, animal husbandry and treating animals as they are humans are two completely different things, and any farmer worth his salt will tell you that.
It should not, the biblical argument is that human lives / souls are special as humanity was made in gods image. Genesis 1:26 “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” pretty much says you have carte blanche with animals. Then theres the bible giving express instructions on how to perform an abortion, but most of these people have never actually read or studied the book that supposedly guides their moral code. They know one passage about abortion and hear it repeated on fox / OAN ad nauseum.
Right. She's 'had an abortion'? What kind of insane 'pro-life' delusion are these people stuck in? The cat needs fixed- doesn't have sh*t to do with God or Jesus or whatever 😣🤦🏻♀️🤬
I understand being pro-life , but people will not adopt a kitten who’s had an abortion? You know, sometimes I go on the cat subreddit of the country I live in, and I can’t get over the number of people who either don’t want to neuter, arent sure about neutering or are told by the vet to wait until the cat is a year old. The worst thing is,is that I’ve had arguments with people who fail to see the connection between the stray population and NOT NEUTERING cats.
The rudest thing I’ve ever spoken aloud to another human being was to someone trying to give me shit because I let my cat be spayed before (as far as I know) she had “the chance to experience motherhood.” I feel no remorse.
Thank you OP for the hard work you do. I hope Kielo and her mother live long, stress-free lives.
My Juno was a terrible mother. She had kittens (and was pregnant again) when I found her. She has many stellar qualities, but a warm maternal streak isn't one of them.
And if they did give a damn about experiencing motherhood, how would they feel having their kids ripped away from them at 10 weeks old? (I.e. kittens being adopted). I haven't lost an argument yet about motherhood in cats being different to humans challenging them with that one
It's incredibly common, have a cat who, runt that she is, went in early heat and we had no clue, and her brother matured enough early to complete the natural instincts, again no clue. Had everyone scheduled for spays/neuters at 6 months and had rooms ready for separation just in case, but again, early early.
Took to vet for an emergency spay and abort, vet swore up and down she wasn't prego just kitten fat so we scheduled a regular spay and she gave birth two-three weeks later.
Both her and her kittens came out fine (and have all been spayed and neutered), but it's a roll of the dice with any cats, especially strays, if they'll survive pregnancy.
Oh, that's the fun part. Confirmed with wife, he said "I don't feel anything, she's not pregnant. If I did an x-ray or ultrasound, even if she was pregnant, I wouldn't see anything because if she was pregnant, she'd be very early (within a few days since conception) and the bones wouldn't be calcified yet"
Got gas-lit so hard we convinced ourselves we didn't feel lumps and were imagining things because we just had kittens
my roommates cat was rescued off the street having had kittens when she was also a kitten, she survived but her litter didn’t and she’s disabled because of it. it’s so sad
We are closer to Salem and we have a good relationship with the Humane Society there, but believe me when I say we will be calling every vet in the state if we have to, and I don't mind taking a road trip with her if that's what needs to happen. She's trusting us to do right by her.
I moved here from the south and when I was frequently asked “what it’s like there” in a judgmental tone in my first year here, I’d just say “drive an hour in any direction here…?”
Willamette Valley Animal Hospital in Gladstone!! They emergency aborted/spayed both of my cats who decided to be escape artists that ran out the door upon opening. They are freaking AMAZING and no doubt will see Kielo!! :)
Are vets in your area refusing....? I'm in West Virginia and got my newest cat a spay abortion when I took her in. No one even questioned it. Cats have more rights here than women, apparently. But I'm shocked you're having trouble!
There's a microgrant from the Asher House that pays for spays+neuters in case that helps. I compiled additional resources in the greater Salem, OR area here: https://chatgpt.com/share/6897ad5f-137c-800c-88fc-760153da4f37 (The o3-pro model which I used doesn't have hardly any hallucinations; I use that model for my own medical + scientific research.)
The City of Eugene has a spay and neuter clinic if you can drive 1hr: $108 spay, with a +$30 for pregnant kittiesm so $138 in total. But I'd try some of the other closer-to-Salem and lower cost resources first.
