Creature feature

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/DUSTY HIGGINS
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/DUSTY HIGGINS

To every thing there is a season - from March to late fall, that means kittens. Lots of kittens.

“Kitten season” refers to the time of year when unspayed female cats are most likely to breed and have kittens. “What happens is that everybody seems to get pregnant at once,” says Debbie Heller, a volunteer with Friends of the Little Rock Animal Village’s Kitty Krew. Every year about this time, the city’s animal shelter experiences a boom in the number of kittens and pregnant cats brought to the facility.

“We could easily get in 10 litters of kittens a day for weeks,” Heller says. Litter size typically ranges from four to seven kittens.

During each of the first two months (March and April) of the 2013 kitten season, Heller says, about 200 cats and kittens were dropped off at the Little Rock Animal Village. For the remaining months of kitten season, which usually runs through October, the shelter took in an average of 150 cats and kittens per month.

Female cats breed prolifically, with cats as young as 4 months old cycling into “estrus” - what people commonly refer to as “heat” - the 21-day period during which estrogen levels rise and the cat is compelled to breed. If the female cat doesn’t find a mate and get pregnant, her hormone levels return to normal only temporarily.

“Cats go in and and out of heat every few weeks until they breed,” says Jake Hillard, executive director of Arkansans for Animals, a nonprofit that operates a low-cost spay/ neuter clinic in southwest Little Rock.

A cat will give birth 62 to 71days after becoming pregnant. She’ll nurse her kittens for up to eight weeks, but she can go into heat and get pregnant with a second litter before the first kittens are weaned. “We call this a ‘milk heat,’” Hillard says. An unspayed cat is capable of giving birth to three or four litters of kittens a year. In contrast, a female dog goes into heat only twice a year and doesn’t have to get pregnant for the estrus cycle to end.

While kitten season isn’t yet in full swing, Hillard says, the Arkansans for Animals clinic has begun to see an increase in the number of cats brought in for spaying that are already in heat. Those cats aren’t turned away. Because the organization’s mission is to reduce or stem the growth of the dog and cat population through sterilization, the clinic will spay cats in estrus and even those already pregnant.

Performing a hysterectomy on a cat while it’s in heat requires more time and surgical support because the blood vessels that supply the ovaries and uterus are engorged, Hillard says, but the clinic doesn’t charge extra for the additional care. For Pulaski County residents, the cost of sterilizing a male or female cat is $20. Cat owners from other counties are charged $35 for spaying or neutering. Details are available at (501) 455-5400.

Throughout the state, there are a variety of animal welfare groups that hold low cost spay-and-neuter events. Check with your local animal shelter, humane society and rescue groups to see what’s available. Arkansans for Animal’s Mobile Animal Surgical Hospital also partners with local groups to hold spay/neuter clinics. For information and a schedule, visit arkansansforanimals.org.

The Little Rock Animal Village is looking for people to provide foster homes for cats and kittens during kitten season and year round, Heller says. Kittens are available for adoption after they’re spayed or neutered. Female cats that are brought in with kittens also are spayed and placed for adoption once the kittens are weaned.

People interested in adopting an adult cat can avoid the $90 adoption fee by visiting the shelter on the first and third Thursday of each month for “Cat’s Night Out.” From 5 to 7 p.m. on those days, adoptable adult cats are allowed to roam the shelter’s front room, play and meet the public, Heller says. Find information at friendsoftheanimalvillage.org.

Do you have a question about pets? We’ll get you an answer from an authority. Send your question to Rhonda Owen, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, Ark. 72203 or e-mail [email protected]

Family, Pages 34 on 02/26/2014

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