Freqently Asked Questions and Answers.

Where is your shelter or office?

Open Paws doesn’t have a place of business. It exists as a network of people who help each other to help animals. If you need help with something that isn’t mentioned on the website, contact us with your question and we’ll try to help.

Because we don’t have a shelter, we can’t accept abandoned or unwanted animals - or take responsibility for your pets - for you.

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Do you have a vet clinic that provides charity care?

We have volunteer vets who offer their help, when they can, for animals in need but these vets don't run a clinic for routine pet check ups. We run a spay and neuter service to help control the ever growing population of cats and we offer a clinic service for those who work with street cats on their compounds.

If you would like veterinary advice, you are welcome to send your question to askthevet@openpaws.org. Our advice is free and we’ll help were we can. But please remember that a vet will often need to examine an animal, or run tests, to diagnose a problem so we are not always able to prescribe treatment from an email. And if your pet is ill or injured you should take it to your own vet without delay.

Inshallah, in the future we would like to be able to offer emergency vet assistance for injured strays or abandoned animals but we’re sorry we can’t offer that yet.

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You mentioned you “provide education and guidance for animal care”, what programmes do you run?

Apart from the veterinary advice line we provide education for animal care in a number of ways. On a daily basis, through our own actions and word of mouth advice we hope to spread a better understanding of the animals who live with us. For example, we often have people asking for kittens as a gift or asking if we de-claw cats, or to can make their dog stop barking…By explaining about responsible animal ownership and care we can help those people and the animals.

More formally, we can also provide educational talks on animal care, public or family health and animal management. If you let us know the audience age and topic of interest we may be able to design something especially for you.

If you would like to start “responsible pet awareness” work in your compound or school, we should be able to help with ideas for flyers and other information.

If you have any other ideas or questions about animal care and health, let us know.

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Can you arrange to have my cat neutered?

Absolutely. Neutered cats liver longer, healthier and less stressed lives. Neutering (also called sterilizing or de-sexing) is the most effective and humane way to control the ever expanding cat population. The operation is a simple day procedure and can be done from when they are just 2-3 months old. Our prices are 100SR for girls and 50SR for boys.
askthevet@openpaws.org for an appointment.

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If I adopt a cat though you, can you arrange to have it de-clawed?

De-clawing cats is not just a manicure – it is surgically cutting off the last joint of the cat’s toes. Cats do scratch on occasions, it’s a natural behaviour, but having toes is natural too. Would you adopt a child to parents who would cut his toes or fingers off, because they were annoyed by the child’s behaviour? Gentle handling, careful training, trimming nails and providing scratching posts, will prevent cats from scratching in ways that cause a nuisance. We can’t condone the mutilation of any animal for someone’s convenience.
Many people don't realise that de-clawing often leads to behavioural problems; biting and other nervous disorders and / or litter box avoidance. It can often make things worse.

Cats have claws – if you don’t want the claws, don’t get a cat.

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I'm leaving the kingdom, can I take my pets with me?

Taking your pet with your is often easier than you may think. But it does require some planning – don’t expect to be able to just pack your cat-carrier with the rest of your carry on luggage! The following web sites have information for the countries listed, there’s lots of other information of the net for other countries too.

There are vets in town who can help arrange export and health certificates - contact us for their details. In some cases it is often easier to use an agent in the country you are traveling to, they can then apply for the import licence at the other end.

For more information or help contact duke_aileen@yahoo.com

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I'm leaving for vacation. Who can look after my pet?

The best idea is usually to have someone care for your pet at your house. It’s the least stressful thing for the pets, since they will already be missing “their people” this way they can stay in a familiar environment. My gardener looks after my cats, some of my friends use their housekeepers or nannies. If you know anyone who can stay and house sit this can be great too. We may be able to put you in touch with a responsible house sitter, contact us with the dates and details, we’ll try to help.

Please remember that looking after a pet isn’t the same as looking at a pet. Remind your sitter to watch your pet carefully for any health problems and have emergency contact numbers and plans in place for them in case something does go wrong.

Some of the vet clinics / pet stores have kennels and allow holiday boarding. But check them first - some have only small cages, to keep pets in and no exercise or play areas. We are on the lookout for good boarding kennels – or a sponsor that wants to start one – let us know if you hear of any.
Also remember, you will need to book in advance during popular holiday times.

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I'm trying to re-home a litter of abandoned kittens / pups.
How can I make sure the new owners will get them neutered so this doesn't happen again?

The only way to guarantee there won’t be another generation of unwanted pets is to neuter these guys before they are adopted. Even in developed countries, the majority of unwanted dogs and cats come from “accidental” pregnancies and most of those situations are with owners who promised to get their pets neutered after adoption. Accidents do happen but more often than not people are forgetful – on occasion, down right untrustworthy.

The good news is that you can have the pups / kittens neutered from just 8 weeks old. That way, they have a week or two to recover with you before they go to their new home at the ideal age of 9-10 weeks (in time for their first vaccinations). I find young ones recover faster and bounce back quicker than having the operation when they are mature. If you want more information about young age neutering, contact us and we’ll put you in touch with one of our animal doctors for more details.

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Our compound has so many cats they are using Pest Control to eliminate them. What can I do?

Firstly, find out for sure the policy of your compound for animal control. If Pest Control is being used to reduce the cat population, try to get an idea of how many cats are involved and how bad the situation is. Many compounds use Pest Control and culling because it’s the only option that has ever been offered to them before - while cats keep breeding out of control, culling is used as a substitute for the lack of natural predators.

Before I started work, Pest Control used to cull 80-100 cats / year on my compound. Now we follow a compassionate control programme, we have just a small, controlled number of healthy cats and no further need for Pest Control! It’s simple and it works – but it needs a few caring and dedicated people to help. If you think you could volunteer to help in your compound, contact us and we’ll do our best to help you too.

Even if we can't change your compound's policy, you can reduce the number of targets for Pest Control by stopping the constant supply of kittens.

All the details about compassionate cat control are on the website www.CompoundCats.com.
Or contact us if you need further help.

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Can I buy pedigree pets with Open Paws?

We don't sell any companion animals. We do have pedigree animals that are abandoned, or need re-homing from time to time. We also get some of those beautiful white fluffy cats and little “hand-bag” pups for adoption too – though they sell for hundreds of riyals in pet shops those aren’t technically pedigree, just fashionable. And we’re happy to adopt any of them, like all the other loveable mutts and multi-coloured kitties, because we believe that each animal, regardless of its colour or size, has a right to a loving home. We believe animals shouldn’t be thought of as commodities or collectors items.

Be careful when you select a pet because of its breeding. Most selective breeding produces animals which conform to a certain look, with little regard for its overall health and wellbeing.

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Do you work with animal breeders?

We don't encourage breeding of companion animals. We already have too many un-wanted animals - especially cats - why would we recommend making the situation worse?

There are no regulations in the kingdom to control pet shops and breeders who sell animals for profits; unfortunately they often do so in very unhealthy situations – for the babies and the mother. Buying those animals just rewards the business owners for treating the animals without respect and proper care. We don’t want any part of treating animals like baby machines.

Some people let their own pets breed (sometimes by accident) without any understanding of the health risks to the pets – e.g. feline AIDs , pyometra, possible caesarians, etc. Sometimes people think of animals in human terms as though their pet is married and starting a family. The reality is that animals are not people: most female cats, for example never “choose a partner” before the street Toms find her, pregnancy and birth – while natural – are not without health risks and strain to the mother and after the babies are born she will stress when you take them off her. If you still think that’s sweet, remember too that, for every new cat born, that’s one less home available for those we have listed here and potentially one more cat for Pest Control.