‘Cattoo Challenge’ Promotes Spay/Neuter In A Permanent Way

InnovationScience‘Cattoo Challenge’ Promotes Spay/Neuter In A Permanent WayByJen Reeder,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Jen Reeder is an award-winning journalist who specializes in pets.Follow AuthorMay 08, 2026, 12:09pm EDTAnimal shelters are inundated with kittens during the warmer months of "kitten season," when unspayed cats give birth to multiple litters.Courtesy of Temma MartinA former animal control officer is so passionate about the need to spay and neuter cats that he’s found a creative way to literally draw attention to it.The “Cattoo Challenge” happened by chance, according to Daniel Ettinger, an instructor for animal welfare professionals and host of the “Keep It Humane” podcast. Back in December of 2023, Ettinger was teaching a course about how animal welfare is connected to human health and welfare at the Military Police School in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Attendees included miliary police officers, veterinarians, veterinary technicians and social workers.In the session on hoarding, Ettinger grabbed a dry-erase marker and scrawled a picture of two cats on the whiteboard. The idea was for attendees to calculate how many kittens the cats would have without spay/neuter surgeries to prevent reproduction — which would illustrate how quickly a caregiver could become overwhelmed by an influx of kittens.Daniel Ettinger drew two cats on a whiteboard as part of an exercise to highlight how quickly intact cats can multiply.Courtesy of Daniel Ettinger“I go over to the whiteboard, and I just draw two cats on the board — stick figure drawings — and then we start doing the exercise,” he recalled. “One of the students just happened to say, ‘I’m going to get your cats as a tattoo.’”Ettinger smiled at the nice sentiment but was surprised the next day when he was flying home to Southern California and got a text from the student. Sure enough, he and another student had taken a photo of Ettinger’s drawing of t...