Cat Abortions and Buddhism

Over the weekend I sent a pregnant cat of mine to be aborted. It was an easy decision.

I have three cats now, Yuki, Louis, and Sparky, all of which came to me somewhat unexpectedly over the course of the past six months. Yuki was starving in the rain; Louis was the kitten of a street cat my neighbors had adopted, and Sparky (“Spartacus” for long, a beautiful name for a female cat, I know…) was also loose on the street. Louis was house kept, but Yuki and Sparky were legitimately suffering on the street, Yuki, close to dying.

By taking the cats in, I felt I was doing a small thing to end suffering. South Philadelphia isn’t a friendly place for street cats – lots of cars, lots of concrete, lots of mean people, the possibility of becoming dog fight bait.

So, what would have happened had I not had Sparky aborted? I suppose no one really knows. But, I know that keeping any more than three cats in the house, in addition to officially stamping me as a cat lady, wouldn’t be kind to the new kittens. There isn’t enough space. It might not be cruel in the form of animal hoarding, but they would suffer – they wouldn’t be happy and free. I could have given the kittens to a shelter or to an adopter, but then who knows what would have happened to them. There was no guarantee they wouldn’t suffer.

So instead I made a simple appointment with the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society to have Sparky aborted and spayed. She is still a tiny cat, and in retrospect, she must have been pregnant when I brought her in, as Louis is already neutered. When I made the appointment, they were very careful to avoid the word “abort,” instead preferring to use only “spay.”

So now Sparky seems happy. I would certainly imagine the aborted kittens suffered briefly, but I hope their further unnecessary suffering was avoided through their death. And just because it was an easy decision, it doesn’t mean it wasn’t very sad.