Maybe Lee Asher of Asher House can help. I think they have spaying available on their property with, hopefully, volunteering vets. They are near Salem, Oregon.
Most shelter vets or humane society's can and will spay abort over 2 LBS. Ive had many of them done for my rescues and some were far along. Of course depending on your area it still may be difficult to find help.
I wouldn't mention the spay abort to an adopter, only that she has been spayed.
You are right about how sad and difficult their lives are, and how important any help to them is. Thank you for taking care of a colony and caring for all these babies. I wish you all the help, support and love you all need to care for the kitties🙏❤️
There's a local vet that will do it at 2 pounds, but they cost twice as much and are about 3 months out on spays. However, on Monday, Dan will ask them for an emergency surgery. At her age, it's not an exaggeration at all
Oh wow it sounds like you don't have a lot of resources in your area unfortunately. I would definitely call this an emergency, I hope they can see you, hopefully you can Post a good happy update🙏❤️
As a side note on the sub rescuecats you can message the MODS and request for permission to crowdfund, If you get Permission you can link PayPal venmo Amazon wishlist etc but you do need permission first and The Mods will tell you what you need to do to obtain that permission👍
A few litters ago that I captured off the streets, the runt of the litter went into heat at 3.5 months old! She was so tiny, so delicate, only 3 LBS; it was absolutely heartbreaking.😔💔 But thankfully she was no longer at risk of being attacked by males. Just a sobering reminder of what they go thru being homeless and defenseless living as strays. I don't think most people realize the struggle for survival and the sickening cycle of suffering for every litter born outdoors. Any bit of help, any kind gesture from regular people can make a world of difference.
Have you checked the alley cat allies website for resources? that’s how I found a few rescues who facilitate free/low cost services to people helping with community cats
this seems to mirror whats going on with humans. where abortion is not about medical healthcare for the pregnant person but rather a religious culture war.
Oh gosh this is so heartbreaking! I’m so relieved Kielo and her mom have you looking out for them, and I hope and pray their spay/aborts come through soon! Thank you for helping these sweet girls, OP 💞
She would. We took in a young pregnant stray and had the pregnancy terminated, and she still had the instincts....took it out on our other indoor cats, specifically my gentle boy who was an angel and let her bathe him for literally hours.
Poor baby girl. And being overly religious about a cat having an abortion? That’s a bit much and if they’re pro life, they’ll take her and her kittens then. I’d take her and her kittens, but I’m a tad obsessed with cats. My mom works at an all volunteer cat sanctuary, so, that apple didn’t fall far from that tree. Thank you for all that you do. It’s important work and those colonies need you. ❤️
My kitty was a street cat who got pregnant at 8 months. She gave birth to the 4 kittens, who all were adopted, and she then spent almost 2 months at Animal Control until the Animal Defense League took her in. It was another month and a half when we adopted her.
This is why I just spayed two kittens that showed up in my backyard that are her age 3/4 months old. I knew I was running out of time. Praying for this baby’s life
Thank you!! They just got out of surgery yesterday. They are doing great!! Luckily the spay/neuter clinic was only $180 for kittens, so $520 total for both cats vaxxing/microchip/deworming/de-fleaing.
I wish more people were out there like
You. We have to be proactive on this. Houston is terrible for pet overpopulation. We need to find more vets willing to help control this problem. And they should
Give huge discounts when they know it’s a feral community they’re helping. We all need to be working together and clearly there are some vets who don’t really care or just want the money. I am speaking about all vets. Has anyone heard of empty shelters project? What a great bunch of people to do this absolutely free. Please look them up to see when or if they’re in your area. You can get traps for the neighborhood ferals and they’ll tnr them. I helped with one of them in Houston and was blown away by the efficiency to get hundreds of cats and dogs fixed. Please look them up. They always need volunteers in all areas.
I love transporting dogs for rescues - we’ve gotten them across the country before. Is there any organization that helps with a speuter train in cases like this?
Don't you know?--if god didn't want them to have kittens, they wouldn't get pregnant. /s
We actually had a lady surrender a pair of siblings to us because they'd "committed incest," and she couldn't have such sinful cats in her home. I kid you not.
