Why?

A bitch hatches 2 litters of 6 to 12 puppies a year.

A she-cat gives 4 litters of 4 to 8 kittens4 times a year.

First times, you would put puppies and kittens quite easily in you family, friends or neighbourgs. But quickly, you will not know what to do.

If you are not convinced, see this simple example.

You would not have other honourable solution than to euthanize the babies from birth through a veterinarian.

If you are too coward for that, you will go to "throw" them somewhere after some weeks, devoting them to a certain death after long and terrific sufferrings. You would be then, and in addition, responsible of their ferrality and of the birth of some other youngs, with a piece of misfortune, less controllable, more ill. You would then have franckly contributed to exacerbate the situation.

That's why bitches and she-cat must be sterilized along with males.

How?

 * The most drastic method, which will gives you the less worries after, is one of these surgical operations:

For females:

• a) An ovariectomy, that is an ovary removal (the ovules tank : ovario = ovaries and ectomy = cut) ;
• b) An ovario-hysterectomy, that is an uterus and ovaries removal (where embryos will develop: hyster = uterus). This operation is nicknamed "the total".

For males:

• A castration, that is a testis removal.

In both cases, the solution is not light: A surgical operation gives an impact on health during at least the two following weeks. The Pet must be watched. Most of the times there are antibiotics to take for some days, and then stitches used to close the body have to be removed.

In all cases there is to avoid the Pet licking and removing the stitches. This requires often to put a collarette. That is a coneshaped plastic sheet which is hanged around his neck and which forbids to bring the muzzle to the stomach.

Thus the Pet is handicaped as long as she/he wears it (she/he hits quite everything and feels bothered). It is important to watch that he don't put himself in danger because of the collarette: Cats must remain cell bounded and can't be left alone for long, dogs must remain tied up and watched in the same way.

This may be a bit restricting, but it would take the biscuit to see the pet wounded because of the operation.

The main disadvantage of this solution today, in Polynesia, is its price: About 16,000 F cfp (US$150.00) for a she-cat, and quite 30,000  cfp (US$280.00) for a bitch, males castration is about the half.

The main advantage is that, after, it is over for good.
 

The other solution, for want of better, is the contraception:

It applies only to females. It is cheaper (at start).

There are two ways:

• a) An injection: Made by a veterinarian and renewed each 3 months for she-cats, each 5 months and a half for bitches.
• b) A contraceptive pill: You may give it each week, or each two weeks, depending on the brand.

The main disadvantage of this solution is the human intervention : A single miss of the right date, or a fail while watching if the Pet don't spit the pill, and "here it goes, one more time"...

WARNING: Never give a pill to a pregnant female, otherwise this may induce the foetus death, then a septicemia (a generalized infection) when foetus bodies start to decay within the mother womb.

An other major disadvantage of this method is that on long-lasting, the contraceptive treatment may induce metrits (breast cancer) or otthers cancers.

Because of these two big blackheads Fenua Animalia recommands to use contraception if, and only if, sterilization is actually not possible.