How we can all survive 'kitten season'

A couple years ago, I was leading a volunteer orientation session and mentioned that the summer months at the shelter have become known as kitten season. One gentleman, unfamiliar with the term, raised his hand and asked, “Is that when people hunt kittens?” Fortunately, the answer to that question is “no”!

The term kitten season refers to the time of year when shelters across the country become flooded with pregnant cats and newborn kittens. Starting in late spring and running through early fall, kitten season places a lot of stress on already crowded shelters. At our own shelter in Dover, it’s not unusual to have more than 100 cats and kittens in foster homes at any point in time during the busy summer months.

But why does kitten season happen, and what can you do to help?

Kitten season happens because of the high number of cats that are not spayed or neutered. What many people do not realize is that cats can become pregnant at just a few months old and multiply at an alarming rate. In fact, it has often been said that, by having two litters a year, two cats can multiply into more than 80 million cats over the span of 10 years! Shelters try to combat the pet overpopulation problem by spaying and neutering all animals prior to adoption, but there are still countless animals in homes that are having unwanted litters every year. If your pet is not fixed, reach out to your veterinarian or local animal shelter about low cost spay/neuter clinics.

Just because your own pets are fixed, however, does not mean you won’t someday find yourself caring for kittens! Many of the newborn kittens that are brought into our shelter are from stray or feral cats. If there are stray cats in your neighborhood, there is a chance you could find kittens near your home. If you should find kittens without a mom, do not automatically assume they’ve been abandoned.  If the mother cat is not familiar with people, she will flee when you approach and return to her kittens after you’ve left. If taken away from their mother as newborns and brought to a shelter, kittens have little chance of survival. If you find kittens, contact your local shelter to find out the best way to help them.

You can also help prevent kitten season by contacting local trap, neuter, and return (TNR) programs to help control the feral cats in your neighborhood. TNR programs capture feral cats, fix them, and then release them back where they were found so they continue to live in the environment they are familiar with but are no longer able to reproduce. TNR programs also place a notch in each cat’s ear during the spay/neuter process so, in the future, they can identify cats that have already been fixed. Unlike stray cats, which have come from home environments and are familiar with people, feral cats are essentially wild and will never be house cats. TNR programs are the alternative to bringing these cats to shelters as they are considered unadoptable and will likely be euthanized.

In addition to making sure your pets are fixed, you can help shelters during kitten season by becoming a foster parent. While every shelter runs their foster program differently, at CVHS we require that all kittens be at least 8 weeks old and weigh two pounds before being placed up for adoption. Until that time, they are placed in foster care with volunteers who are willing to feed them, care for them, and socialize them. While it can be emotionally difficult to part with foster kittens when it is time for them to be adopted, foster care is a truly rewarding experience that literally helps save lives.

Don’t think foster care is right for you? Consider making a donation to your local shelter of blankets, towels, kitten food, toys, and KMR milk replacer. And, of course, if you’re looking to make a new addition to your family, consider adoption first. Don’t forget – with an abundance of kittens comes an abundance of mother cats that are also in need of homes!

Alaina Goodnough is the Promotions Coordinator at Cocheco Valley Humane Society in Dover, NH. She lives in Sanford, ME with three parrots, two cats, and two dachshunds. She can be reached at CVHS at devassist@cvhsonline.org