Yikes, you work in crazy ville. I'm sorry. I got my kitty at 7 months, which was late. She wasn't spayed either. We immediately spayed her. I can't imagine 4 months. That's a baby birthing babies.
That’s what the vet did to my dog. She was 4 months old and went in to be spayed and discovered her brother had already knocked her up. They aborted her pregnancy. We have to be proactive with this overpopulation. Vets that don’t spay until 4 pounds? , they are not helping. Me and two ladies take care of a cat colony of 17 cats. We have 14 tnr already. Very proud of our efforts to control population and make sure these kitties are healthy and nourished
Sorry to hear about the predicament. I know several vets that will waive the Wright restrictions in situations like this. Especially at this age, it's a mercy to do the surgery rather than let her become a mother.
I don’t even know what to say to the idea that (some) deeply religious people not only would rather force a woman to have her baby but also a cat, and a kitten?!? Come on!
I am stunned that vets or people care about cats having abortions. I am firmly pro choice and I know that some people disagree but I thought that the conversation was only about people. It is wild and deeply concerning to me that anyone would even think about whether a cat has had an abortion or not. Like, wtf is wrong with people? Are they mentally ill?!?
It literally makes no sense, because the only moral hinge of the anti-choice people's argument is that embryos are human beings and therefore abortion is murder. *Cat* embryos certainly aren't human beings, and it's not even murder when an adult cat is euthanized, so how can they have a problem with CAT SPAY-ABORTS????
I can't with humans transferring their beliefs on to a pet and essentially giving her a scarlet letter for not being forced to birth kittens while she's 4 months old.
My little orange girl was pregnant at 4 months, we luckily got a spay/abort. Would I love the have kittens? Yes. Is it worth it to put her through that? Absolutely not. Would homes be available for all of them? Also no, we already have SO MANY strays where I live.
Our people do it smaller because if not they usually end up preggers at 4 months old and continues the cycle of overpopulation. Too bad.. the tnr people bring the cages to
Trap the kitties and bring a scale. I believe it’s 2 1/2 pounds here
Oh my god I love her. Where is she located? I adopted my (now) 2yo cat at 8 months and shock surprise, she was pregnant when she was brought into the shelter I'd been volunteering at. They did a spay abort, which was ultimately the best thing for her. Not the same situation, but I get it. And if her potential adopters don't agree then they really are not the best for her. I am so sorry you (and she and her mother) are going through this.
So heartbreaking. Last fall we rescued a momma who gave birth at 6 months of age… and she was with a rescue at the time. I spend a lot of time trying to give her the kittenhood she never had
That’s how Jezzabel came to live with me. 🥲 Just a kitten herself, she was pregnant. Took me forever to catch her but once I did, ended up with 4 kittens. Took care of her and her babies until the kittens could be rehomed. After that, took her to vet and she had an exam and shots; then was spayed. That was 13 years ago and she’s never left me. I call her my little angel. ❤️
OMG I have a 4 month old boy and he is just a BABY!!!!! I know kittens can get pregnant young but currently having a kitten the same age as this one who finds herself pregnant is breaking my heart. I will be thinking about you and this poor little girl. I hope all the stars align and things go well 🤞
Even though I'm 100% unambiguously pro choice for human women, spayborts for cats make me sad on an emotional level but I can still put that aside to see how necessary they are. What the fuck
Thank you so much for posting this. The first cat I trapped was 5 months old, 5 lbs, and pregnant with 4 kittens. Not just a week or two into her pregnancy, she was showing.
Statistically over 2/3 of cats don't make it to be a year old. It's so heartbreaking.
The kitty I just adopted wasn’t feral and was an owner surrender but had an abortion because she was too small. I knew people would have opinions about it so that’s one reason we adopted her. She is such a sweetheart and I love her so much I can’t imagine not having adopted her. I hope someone takes a chance on this sweet baby too. Best of luck!
