No kitten around

Kitten season, the period when hundreds of stray and feral cats give birth, begins in February and ends sometime between October and November. 

An unspayed kitten can go into heat at just six months, delivering its first litter before it’s 1 year old.  Unspayed female cats can have three litters a year, adding hundreds of cats to the already increasing outside cat population.

Left to fend for themselves, they suffer to find shelter in winter, risk illness, injury, starvation, and early death.  The average life span of an outside cat without care is just two years.

As part of its effort to help maintain cat health and control the community cat population, Kent Animal Shelter offers low-cost spay/neuter surgeries in its Calverton clinic.  And, for a limited time, and to encourage people to start early, they are currently offering as a service to our readers a 55 percent discounted rate of $50 instead of the usual $90 for the first 63 people who make an appointment and mention this article.  The fee includes spay/neuter surgery, rabies vaccination, and left ear tip to identify the cat as non-reproducing. 

Kimberly Reilly, operations manager of the Spay/Neuter Clinic at Kent, stressed the importance of making an appointment before trapping a cat.

“It’s important because appointments are usually scheduled at least a couple of weeks ahead.  If you trap a cat and have to release it, it’s unlikely to go into a trap again,” she said.  “We understand if you have an appointment, but the cat wouldn’t go into the trap and you have to cancel.  Just call us. We’ll reschedule for you. But please, don’t trap a cat until you have an appointment, or show up without one.”

What happens after the cat is no longer able to reproduce?  Most areas follow the ASPCA-approved guidelines of TNR: trap/neuter/return.  Following a brief period of recovery, especially in inclement weather, the cat is released back into the environment it came from, where it’s familiar with food sources, risks, and territorial boundaries of other cats in the area.

Some community cats are born outside, often within a colony of other cats that are familiar with each other, seeking shelter, food, and water wherever they can find them.  Others are released, often by those who mistakenly believe cats can fend for themselves. 

A cat abandoned outside faces a cruel and uncertain fate.  They will be attacked by an established colony that see it as competition for food and territory. Other threats include speeding cars, diseases like feline AIDS or leukemia, hostile humans, starvation, and poisoning from toxic substances.

Of course, some people are kind and offer food and water to cats they see outside.  These are the people Kim Reilly would most like to encourage to act now and make sure the cat is spayed or neutered.  Using a cat pyramid graphic, she cites the consequences of failing to do so.

“It should make people stop and think, especially about feeding and not being responsible about spaying and neutering.”

Kent Animal Shelter

Low Cost Spay Neuter Clinic

2259 River Road, Calverton, N.Y.

(631) 727-5731, ex. 2,

appointments/information M-F.