What is Kitten Season?

Spaying and neutering pets is always important, but if there is a time when spay/neuter programming is absolutely critical, it’s kitten season.

Kitten season is the time of year when cats give birth, flooding animal shelters across the nation with homeless litters.

Kitten "season" is really three seasons in one, starting in spring, peaking in late spring or early summer and ending in the fall. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that there’s an easy solution to kitten season! The simplest way to help curb the overwhelming numbers of unwanted cats is to spay and neuter your own cat and encourage others to do the same.

But unwanted cats and kittens, when not left on the street to fend for themselves, often turn up in high volume at shelters. Typically, the adult cats feel the most immediate effects, as they are often overlooked by potential adopters when kittens are in abundance.

The vast numbers of cats that shelters accommodate across the nation during kitten season will not drop overnight. But, there are simple ways that you can make a big impact:

• Spay or neuter your cats. It is extremely difficult to prevent unaltered cats from fulfilling their instinctual drive to mate, even if you do your best to keep them indoors. Kittens as young as 2 months and weighing two pounds can be safely altered. Contact your vet or, if you live in western Pennsylvania, contact Animal Friends’ Low-Cost Spay Neuter program at 1.800.SPAY.PGH for more information.
  
  
• Help homeless cats. Donate supplies, funds or your time to shelters like Animal Friends!
  
  
• Become a foster parent. If you live in western Pennsylvania, call Animal Friends at 412.847.7097 to learn how.
  
  
• Adopt. Open your home to new cat or adopt a playmate for your existing pets!
  
  
• Sponsor a spay. Click here to sponsor the spay of a pet that would otherwise go unaltered.

With proper community support, pet overpopulation is 100% preventable. !