Suppressing Cat Population, Central Bangka Regency Government Holds Mass Sterilization

Illustration - Volunteers from sterilmalabar_bogor show a stray cat that has been sterilized at the Bogor Botanical Gardens, West Java, Friday (17/2/2023). ANTARA PHOTOS/Arif Firmansyah

BANGKA - The government of Central Bangka Regency, Bangka Belitung Islands Province, is promoting a mass cat sterilization program to suppress the population.

"This program continues to be implemented every year and this year it continues to be encouraged to reduce the cat population," said the Head of the Animal Husbandry and Animal Health Division at the Central Bangka Agriculture and Food Security Service, Riyanto in Koba, Antara, Thursday, February 23.

Cat sterilization is an act of removing the reproductive organs so that they cannot produce offspring.

"Cat sterilization is not only able to control the animal population, but also good for their health," he said.

Cat sterilization is carried out to suppress the discarded cat population, especially feral cats.

"There are lots of stray cats out there. We will sterilize them if the cat population cannot be accommodated and is not managed," he explained.

Apart from that, he said, sterilization can also reduce the frequency of urinating indiscriminately for male cats (marking the territory).

Usually, male cats love spraying or marking their territory with urine.

It can also reduce the occurrence of urinary tract infections, especially those that often occur in male cats.

"Then from cat lovers, the complaint is that many of these cats urinate carelessly, this cat has been sterilized and they will no longer urinate carelessly," he said.

Apart from that, there are also many cases of missing cats in Central Bangka and this happens a lot when cats want to mate and are looking for partners.

"If in this condition, the cat usually does not return to the owner's or master's house," he said

For sterile requirements, he said, there are several things that must be met such as testicular organs that have been formed, healthy, and others.

"So far what I have handled, cats that have been sterilized actually have better development and are healthier," he said.