How does Tampa Bay fare with ‘kitten season’?
It’s the time of year when animal shelters are inundated with cats: pregnant cats, baby cats, hormonal cats.
Aka, kitten season.
“Spring and summer are the classical times for shelters getting overwhelmed with kittens that need homes,” said Julie Levy, a professor of shelter medicine at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, in an email to the Tampa Bay Times.
Felines start going into heat in January as daylight begins to linger longer, and pregnancy rates peak in March. Cats give birth nine weeks after fertilization, and they can have multiple pregnancies in one year, meaning spring and summer months welcome a plethora of kittens.
The spike in births causes animal shelters to be flooded with cats, and many can’t keep up; there are too many cats and not enough adopters, said Sherry Silk, CEO of the Humane Society of Tampa Bay.
“It’s a terrible time of year for animal shelters,” Silk said. “It really is.”
One solution many shelters implement is a trap, neuter, vaccinate and return program for feral cats. People in the community can safely trap a cat, bring it to a shelter where a veterinarian will sterilize and vaccinate it, and the cat can be adopted out or returned to where it was found. This process helps cut down on feral cats, but it only scratches the surface, according to Silk.
As summer months near and kitten season approaches its peak, here are a few things to know about how to handle feral felines.
How do feral cats affect Tampa Bay’s ecosystems?
A single free-ranging cat may kill 100 or more birds and mammals per year, making them a major threat to native wildlife, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
These cats are also known to spread disease, including toxoplasmosis, which can kill other mammals.
While the wildlife commission doesn’t play a major role in handling the populations, its policy is “to protect native wildlife from predation, disease and other impacts presented by feral and free-ranging cats.”
The agency’s website says not to feed outdoor cats, yet Silk encourages people to put out food.
“If their tummies are full because someone puts out a bowl of food for them every night … and they don’t have the hormones racing through, they’re much less likely to kill birds,” Silk said.
But “it’s more complicated” than that, said Grant Sizemore, the director of invasive species programs at the American Bird Conservancy, a nonprofit that conserves wild birds and their habitats.
Anyone who’s played with a cat — like with a feather toy or fake mice — knows that cats engage in predatory behaviors. “We call it play,” Sizemore said.
Wild cats engage in the same behavior, except instead of toy mice and birds, they attack living wildlife, Sizemore said.
Does climate play any role in kitten season?
Kitten births are controlled by daylight, not temperature, said UF’s Levy. Still, she said, climate plays a role.
Warm weather brings more people outside — which creates opportunities for more interactions between humans and cats — and encourages more cats to wander out in public spaces, Levy said.
It also enhances the chances that kittens survive.
A newborn litter that loses its mother doesn’t have a high chance of surviving on its own, according to Jasmine Simmons, a veterinarian for Hillsborough County Pet Resource Center.
“Kittens are extremely fragile,” Simmons said. “They don’t do a great job, like most mammals do, of being able to produce their own body heat. So even in Florida, even in the hottest temperatures, they can still sometimes get too cold.”
The shelter has multiple incubators and other warming devices to keep the kittens alive.
What role do Tampa Bay shelters play?
Since the implementation of the Humane Society of Tampa Bay’s trap, neuter, vaccinate and return program in 2007, Silk estimates the shelter has spayed and neutered over 87,000 feral cats. People in the area today can bring feral cats to the shelter’s two surgeons, who sterilize about 100 cats every week.
“You would think with that many cats being spayed or neutered, we would have this under control,” Silk said. “But it’s not. It’s getting worse each and every year.”
Silk said her shelter sees many cats who’ve been abandoned by people who move away.
“For whatever reason, when they think of moving, whether it’s across town or out of state, they’ll take the family dogs, but they will leave the cat behind,” Silk said.
A similar pattern happens at Hillsborough County’s shelter, where doctors spay and neuter five times a week. Simmons said it takes about 30 seconds to neuter a male cat, as it’s a minimally invasive surgery, and three to four minutes to spay a female cat. (Simmons’ record is 52 sterilizations in one day.)
Last week, just a few adult cats were in the “cat condos” when you first entered the shelter, available for adoption, and a 2-day-old litter was in one of the incubators in the back, keeping warm. While it felt empty, Simmons said this is just the beginning.
“Right now, we’re still ahead of it,” Simmons said. “Once it gets to be in the heat of kitten season, it’s going to be absolutely full.”
Last summer, the shelter reached 500% capacity.
What to do if you encounter cats in the wild?
When encountering a feral feline, check to see if one of its ears is clipped, an international sign that a cat has been vaccinated and sterilized, Silk said. And if you’d like to trap a cat to have it spayed or neutered, the Humane Society rents live traps for $5, and they’ll show you how to use it.
But no matter how much you want to help the little creatures out, the best care for them is to keep litters with their moms, Simmons said.
“They require very, very tailored care. And the best to provide that care is their mom,” Simmons said. ”Although that may seem a little bit alarming to people, it’s better not to just go and grab that litter of kittens, because you’re probably stealing them from mom, who’s doing an amazing job taking care of them, and giving them things that we never can.”
