HoundsGood: Chronicles of a Virtual Volunteer

Kitten season is almost here. When it hits, and the weeks following, shelters are overwhelmed with the numbers of litters of kittens and pregnant cats that end up at the pounds. Pregnant cats are surrendered because their owner cannot have more than one cat according to their lease, or cannot care for kittens. Or, sometimes its just that the neighborhood cat that wanders around happens to get pregnant. Someone in the neighborhood called her in because she was being a nuisance to the neighborhood while she was in heat. Kittens are surrendered at the pound because people just cannot handle them or they were found abandoned in a hiding place outside. Many people think “surely they will find a home.”

Not always true. Last season, many kittens were euthanized. Rescues did not have the capacity to take them all.

When does Kitten Season usually start? I asked volunteers of Winging Cat Rescue, and was told that it varies throughout the country, “A cat’s cycle has a lot to do with the amount of light they are exposed to, days are longer in the summer, so they go into heat more often.” This does NOT mean that a cat cannot get pregnant at other times of the year. It just means that more cats are in heat at the same time and things snowball. If there is an available male around much earlier than that, a cat can go into heat at any time. Kitten season in southern states starts in March. One volunteer reported that “Kitten season in Georgia runs about from mid April to the mid-end of October.” However, it seems to be starting earlier and earlier all the time.

Perhaps, this is due to people continuing to delay spaying a cat until they are 6-8 months old. Six to Eight month old cats have been known to get pregnant or give birth to a litter at their tender age. Also, people who have indoor cats or cats that “always come back home at night,” think that their cat cannot get pregnant or impregnate another cat. That is untrue also. Even if a cat lives as a single cat in a house, nature finds a way. When a female is in heat, or a male cat smells a female in the distance, they get an adrenaline rush. Its very easy for a normally sedentary cat to strategically slip out the door between your legs, or to scratch through a screen.

Last year, I remember vividly that shelter managers had a difficult time finding homes and rescues for their kittens. Since kittens are everywhere. People prefer the “free kittens” handed out because they are free. Little do they know that the free kitten will cost infinitely more to them in the long run, versus a cat they will have to pay a small fee for at the shelter, but the fee includes age appropriate vaccinations, and if the kitten is over a certain amount of weeks, spay surgery, to make them a healthier cat going into it. Many kittens were euthanized.

What can I do to help?

1) Spay or neuter the cats in your household that are over 12 weeks of age NOW. No excuses.

2) Think about the cat(s) that seem to make your yard your home. Trap and take them to be spayed or neutered also once you are sure they are not the neighbor’s cat.

3) Tell your neighbor.

4) If there is someone in your family or neighborhood that would like to spay but is not able to because of time commitments, offer to drop off or pick up their cat from the vets for them so they only have to drive one way.

5) Educate yourself on the lowcost or free spay/neuter programs in your area geared to individuals on a fixed income and have it readily available when someone raises the objection to spay because of their situation.

6) If you are sincerely thinking about adding a kitten to your family, check your local Animal Control first. If you don’t already own a cat, sometimes kittens do best when adopted in pairs.

Saving Shelter Pets – rescues dogs and cats from shelters, offers a spay and neuter certificate program to targetted areas in Georgia, sponsors a Southern Ohio Spay/Neuter clinic, fund Trap/Neuter/Release for ferals.

Alley Cat Allies – Resources on feral cats.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.