Vida de Gatos in Chile sterilizes cats to prevent abandonment

The Vida de Gatos (Chile) grant project, “More Sterilizations, Less Abandonment,” provided

100 free sterilizations in communities with a high cat abandonment rate. All cats were also vaccinated against rabies. Families were given information about responsible ownership.

Unsterilized male cats tend to get in fights, which result in high, and often unaffordable, vet care costs. It's difficult to keep an unsterilized cat, male or female, indoors, especially when a cat is in heat (If your cat has ever gone into heat, I bet you'll be 1st in line for a spay surgery!) And unsterilized cats are more likely to spray furniture and floors. These are some of the causes of abandonment and of the high number of unwanted kittens born to a difficult life on the streets.

The sterilizations of owned and unowned cats were carried out at the Morgana Veterinary Clinic, located in the Ñuñoa district of Santiago, and were performed by veterinarian Alejandra Rojas, who successfully completed all the surgeries without complications. Vida de Gatos has an agreement with vets they partner with: spay or neuter of a cat costs the organization US$18, no matter if female or male. That's a small price to pay to minimize the chance of abandonment and of being let out on the street to reproduce, and to enhance the lives of cats and their families.

These are some of the grateful families and the kitties who benefited from Vida de Gatos and their AKI-funded grant project to sterilize cats in Santiago, Chile. They are now more likely to remain in their homes, resulting in fewer abandoned, unsterilized cats, and kittens born to a life on the streets of Santiago!

Going home with their sterilized cat and information about responsible ownership

Two kitties will now have a more secure future

Going home sterilized and vaccinated