[ozzie]

A few weeks ago, one of my Avon customers asked me if I knew of anyone who might want a kitten. I didn't but I did give her the name and phone number of an animal shelter that might take them. It seems her cat was very pregnant. Today I again saw this lady, who is a nurse. I asked her how her cat was doing and she said she had given her cat an abortion because she couldn't find anyone who wanted kittens. I've felt awful about it all day. I just can't imagine being able to give my pet an abortion. ugh! What are your thoughts?

That's horrible!!

when my mom's cat had kitten for the first time she and the kittens were given to a shelter (on accident though...) the second time (with a different cat) we managed to give away/sell every last one, even if the guy lived far away or something. And the most recent time she only had one kitten so we decided to keep it (hence my two galleries)

MEGA triggers!

[salukigirl]

honestly, there are 11 millions homeless pets in the US alone every year and about 9 million of them die in shelters or on the streets. If she couldn't find a home for them they would have ended up, most likely, as a part of that 9 million. At least this way they don't have to go through life suffering and then end up in a shelter anyways. I can see how that might be the humane thing to do.

[Shangrala]

I can understand the reasoning for an abortion due to the kazillion unwanted pets which do exist today, however that depends on how the proceedure was handled.

Correct me if I've misunderstood you but, you said that this woman stated that she gave her cat the abortion?...Or, possibly, could she have meant that she took the cat in to her vet to have this done?

Gawd...I sure am hoping that I'm just having one of my Dori moments and simply am not seeing the entire picture here...lol.

Shangrala

[Elysium]

The thought of aborting a life disturbs me!!

If this person does not want their cat pregnant, then she should take the appropriate actions and either keep her cat indoors or have it spayed.

She could have sold the kittens or given them away quite easily on craigslist, or taken them to a no-kill shelter.

I understand abortion (in animals and humans) being an option in a case where there is a danger to the mother's life, for health reasons. But I don't approve of abortion (in animals or humans) for methods of birth control.

This being said...I value everyone's opinion on this issue regardless of whether you agree or not.

If this woman did this abortion herself....that is just sick and inexcusable.

Just my nutty opinion!!

[Maven]

Giving kittens or puppies or any animal away on Craigslist or wherever you might post "Free to good home" ads is a bad idea. There are sick people who answer those ads, even going to lengths to look legitimate, and sell the animals to medical and science researchers.

I agree, though, if she did this abortion herself, that is twisted. I think a vet would do it, and be safer. I hate that those kittens were prevented from being born, but salukigirl is right; too many animals end up on the street and/or put to sleep because there are no homes for them.

I say even if they did go into a killing shelter then at least they would be put to sleep in some room instead of stabbed with sharp object. After a certain developmental point after all unborn babies can feel pain.

(I would just like to note that the animals used for testing aren't tortured or anything, they are required to live as comfortably as possible because when you do experiments you need to keep it down to as close as one variable as possible- the potential medicine. High amounts of stress can ruin the experiment. So, they make sure the animals get as much food, water, and social interaction that their species need. They even hire people to take care of them every day. Aside from potentially nasty side effects from these experiments, they live okay.)

Putting my own veiws on this aside(which are that abortion is not for me and I personally do not think it is a good thing - although i would NEVER push that veiw on someone else - it is a personal choice you need to make. It is not my place to say whether it is right or wrong for someone else.)

There are a number of variables that would make me feel it right or wrong.

IF the woman did it HERSELF - that is ABSOLUTELY wrong in my eyes. Simply because although she is a nurse, something could have gone wrong and the cat could develop complications either during or after, not to mention im sure the nurse did not have adequate pain medications on hand to prevent the cat from suffering - and im sure she didn't have anasthesia on hand to put it under.

IF a vet did it - that would be kinder i think as the vet could put the cat to sleep and then do it under general anasthesia so it did not suffer, and could make sure the cat didnt hurt when she woke up and didnt develop an infection or complication afterward.

Also you say the cat was VERY pregnant.. and i think that disturbs me. I know they often do abortions in cats that come in to be fixed and are only slightly pregnant(up to a certain point) but i would think it would be traumatic for the cat, not to mention dangerous, to do it after a certain point.

[salukigirl]

Ok....I'm not even really sure where to start. First off, the kittens are not "stabbed" when the mother cat is spayed. Having shadowed many spaying and neuterings, it's not a harmful procedure and the cat is subdued. Second, thinking that the woman did it herself is just preposterous. That's taking the comment too literally and I think everyone on this site knows that she did not give the cat an abortion HERSELF. Third, the abortion automatically spays the mother cat. If she let the cats live how do you know she would have gone back to spay the mother? Then, you have another several kittens plus a mother who can just get pregnant again.

And yeah, she should have taken the precautions but she didn't. That's not the argument here. You can say that about anything but hindsight is 20/20. If you really think abortion is so horrible then maybe you should take the kittens. I know I couldn't. I already have 5 cats and a dog, all adopted from shelters, and I probably would have done the same thing.

Keep in mind I'm a vegan and a huge animal rights activist. And, Kaika, you really need to do some research on animal testing.

Sorry for the rambling.

[bebop]

ok this is a touchy subject in so many ways. let's try to keep it out of the argument stage. I am pro life myself for humans at least. I believe all living things should be given the opportunity to live.

[notz]

PLEASE spay & neuter! Then unwanted pregnancies are a moot point! And my vet says cancer rates are reduced in our beloved pets who are fixed.

hugs to all!

I have a tendency to take things literally...not just online but offline, which is why I was mad in my post. If a vet did it, then it's still sad, but nothing to be really disgusted by (imho).

[Christina86]

I'd like to take a moment here and ask everyone to take a deep breath.

Please remain respectful of each other, it is possible to disagree 'politely'.

Thank you!

[Elysium]

Originally Posted by Maven

Giving kittens or puppies or any animal away on Craigslist or wherever you might post "Free to good home" ads is a bad idea. There are sick people who answer those ads, even going to lengths to look legitimate, and sell the animals to medical and science researchers.

I agree, though, if she did this abortion herself, that is twisted. I think a vet would do it, and be safer. I hate that those kittens were prevented from being born, but salukigirl is right; too many animals end up on the street and/or put to sleep because there are no homes for them.

So true about Craigslist Maven...I didn't think about that when I wrote the post.

[yutzman]

I think she's pulling your leg....cat abortion....give me a break....

Originally Posted by yutzman

I think she's pulling your leg....cat abortion....give me a break....

cat abortion exists.

Although early and mid-term spay and abortion of pregnant cats is common, late-term abortion is generally not done.

http://cats.about.com/cs/pregnancybi...nancybirth.htm

[AAAAA]

Pet abortions do exist although not very common I don't think and they are very expensive.

[ozzie]

This woman did the abortion herself. That's what I have a problem with. I don't know how anyone could perform an abortion on their own pet, especially when that pet was very pregnant. It's all I can do to make my cat take medicine.

[AAAAA]

Oh that is a different situation entirely (unless she's a vet). How very strange.

(as suspected in first post here) well now doesn't that just make you want to barf?