Originally posted by aly


OMG!!!!! PLEASE educate your cousin on the importance of getting them fixed. I know you don't like it but her cats are out there reproducing with all the other outdoor unfixed cats and adding to the feral problem I'm SURE!
I'm sure too, but she lives in England, where almost all cats are indoor/outdoor. She refuses to keep them in all the time. Her cats are seniors now (14 - 18 years) so I don't think she would even think of it now. When they were young, I was young too, so I knew nothing about it! I'm sure she knows. She's just freaked out from the the idea of removing a part of their body. I have a friend that is so scared of it, she declines from taking her bunny to the vet ( I know, bad. Very bad) because she's afraid they will convince her to "remove" its organs. I told her to take the bunny to the vet at least for a checkup. He's a backyard bunny with a huge hutch, so he can't go out and get bunny kids, but I still try to convince her to take him for a check up. I tolf her the spaying/nuetering is her choice. The vet won't do it without asking so she doesn't have to worry about that. She's just SO scared.

I do believe spaying a female bird would reduce the risk of egg binding, which can cause death if not taken to the vet immediately (its when a bird is laying eggs but the egg gets stuck and won't come out), but I doubt vets do it often, so I believe the risk would be very high. I wouldn't risk it. Personally, I don't know anyone that has spayed/neutered their birds.