Kitten season is upon us

We've written about this before, but the message bears repeating: Warm weather yields a bumper crop of kittens each year, usually starting in late spring and peaking by summer.

"Considering that in just six short years, an unspayed female cat and her offspring can produce 67,000 kittens, we –- like most animal shelters across the country -– have our hands full during Kitten Season," writes Madeline Bernstein, president of the Society for the Prevention of Animal Cruelty Los Angeles.

What causes the overflow of kittens like the one above, a 3-week-old bottle-feeding at a Los Angeles shelter last April, is another question, according to the Humane Society:

"The warm weather coincides with female cats' heat cycles," says Cory Smith, program manager of animal sheltering issues at the Humane Society of the United States. "When female cats go into heat, male cats come running from near and far. Cats' reproductive hormones are very powerful."

The result: a flood of kittens into animal shelters and rescue groups, making spring and summer the best time to adopt.

You can browse listings of kittens in need of homes at L.A. Animal Services and spcaLA. If you live out of the L.A. area, try Petfinder.

Another way to help out is to become a foster parent, providing a temporary home and bottle-feeding a kitten until it is old enough to be adopted.

-- Tony Barboza

Photo: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Anthrodiva]

I believe an even better way to help is to supply your local shelter with kitten food, cat litter, paper towels, and volunteer time!

[JewelD]

But another way you can help is: Spay or neuter your cat.

Dog owners, this goes for your pet, too.

Skip the breeders - adopt from a shelter or rescue...

Help make LA the country's first no-kill shelter city!

[Mary Ellen]

And Los Angeles HAD a model spay neuter shelter in the past with half the problems they now have but officials decided that was too good so it's now back to the business of warehousing pets.
Another sage of life in LaLaLand!

[B. Yang]

Does Los Angeles have a Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program for feral cats?

[JewelD]

Link to free and low-cost spay/ neuter programs in LA:

http://www.laanimalservices.com/serv_bigfix.htm

[Kate]

On a blog supposedly devoted to animal welfare, this is a pretty odd blanket statement:

"The result: a flood of kittens into animal shelters and rescue groups, making spring and summer the best time to adopt."

Yes, if you're looking exclusively for a kitten. But most cat-savvy people will tell you you're better off getting an older cat, one with a determined personality that's easy to assess (so you pick the cat that's right for your home and family -- not just the "cutest" one)

I've known kittens that were cute as could be for a month or two, only to turn into holy terrors as they grapple with kitty adolescence -- not the best fit for a family.

In a couple of short months these kittens will be cats. Why not give them the best boost you can for their ENTIRE lives, given the fact that you have an audience here?