Pocket of Poo, Pocket of Praise: July 2013

Did you know kittens have a season?

While it is not a true season, it is the time of year that the majority of kittens are born.

Cosette

Biker Bunch Foster Kittens

It usually runs between mid to late spring and early to mid fall. I observed this first hand when I was working full time at the shelter. When I started in the winter, there were not many kittens there. But by early summer, the kitten room was overflowing into the lobby, there were kittens in almost all the foster homes and our intake room seemed to be bursting.

Female cats (or queens) are polyestrous, meaning they have several heat cycles in a year. While this means they can have kittens any time of the year, they do not go into heat when the temperature is too cold. But weather fluctuates and there are exceptions to kitten season.

Pedro

Carmilla, Selene & St. Germaine

A little over two months after a warm snap in the middle of the winter during the second year I was working at the shelter, we had an influx of kittens being brought in. One with a frost bitten tail that half came off and another with frost bitten ears that lost their tips. Sadly, some of them did not make it.

Link

Since my bestie and I foster for a shelter, my house has seen many kittens coming through during kitten season. While they're adorable and exciting to have around, they're also a lot of work. Along with growing and socializing, they often need medications, have behavioral issues to work on, are messy, get into trouble and frequently manage to escape from whatever room they're in. The most heartbreaking part of fostering is when one of our little ones die.

Mugsy

Many times, when kittens are brought in without their mama, they are too young to be weened. Bottle feeding does not build their immune system like mama's milk does and they quite easily become sick and sometimes die. Some who come in with the mama have trouble adjusting to the new environment. Others, are just not strong enough.

This is why getting cats spayed and neutered is so very important. Many shelters and vets will have times when the offer special rates on spaying and neutering pets. I support organizations like Triple R Pets that have TNR (Trap Neuter and Return) programs to help keep the feral cat population from continuing to grow.