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Managing Kitten Season: Supporting Overwhelmed Shelters and Rescues
06May’24
Managing Kitten Season: Supporting Overwhelmed Shelters and Rescues
ATLANTA, May 6, 2024 – For some shelters, kitten season is already in full-swing, while for others it’s still a trickle. For some, it never fully ended over the winter. Shelter Animals Count (SAC), the most trusted and current source for animal sheltering data, shares information about what kitten season is, what the data shows and how people can help.
As the name implies, kitten season is the time of year when unspayed female cats have most of their kittens, and it generally occurs from May to November, peaking in May and June. As adorable as an abundance of kittens sounds, sadly a tsunami of kittens strain the resources of an already overburdened animal sheltering system. Newborn kittens are among the most at-risk animals coming into shelters. Kittens, especially newborns, are extremely susceptible to illness and require 24-hour feeding and care to help them survive.
SAC data from 2023 showed nearly half (47%) of felines entering shelters were kittens under five months, representing 1,580,000 of the 3,300,000 cats. This means nearly a quarter of the total animal intake in 2023 was kittens, so intake numbers could be vastly reduced through increased spay/neuter.
“Individuals can help during kitten season (and throughout the year) by fostering kittens in need, donating supplies to local kitten nurseries, spaying or neutering their pets, and choosing to adopt cats and kittens from shelters or rescue groups,” said Stephanie Filer, Executive Director of Shelter Animals Count. “And even those without their own pet cats can help by learning about and engaging in trap-neuter-return (TNR) programs to reduce the population of free-roaming cats.”
“Some shelters have kitten nurseries with staff and volunteers to care for young kittens, while others have robust foster programs with trained volunteer fosters who care for the kittens in their homes,” Filer added. “Other shelters are not set up to care for newborn kittens at all. If you’re interested in helping, it’s best to reach out to your local shelter to see how you can offer support.”
How you can help:
Get pet cats spayed or neutered by four months of age to prevent more litters from being born. Female kittens are old enough to have their own kittens by four months, so it’s important to get them fixed as soon as possible. Don’t give up if you receive a pricey quote for spay/neuter from a local veterinarian. Call around and seek out low-cost spay/neuter options through your local shelters or rescues.
Adopt from a shelter or rescue if you’re looking for a kitten. Pets from shelters and rescues are generally already spayed/neutered, vaccinated and often microchipped. With the rising cost of vet care, this could save you hundreds of dollars, and will ensure your pet doesn’t add to the kitten season crisis.
Help friends, neighbors and relatives who are giving away kittens connect with spay/neuter resources. Sometimes when people give away all their kittens, they feel they’ve found them good homes and aren’t motivated to get the parents spayed or neutered. Helping people find resources like this Last Litter Program helps to end the cycle of kittens in need of homes.
Sign up to foster kittens through your local shelter or rescue. Fostering kittens is fun and saves lives. Not all kittens in need are bottle babies – some just need care and socialization until they are old enough to be spayed or neutered, vaccinated and placed for adoption. Shelters provide training, supplies and support for their fosters.
Donate kitten care supplies to your local shelter or rescue. Many have online wish lists for items like kitten formula, warmers, bottles and cleaning supplies.
Learn about and volunteer to help with trap/neuter/return (TNR) programs in your area. This is a humane population management plan where outdoor cats are trapped, checked by a veterinarian, spayed or neutered, ear tipped (to indicate that they’ve been sterilized) and returned to the care of the community.
And as difficult as it sounds, it’s best to avoid automatically scooping up stray kittens, unless they are sick, injured or their mother is no longer around to care for them. Found kittens are most likely to survive with the nurturing of their mother. Then when they are more than eight weeks old, contact your local shelter or rescue for spay/neuter resources.
There are many detailed resources for how to determine if kittens are abandoned or need help, including this one from the Humane Society of the United States.
In 2023, 6.5 million dogs and cats entered animal shelters and rescue organizations. Shelters across the country are full, and are now entering their fourth year of adoptions and other outcomes not keeping up with intake. Because many shelters and rescues are operating at- or over-capacity, overall intake is likely lower than it would be if space were available. Download the full 2023 Annual Analysis report PDF here.
About Shelter Animals Count (SAC): SAC is a collaborative, industry-led nonprofit organization formed by a diverse group of animal welfare agencies to create and share The National Database of sheltered animal statistics, providing facts and enabling insights that will improve animal welfare throughout the country.