9 Lives Cat Rescue plans to honor Spay/Neuter Awareness Month by having an adoption day this weekend and a spay/neuter day at the end of this month. 

The organization run by Natascha Techen provides safe spay and neuter services at a cheaper price in order to help maintain the stray population in the city of Oxford. 

9 Lives will have an adoption day on Feb. 11 with a choice of over 10-15 cats that are available to adopt. The “Adoption Caturday” will take place at PetSmart in Oxford on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. to 3  p.m. 

Fees to adopt a cat on this day are $70 which includes proper spay/neuter and vaccinations. Potential adopters are required to fill out the adoption questionnaire. Volunteers will also do their best to match a potential cat-owner to the right cat due to understanding the cats’ personalities. There are also foster options available. 

9 Lives and clinic Bottletree Animal Hospital will have a Cat Spay/Neuter Day on Feb. 26 where the fee to ensure the procedure sits at $35 for each cat. A $10 non-refundable deposit is required for booking purposes online and the deposit will go towards the $35 fee. 

At one time, the Ole Miss campus had over 200 stray cats. However, with the help of 9 Lives, the stray population on campus dwindled, due to proper spay/neuter procedures and adoption opportunities. The procedure of catching cats, providing them with proper surgeries, and returning them to where they were found, is the one technique that Techen says keeps the cat population at bay. 

With that, the importance of spay/neuter day is one that Techen insists upon providing the community for many years to come. 

“When you think about the number of animals that are euthanized, it’s usually about 70 to 90 percent,” she said. “So that means there’s a large number of unwanted litters of kittens and even puppies.”

By getting cats spayed and neutered, the number of cats getting euthanized decreases. In a litter, there can be up to 30 cats. 

“We’ve been doing this since 2006,” Techen said. “We had about 100-200 animals per year and it goes up and down. Recently, we did about 400 animals, including nightlife animals, but we did it  with all of the community service that we provide such as providing low cost spay and neuter surgeries throughout the year.”

9 Lives Cat Rescue is also planning an adoption week in March to continue the search for great homes for the community’s neighborhood cats.  

For more information contact 9 Lives Cat Rescue on Facebook. To donate, mail to 9 Lives Cat Rescue, P.O Box 2006, Oxford, MS 38655.