Readers ask about cat contraception, big G and more

Feline fecundity

One shot of an experimental gene therapy kept female cats kitten-free for at least two years, Erin Garcia de Jesús reported in “Gene therapy prevents cat pregnancy” (SN: 7/15/23 & 7/29/23, p. 10).

Reader Christie Borem asked why the researchers focused on female cats.

It only takes one “pesky” male cat to impregnate multiple females, says reproductive biologist David Pépin of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. If male contraceptives alone were used, nearly every male cat would need to receive treatment to prevent pregnancies in females. But each female cat that receives contraception is one less female giving birth to litters, regardless of the male population, Pépin says.