I actually agree with BLR, that's an overstatement. I doubt even a single bunny can create that many descendents in a year. Mind you, cats do not go into sexual maturity for a few months. You don't see kittens making kittens.

Well, correction, you do. Depends on your defenition of "kitten." But it does take a few months for them to reach maturity.

the estimate is indeed correct, and that is exactly WHY it so important for cats to be fixed !!!

theres allot of cats in my neighborhood to i wish they would just go away

I would agree with "from one litter" but I just can't agree with "in one year." Helwa, I am courious, how long would it take to produce the 400,000 from one female. I understand what you are saying, and agree that intact cats are a huge problem.

This is an interesting thread, from my point of view.

We have a cat and have had other cats in the past. I can certainly understand why Val feels as she does, so please don't take this as criticism; it is simple meant to be a comment on the different ways our countries seem to deal with cats.

We used to have a rabbit, when I was a child, and it was killed by a neighbour's cat, so I was angry about that, but cats are cats and most people, here, simply accept & ignore them.

Maybe it's because, over here, cats just roam free and come home as and when they wish ~ usually through their cat flap ~ that I perceive a different attitude.

Lots of cats come into my garden and I'm pretty sure that my cat goes into other people's gardens.

People may hate or love cats; people may try to keep them off their property, but people also seem to accept that cats do as cats do and that's just life.

Helwa, how? If one cat has lets say by some insane miracle, 12 cats. Those kittens won't reach maturity until 10 months, maybe a little earlier. Maybe that the absolute earliest 6, by another same miracle. 400,000 cats from one cat is not possible in a single 12 month year.

Do you mean how many cats are produced a year, in general?I can agree with that. A single cat, 1 cat alone, can not make that much.

PDM, I agree with what you say about cats being cats. I don't mind cats eating our birds outside. They eat birds, baby bunnies, voles, baby moles, snakes, whatever they can. But that's on our property. If someone next door complained, I would keep the cats inside. You know?

Anyway... Did you chose to make the call? What happened?

How many females could a tom cat impregnate in the given time?

As I said, I was in no way criticising ~ just making an observation, based on the apparently different attitudes to cat-keeping in our two countries.

Here, cats just wander freely and are rarely kept in, so, while of course they do have 'owners', they are seen as kind of free spirits, who do their own thing.

That's interesting! :P I saw a documentary once that said the Tom cats in the UK were mostly overweight, is that true? It's so weird to picture homeless cats actually fat!

I dont agree with cats just being cats. When it is a health issue and interupting others lives then its a problem. If a dog was roaming the neighborhood eating animals and pooping in others yards to the point where they had to change their lifestyles people would protest. But because its a cat that somehow makes it okay??
If this sounds like I am yelling I am not. I am just trying to make a point.
Cat crap in my flower bed is nasty. I do not want ringworm or lord knows what else. Plus, I cant even have a bird feeder or bird houses right now. How fair is it for me to put them out knowing that the birds are just a meal ticket for the cats?
Plus many songbirds numbers are declining enough as it is. Cats add to that decline.
A lady in the next neighborhood over had a great idea for her cats. She has a huge cage with cat toys and platforms and such that she has outside. The cats can lounge out in the sun without getting into trouble. I realize that not many people can afford such a thing but its a great idea. It keeps your cat safe from getting run over, hurt or impregnated!

It has been raining here for the past two days so I have not called yet. I am doing more research on the laws in my town to make sure I am doing the fair thing for everyone involved.