I am writing to solicit input to solve a problem which I am researching for my cat rescue agency, "The Whiskers Foundation" (www.mywhiskers.com). The Whiskers Foundation is a non-profit organization which I founded several years ago dedicated to tackling the toughest problems which face cats and cat rescue people.
Currently, I am searching for an herbal contraceptive which will be safe and effective and which will slow the fertility rate among feral cats. The Whiskers Foundation is headquartered in a rural area in Northern Nevada, and in this area cats are routinely shot, drowned, poisoned, starved, and generally abused in all manner of ways not just because people are cruel, but because they are overwhlemed with cats. Spay/neuter has always been the mantra for cat rescue people, but this is an extremely costly and time consuming method of control which is impractical in rural areas, and only partly effective in urban ones.
Very few cat rescue people or veterinarians I've met have ever even thought about the possibility of a contraceptive for cats. About 6 months ago, I started researching the topic on the internet, and, indeed, I found an organization called The Society for Contraception in Cats and Dogs. At the end of June, they are having their first annual convention in Breckenridge, Colorado, and all types of scientists from all over the world will converge there and discuss their projects, mostly which center around various uses of recombinant DNA to manufacture a contraceptive which could either be injected into animals or mixed into their food.
Unfortunately, the completion of the research and FDA approval are probably years away. However, one of the missions of The Whiskers Foundation is to work with practitioners of alternative medicines and explore avenues of wellness which allopathic medicines fail to address. I often use herbal medicines in my work with cats, so I took the idea of animal contraception one step further, and began exploring herbal alternatives to allopathic approaches. I was searching for an herb which had been used as a folk remedy in native american tribes for contraception, and would also be safe for cats, and, after looking at a number of articles, I began to wonder about Blue Cohosh.
Now the questions I am faced with: 1. Is it safe for cats? 2. Is it effective for cats? 3. What dose would be most effective at a safe level 4. How to deliver it in food. 5. Is there perhaps a safer and more effective herb, or is Blue Cohosh really the best choice?
A contraceptive for cats would be like "The Holy Grail" for rescue people. It would not be a substitute for spay/neuter, but it would address the issue until a more effective, permanent contraceptive could be found which could be delivered in food. And even then, it might provide an inexpensive source of contraception which could be widely deployed by nearly anyone without regard to patents, commercial price gouging, etc.
I am hoping that someone on your discussion lists, would be knowledgeableenough on this topic to help my research and perhaps advise me in conducting trials.
Thanks.
James Howard
Executive Director
The Whiskers Foundation
www.mywhiskers.com
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