Influx of kittens during warm months leads to need for better animal welfare

What is Kitten Season? During warm weather months, stray cats will reproduce at higher rates, leading to increased litters of kittens and an influx entering animal shelters.

It’s a challenging time for local shelters who are overrun with cats and kittens and need community support to help save their lives.

What can you do if you find a litter of kittens? Do not kit-nap. Leave the kitten alone, and wait eight hours! Eventually neuter or spay the kitten to not overburden the shelters.

How can you help ease the burden put on shelters? Donations and fosters are always needed!

Alessandra Navidad, CEO of the Arizona Animal Welfare League (AAWL) joined us alongside two of the league’s kittens, Desi and Lucy.

“What has been amazing is that cat adoptions have been outpacing dog adoptions for the past three years,” Navidad said.

The warm weather brings in about 1,300 to 1,400 kittens over a 3 to 4 month period of time to AAWL, according to Navidad. These two kittens were dropped off in their lobby and will be transported to their PetSmart location over the weekend.

“What we try to tell people is if you see kittens, and they’re by themselves, typically the mom is going to be nearby, and she might be out foraging for food, she might be out hunting. Her priority is to feed them, and so what we typically say is to just wait at least eight hours. If the mom doesn’t come back, then obviously you’ll want to take them into a shelter,” Navidad said.

Another form of animal shelter is called “catch-and-release,” and Navidad said AAWL partners with a few. Those organizations work to catch feral cats, spay or neuter them, and then release them again in order to slow the breeding of wild kittens.

In terms of the past five years during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, Navidad said for people who experience a hard time with housing, cats are more likely to be adopted because they are inexpensive, easy pets and are small. The downside is that those who experience housing issues will turn in cats because they have to surrender them.

On the bright side, AAWL has an upcoming kitten pop-up shop at PetSmart for National Adoption week!