Prepare yourself to hear some adorable shit.
Firstly, there is a time of year referred to as “kitten season” in animal care circles, which begins in spring, peaks around late November or early December, and drops away in autumn. Basically, this is when the weather warms up and creatures remember sex is fun, and while this is natural and beautiful and vital and gross, it does also result in floods of un-mothered kittens being stranded and abandoned, like a sad Disney movie without any charm or singalongs, and it’s the animal shelters and rescue groups across the nation that have to deal with this adorable mess.
Oh, that wasn’t so adorable after all.
Seriously though, thousands of kittens will come into shelters over the next few weeks, and it’s mainly because owners aren’t desexing their cats. There are big problems with microchipping too, but you can read about that in your own time.
As a way of publicising this issue, RSPCA NSW have launched “an album of cat ballads to give cats a voice around three pillars of responsible cat ownership: desexing, microchipping and protection.”
I could argue that five songs is more of an EP than an album, or I could just share more info from the RSPCA about this project, named Cat Ballads: Music To Improve The Lives Of Cats.
“Busting with cat-titude, the original songs are from the perspective of cats who are frankly sick of being left out in the cold when it comes to responsible ownership.”
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There are spoofs of Adele and Miley, and the cat-titude levels are, frankly, quite high.
Now, because this is one of those fun-for-a-serious-cause things, I need to remind you that all RSPCA NSW shelters and care centres are offering $10 microchipping for the month of September. Book here.
Here are a bunch of bleak facts that you have to promise to read before you listen to the cat songs, too.
- Three in four cats are categorised as homeless – in Australia this would be equivalent to 18 million homeless people.
- Australians love their cats, but more than 35,000 still end up in shelters, pounds and rescue groups every year in NSW alone.
- Identification rates are so low in cats, only 3% end up making their way home – as opposed to around 50% of dogs, signaling a value discrepancy between the two species.
- Meanwhile, a pair of undesexed cats can lead to 20,000 offspring in just two years, many of which will end up in pounds and shelters.
- Kitten season will see RSPCA NSW alone take in up to 500 kittens and cats a week over the warmer months.
- The current mortality rate for un-vaccinated kittens infected with Feline Panleukopenia (FPL) can be as high as 95%.
Horrible. Now, enjoy the sad ballads!
