[Silverfoxkit]

I have some serious concerns that some friends of ours, a married couple, are trotting down the path to becoming animal hoarders. They have little money and only live in a very small trailer, and until recently they only had one unspayed female cat. Now they also own an unneutered male cat, only a kitten himself but he has already fathered one litter, two of which they plan to keep. None of the cats are going to be spayed or neutered. They cannot afford to. I know them well enough to know that when the next litter comes along they will want to keep another one or two... you can see where the kitty math starts to become scary.

I don't want to offend our friends, but over breeding is a serious problem. There are quite enough unwanted cats out there, and the last thing the cats or anyone else needs is this kind of unchecked breeding. We do not have the money to pay for other people's pets to be spayed or neutered. We have our own kitten that we will be having to get fixed soon enough.

What can I do? Does anyone know of any spaying or neutered programs in Louisiana that could maybe help them out before the breeding explosion happens? How could I go about even offering such a program without offending them?

[LadySam]

Here is a website listing free and low cost spay/neuter programs listed by state.
http://www.arc-na.org/resources-services/free-or-low-cost-spayneuter-services-available-listed-by-state
Maybe of some benefit to you or them, I understand the financial limitations but if they don't get a handle on it now it may soon be way out of control.
You may have no choice but to put it to them point blank, the fact that unmanaged, and unproperly cared for animals pose a health danger, not only to other animals, but to humans as well.
Any offer to help should show them that you care.
Good Luck

[Wondergirl]

Also, check with local shelters about free or low cost neutering. Alley Cat Allies and Best Friends might be other resources. And it's not fair to this couples' cats to parent over and over again.

[joypulv]

Tell them the kitty math point blank. Most people don't realize it until they hear the numbers:

A pair of breeding cats and their offspring can produce 420,000 kittens over a seven-year period.

Of the approximately 146 million cats in the United States, about half are feral/unowned.

In California alone, more than $50 million per year (coming largely from taxes) is spent by animal control agencies and shelters for cat-related expenses.

Every day, 10,000 humans are born here, while 70,000 kittens and puppies are born. Each year almost 9 million dogs and cats are euthanized in shelters in the U.S. because there are not enough homes. In California alone, 750,000 to one million animals are euthanized for this reason. Indeed, more than 60% of the animals impounded in California shelters die there.