Cat Abortion, it's so sad

Although the vast majority of cat owners are responsible people who do elect to get their female cats desexed well before they manage to mate and become pregnant, there are some owners who delay getting their cats spayed only to find themselves with a pregnant cat and the prospect of unwanted kittens arriving. In these unwanted-pregnancy situations, many pet owners will often elect to have their pregnant cats spayed rather than allowing the kittens to be born. It seems such a simple quick-fix option - just spay her before the kittens come along and voila, problem solved ... But is it right? The picture on the right shows a pregnant cat uterus that has been removed by cat spaying surgery. The uterus contains three kittens. The purpose of this page is to visually demonstrate to cat owners exactly what it is that they are doing to their pet cat/s and those unborn kittens when they fail to get their pets spayed early and end up desexing them whilst they are pregnant.

The moral and ethical implications of spaying a pregnant cat:Although the feline pregnant-spay procedure is safe enough to perform when it comes to the life of the mother cat (it is rare for pregnant cats to die during the spaying procedure), owners electing this pregnant-spay procedure should be aware that the spay procedure in question does result in the death of the fetal kittens contained within the mother cat's womb (spaying deprives the uterus and therefore the kittens of a life-giving blood supply). The procedure is, therefore, a form of surgical abortion and there is the potential for the unborn kittens to suffer during the procedure, particularly if the kittens in question are in the later stages of fetal development (within 2-3 weeks of being born). The image on the right is one of the fetal kittens that was present within the pregnant uterus pictured above. You can see how well-developed and clearly-recognisable as a kitten it already is. It even has a tail and toenails!