This is an interesting mini-video. It shows what must be an extended family of ginger tabby cats sleeping together and on top of each other. It is a tapestry of cats. It looks like the parents were not sterilised and over time they have created an extended family with their offspring also unsterilised and contributing to the family’s size. It is the classic exponential, feline population growth situation which can rapidly get out of hand – and often does in hoarding situations – to the point where the owner can no longer cope.
Exponential population growth is normally discussed in terms of human population size. The world is going through a phase of exponential human population growth and hardly anybody can discuss it because it is a taboo subject but it dramatically affects our welfare and our future and the future of the animals with which we share the planet. Exponential growth is when you double up every time so 2 becomes 4 and 4 becomes 8 and 8 become 16 and 16 becomes 32 and so on. You rapidly arrive at a very large number.
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The video begs the question, “How fast do cats breed?”
There are two answers. One is the theoretical population growth rate and the other is the practical one. In practice population size is restrained for various reasons. On a simple calculation and starting with a single breeding pair of domestic cats and assuming that they produced three litters annually with a total of 14 kittens, in five years there would be a total of 65,536 cats!
Of course, they don’t all survive and in reality females might start to breed younger so the figure could be higher. Many perish because of accidents or disease. However, the fast and efficient breeding of domestic and feral cats is held against them. In terms of survival it is highly useful but from the human’s perspective it is not a good look because there are normally too many unwanted domestic cats which is why there are shelters and there are certainly too many feral cats which is why in many if not all countries they are abused and in other countries they are being exterminated by the authorities without attempts to make the process humane and decent.
SOME MORE ON SPAYING AND NEUTERING:
