Animals 24-7

News & perspective for the humane community

Beat The Heat

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Marian's Dream booth at 2014 AVMA conference. Esther Mechler is at right.

Marian’s Dream booth at 2014 AVMA conference. Esther Mechler is at right.

For several years now we at Marian’s Dream have been promoting the idea of fixing cats prior to their first heat.  If just 35% more people would do this we could balance the number of potential homes and kittens born each year.  We could get close to true no kill.

This photo shows the Marian’s Dream booth for Beat the Heat at the American Veterinary Medical Association conference on July 27, 2014.

We have attended the AVMA conference for five years now,  trying to get the concept of “spay before first heat” onto the AVMA radar.  So far no luck.

 

––Esther Mechler,  Marian’s Dream

P.O. Box 365,  Brunswick,  ME 04011

Phone:  207-798-7955

<[email protected]>

<www.mariansdream.org>

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Comments

  1. Good to see you again Esther!! You are true to your mission and the mission to stop the killing.

    You look teriffic!!

  2. The AVMA does not support this? What are they thinking? The concept is logical, humane, and a profit maker for veterinarians. I fail to see any downside at all. We have always spayed our female cats and dogs prior to first heat.. It’s a no brainer….

    • Hey, Carol. Spay and neuter is so important in this day and age of pet overpopulation, however spaying dogs, especially female dogs before their first heat (I don’t know about cats) can have some very serious drawbacks. If one can hold off until the dog is fully grown the health risks of too early spay/neuter drop considerably. Good to see you here commenting. Just thought you’d be interested in this.

      • The myth that there are any drawbacks at all to early-age sterilization of either puppies or kittens was conclusively refuted by the late Leo Lieberman, DVM, in his 1987 Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association article “A case for neutering pups and kittens at two months of age.” Lieberman reported that guardians of dogs and cats who were spayed or castrated before the age of seven weeks reported less aggressive behavior, less obesity, and fewer medical problems. Lieberman published follow-ups in JAVMA in 1988 and 1991. Research funded by the Winn Feline Foundation, conducted by Thomas J. Lane, DVM, of the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Florida, Gainesville, in 1991 and 1992 supported Lieberman, as did a major study of early-age sterilization done by the Massachusetts SPCA at Angell Memorial Hospital in Boston. For further particulars, see Lieberman’s landmark debate vs. early-age sterilization critic Leslie N. Johnston, DVM, at http://wp.me/p4pKmM-CE.

  3. “We have attended the AVMA conference for five years now, trying to get the concept of “spay before first heat” onto the AVMA radar. So far no luck.”

    Sometimes I really have to wonder about the AVMA. I know they are beholden to the interests of animal industry, but this shouldn’t be offensive to any of their clients. I guess its just inertia and resistance to change.

  4. “…If just 35% more people would do this we could balance the number of potential homes and kittens born each year. We could get close to true no kill.” I share Marian’s dream and work in the ways I am able to achieve this absolutely attainable goal. Everyone reading, please JOIN US.

  5. Esther is one in a million and has done more for companion animals than almost all the veterinarians in the world..I have been doing prepubes since 1989 and routinely do them at 5 weeks of age..It is one of the best secrets in veterinary medicine. These young ones respond so well to the surgery, it is a faster surgery, it costs less money, the recover is almost immediate, it is extremely rare you have a death and above all else it is assured that they will never reproduce. Any humane organization not sterilizing 100% of its adopted animals is not worthy of you support in anyway..we need to come into the 21rst century..Keep up the great work Esther…