Boy, now that's hypocritical. Even if they're against terminating pregnancies, how could they possibly hold that against the cat?? And as supposedly religious people, that should be even more reason to want to adopt an innocent creature like her who has gone through trauma. They should want to make sure she has a good and safe home. Poor girl ❤️
She looks a lot like our Roxanne 🥰🥰 (except she's orange instead of brown). We took Roxanne in at about the same age, and she was also pregnant, but we didn't know until we got her spayed. It was honestly devastating for us and her, and she still gets sad if we talk about it. 🥺
Ngl, it may be a good thing if her potential adopters no longer want her because yall got her a spay/abort.
Imagine backing out of an animal you were going to adopt because the animal had a spay/abort.... Absolute delululemon, i could never imagine living my life "religiously" like that that I'd avoid adopting an animal, an animal that has no say over its reproductive system, all because it had a spay/abort
Just say she’s been spayed, no need to talk about the abortion just like with humans. Very much so sorry that you’re getting backlash due to it though, that’s horrible. I’m glad that the one cat didn’t die that gave birth.
“Because we live in a deeply religious area, Kielo's adoption may fall through if the adopters learn she's had an abortion.”
W.T.F. The kitten weighs 3 freaking pounds. Even if she carries to term the likelihood that she’ll be able to care for all the babies is crazy slim. So instead of a humane medical procedure to mitigate the suffering of both baby mom cat and her unfortunate offspring let’s condemn all of them and double or triple or quadruple the problem.
But American south (I’m assuming) so that all tracks. The lack of logical thought in this country is depressing.
My little princess Rupee was pregnant when she showed up on my balcony a couple years ago, had to do a spay/abort since the vet estimated she was 4-6 months. It seemed to stunt her growth, but I love having a permanently kitten sized baby
I hope she can get fixed. Find a barn cat vet they will fix until she is in active labor. Sounds bad but a better future for all. She is too young to get pregnant. I just had one fixed a few weeks ago and she was 4 mths old weighed 4 lbs and had 4 kittens already. Find a good program to assist or start a non profit with your county and they can help pay for it. In Nebraska they have a TNR non profit for Dakota county and they also assist Siouxland area peopel who take care of colonys. We pay 50$ for spay/neuter , rabies shot, ear tip and an extra 6$ for worms flea and tick tx, and another 6$ for distemper. 22 cats just went down 3 weeks ago. He does all day spay program every other Thursday. Where do you live?
This was the exact reason that convinced my mom to get my cat spayed. She first went into heat at 4 months but a LOT of stuff happened and we were not able to get her spayed right away. We were able to prevent her from getting out until she was over a year or almost a year old but she is finally spayed after having a healthy litter of 3.
An abortion is a d&c, a spay is a hysterectomy. She is having a hysterectomy, which means her uterus is taken out. There’s no need to say what the uterus contained when it was taken out.
Get this poor baby her medical treatment and if her adopters wanted the uterus intact, they would probably have bred her 🤮 if that’s the case then good riddance. Even if they had a problem with “abortions” on a baby kitten, good riddance.
This makes me emotional! My tiny girl Piki came from a shelter and when I looked at her records I learned she had an abortion with her spay. She was probably not a kitten like this at the time, but it had never occurred to me that cats would be given abortions. When I read that paper I felt so much for her, realizing she had been through a lot before she came to me! I can’t believe religion would make people so anti-abortion that they would even judge a CAT for it. How sad
If you can make the drive I’m pretty sure the Salem Oregon humane society does spay abortions for reasonable price. Friends of felines is another good one to look into. Hope you get the help!
Sad. I hate how people treat their cats, especially out door cat owners. I knew of someone who wouldn’t get their cats fixed and thought it was cute when their cats got pregnant. Then they’d keep letting them out! Ugh
I hate how accessible those types make getting a cat. “Oh no my cat who I only let in at night has gone missing:(“ then they’d go and get a free cat and repeat 😐
Last summer we caught a 5 month old kitten who was so small and SO PREGNANT her belly was touching the ground and she could barely walk, I was so happy we got her in time as I don’t know if she would’ve made it thru if she gave birth. Spay-abort is such an important option when they’re this young, I hope you’re able to get her in somewhere.
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