Help Control The Pet Population, Have Your Pet Spayed or Neutered

On Monday we took our kittens to have them fixed and to get their first round of shots. Before going to the vet we called to find out how much the spayed/neutered procedures would cost, and they told us it would be $99 for the female and $59 for the male. In addition to this, it is recommended that the female have pain medication which is $12.50. As for the shots, they have to have 1 rabies vaccine ($19.50 each), 2 Leukemia Boosters (18.50 ea) & 3 Distemper boosters (18.50 ea). This would be a lot with just one cat, but when you factor in that we have 2, it gets pretty pricey. Plus, it costs $33.50 to have them tested for leukemia.

So the grand total to get the cats fixed and get them tested and get their shots (6 ea) comes to about $428. Additionally we inquired about the Revolution medication, which is the monthly medication to prevent fleas, heart worms, etc. And that will be $14 a month per cat.
I'm more than happy to pay for all of this because I think if you're going to have pet, you might as well do everything in your power to keep them healthy, and when you add it all up, though the price is kind of high, it's not enough to break the bank. However, I think if a family is on a fixed budget, they may have problems affording all of this, and they would either have to not have the cats fixed, or postpone the shots, or not get the shots at all.

But fortunately, we called the Humane Society last week because we had found a kitten not far from our apartment, and we wanted to find out where we could take it. And upon calling, we found out that the Humane Society has a discount spayed & neuter program. The woman told us that the programs vary from county to county (and state to state), but around here all they ask is that you bring a copy of your income tax returns so that can keep a copy for their records. You then pay them a "discounted" rate for the spay/neuter, and they give you a voucher to take to the vet, stating that you've already paid the Humane Society for the spay/neuter, which means you pay nothing to vet. The only catch is that the vet you choose must be on the Humane Society's list of partners, This wasn't a problem for us because the vet's office that we had intended to go to was on the list. But anyway, around here, under this program anyone who made under $30K last year can have their pet fixed for $10, and everyone else who made over $30K can have their pet fixed for $25.

So if you do the math, depending on your income we're talking as little as $50 or even $20 to get a boy and girl cat fixed, versus $160 that the vet was going to charge us. This discount alone is a big help toward paying for the cats' shots.

So if you plan on getting your pet fixed, I totally recommend calling your local Humane Society to find out if they have a discount spayed & neuter program.