Some 480m of the world’s 600m domesticated cats are thought to be free-roaming. Many endure short and uncomfortable lives. A new way to sterilise them could help fix the problem
can be an expensive business. There are potholes to fix, policemen and firefighters to fund, and mountains of refuse to collect. In many cases, the kitty is empty.
Fixing the problem, as well as the cats, is not cheap. Tel Aviv, which has tens of thousands of the animals, has spent over $100,000 a year on neutering programmes alone. Now, though, a paper insuggests a single jab could offer a cheap, safe and long-lasting way to sterilise a cat. David Pépin, a molecular biologist at Harvard University, came to realise the same techniques could also be used to induce contraception. His laboratory was investigating a lesser-known reproductive hormone called, which is produced by the follicles that house immature egg cells in mammals. These follicles grow inside the ovaries until they burst, releasing their cargo into the fallopian tubes and towards potential fertilisation.
All nine cats—which were named after the wives of American presidents—then had their faeces monitored over the course of two years so that the levels of their reproductive hormones could be checked. In order to ensure the right cats were being matched to the right scat, each was fed food with a different coloured dye or, for a few fabulous individuals, glitter.
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