What Happens When You Don’t Neuter Your Cats?

Year 4

Wow! That’s a lot of cats! But now I have a question… How did we come up with these numbers? And, what mathematical processes were used to determine the population increase over the four years? Addition? Subtraction? Multiplication? Division?Addition? Subtraction? Multiplication? Division?

Here’s the math…  Year 1 1 female x 3 litters x 6 kittens= 18 kittens 1 female x 3 litters x 6 kittens= 18 kittens 2 adult cats + 18 kittens = 20 total felines 2 adult cats + 18 kittens = 20 total felines ½ x 20 total felines = 10 females ½ x 20 total felines = 10 females Assuming half of the kittens born are female, and that females begin having kittens at 1 year old. Assuming half of the kittens born are female, and that females begin having kittens at 1 year old.

Continued…  Year 2 10 females x 3 litters x 6 kittens = 180 kittens10 females x 3 litters x 6 kittens = 180 kittens 20 adult cats kittens = 200 total felines year 220 adult cats kittens = 200 total felines year 2 ½ (200 felines) = 100 females½ (200 felines) = 100 females

Continued…  Year females x 3 litters x 6 kittens = 1, females x 3 litters x 6 kittens = 1, adult cats + 1,800 kittens = 2,000 total felines year 3200 adult cats + 1,800 kittens = 2,000 total felines year 3 ½ (2,000 felines) = 1,000 females½ (2,000 felines) = 1,000 females  Year 4 1,000 females x 3 litters x 6 kittens= 18,0001,000 females x 3 litters x 6 kittens= 18,000 2,000 adult cats + 18,000 kittens = 20,000 total felines year 42,000 adult cats + 18,000 kittens = 20,000 total felines year 4

How can we communicate these numbers? A diagram of cats (like the one we looked at earlier) is one way to show the increase in cats each year But what if you do not have a computer, and there are too many cats to draw? What is another visual representation of the cat population numbers?

Cat Population Growth

Something else to think about: What about the first 2 cats?  Together, the first two cats produced 45 kittens over the 4 years 3 litters x 6 kittens per litter x 4 years =3 litters x 6 kittens per litter x 4 years = 45 kittens  But indirectly, they produced a population of 19,998 cats, in addition to themselves, since each of their female offspring also had 45 kittens per year  This doesn’t even include the number of kittens each of the male offspring can produce each year (potentially thousands!)

Now it’s time to apply this concept to a canine scenario…  Dog and Cat fertility rates: Average number of litters a fertile cat can produce in one year: 3 Average number of litters a fertile cat can produce in one year: 3 Average number of kittens in aAverage number of kittens in a feline litter: 6 In one year, that makes 18 new kittens.In one year, that makes 18 new kittens. In four years, one female cat and her offspring can theoretically produce 20,000 cats.In four years, one female cat and her offspring can theoretically produce 20,000 cats.

Continued… Average number of litters a Average number of litters a fertile dog can produce in fertile dog can produce in one year: 2 Average number of puppies in a canine litter: 8Average number of puppies in a canine litter: 8 In one year, that makes 16 new puppies.In one year, that makes 16 new puppies. Question: In four years, how many puppies can one female dog and her offspring theoretically produce?Question: In four years, how many puppies can one female dog and her offspring theoretically produce?

Let’s see how you did…

Dogs Using a litter size of eight puppies, and two litters per year...