It’s kitten season, people, the time each year when oodles of tiny bundles of fur are born. They seem to appear magically in our area, especially during spring and summer.
It’s a massive problem for local animal shelters and rescues, which become inundated with new arrivals.
Cats are almost as prolific as rabbits when is comes to breeding. A female can reach sexual maturity and get pregnant when she’s only 4 months old.
Talk about babies having babies!
What’s more, a single female can have several litters annually, and her typical litter will be four kittens. Additionally, during the course of a year’s time, her kittens and her kittens’ kittens can also have litters.
You do the math.
The solution, of course, is spaying and neutering.
If you own a cat, even if it lives indoors, it’s important to have this done. But it’s critical for outdoor cats, whether it’s feral or a pet.
According to the Humane Society of the United States, tens of millions of unowned felines – friendly strays, abandoned pets and unsocialized feral cats – live outdoors and contribute to breeding cycles.
We can all play a part in combating this overpopulation, starting in our own communities, by contacting local trap-neuter-return organizations, like the Feline Folks in Sun City Center, Hillsborough County’s Pet Resource Center or the Humane Society of Tampa Bay. Some local rescuers also do this privately.
If you’re local and need information on how to trap a cat, get it spayed or neutered for a donation, and then have it returned back to you for continued feeding and care, call Feline Folks at 813-938-4840.
You can also visit www.humanesocietytampa.org or call 813-876-7138 for information on the Humane Society’s TNR program or visit the Pet Resource Center website at https://bit.ly/3J3IplP/. The PRC’s phone number is (813) 744-5660.
If you decide to take a litter to a local shelter or rescue, please don’t remove kittens from their mother before they’re 8 weeks old, so they can receive ideal, neonatal care. At that age, they can be safely spayed or neutered.
And if you can, consider fostering a cat and/or her kittens to help out the shelter or rescue for few weeks or so.
Folks who need to have their own cats fixed can apply for a $10 voucher to cover the cost of the procedure.
Here are some places that accept the voucher: ACT Spay/Neuter Clinic, Tampa, 813-250-3900; All About Animals, Seffner, 813-681-8387; Harmony Vet Care, Tampa and Brandon, 813-871-0850; Humane Society of Tampa Bay, Tampa, 813-870-3304; and TLC Pet Snip, Seffner, 863-686-7647.
It’s easy to dismiss this issue as not our problem, but I urge you to remember, cats, like any animal are God’s creatures. As far as I’m concerned, we have a moral obligation to help them out whenever we can.
Lois Kindle is a freelance writer and columnist for The Observer News. Contact her at lekindle@aol.com.
