Campaign needs help to curb cat population

Years ago, in an effort to contribute to the control of the stray cat population, we at Al Barsha Veterinary Clinic started an annual "Free Snip & Tuck for Stray Cats" exercise during the months of February and March. This is the fifth year we are running the project and we again hope to prevent an explosive growth of the UAE cat population.

For those of you who have stray cats living in your area or know of areas that have abundant stray cats, you can help by bringing them to us to be castrated or spayed, depending on their sex, for free, after which they can go back to the same area they have come from.

Please be aware that this offer is for stray cats only, not for owned pets. Each cat will receive an antibiotic injection and pain medication. Besides this, they will also have their left ear tipped. The ear is tipped while they are anaesthetised and therefore not painful. Ear tipping is done to ensure the municipality is aware that the cats have been sterilised or neutered and no longer pose a threat from a reproduction point of view. It also is an easy way to recognise that the cat has been examined by a veterinarian.

As there are scheduled surgeries planned as well for the month of February & March, we ask all participants to please call and make an appointment. We understand that a lot of the stray population are quite wild and can be aggressive and difficult to catch. Therefore, we will try to be as accommodating as possible. However, there is limited space as we can handle only about 20 cats per day. We ask for as much notice as possible so we can prepare and arrange the hospital for all the patients.

One reason to do this is because within your neighbourhood you will notice less miserable kittens suffering on the street and near your garbage bin. It also leads to fewer heavily pregnant females, fewer cats in heat singing or crying and fewer fighting males. By reducing the fighting it will also reduce the risk of Feline Aids (FIV) being spread via biting.

Hierarchy

Also, you should bring the spayed and neutered cats back to your neighbourhood. At the moment you have an established cat population there, which reduces a lot of fighting as the hierarchy is already set. By not returning them to the neighbourhood, you allow new cats to enter into it, meaning a new hierarchy has to be established, resulting in fighting and again breeding, since they may not have been spayed or neutered yet.

Each year we have more people joining us and we are able to help more cats, thus preventing them from reproducing. Last year, we were able to neuter and spay over 300 cats. This year we aim for even more, we could spay and neuter approximately 1,200 cats. For further information, or to make an appointment for a free spay or castration of a stray cat, please contact the clinic directly on 04 3408601.

Thank you for helping us in this joint effort to reduce the stray cat population in Dubai, and remember you do not have to be our client to participate in this charity event. Together we can build on a healthy and well-controlled cat population.

— The reader is a veterinarian at the Al Barsha Veterinary Clinic in Dubai.

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