It’s that time of year again and the city’s animal shelter is preparing to be overrun with an abundance of the most adorable kittens you’ve ever seen and every single one of these precious pussy cats is looking for a forever home.
While the pregnancy period for a cat is significantly shorter than that of a human, with a typical pregnancy lasting about 65 days, in the wintertime cat comrades seek out companionship, just like the rest of us. So when springtime rolls around, the world is once again blessed with litter upon litter of the most loving little kittens and that in turn means the animal shelter reaches its full cat quota.
Unfortunately, as the winters are gradually getting warmer, our four-legged friends are getting frisky earlier in the year and "kitten season," which is generally regarded as the warm-weather months between spring and fall, is getting longer.
"Kitten season is the time of year when there is a larger number of kittens and cats who are soon to have their litters, being brought into the shelter. For the Santa Monica Animal Shelter ‘kitten season’ used to start in April and continue until August," Elizabeth Noble, Chair, Santa Monica Animal Shelter Foundation says.
"But every year we are seeing kitten season begin earlier and last longer and this year is no exception. Spring has only just begun and already they have had many litters of young kittens, as well as pregnant cats that are about to have their litters, brought to the shelter," says Noble.
"A longer season means that they need additional resources to be able to care for the increase in the number of kittens and mama cats in their care. They need lots, and lots, of kitten food, and supplies, and the kittens will need months of extra care before they will be old enough to be available for adoption."
The Shelter has kittens ranging from hours old to months old and Noble explains that there are three main ways that kittens arrive at the shelter. The first is that someone finds the kittens within the city limits and they bring them in. The second way is that a resident brings their pregnant cat to the shelter and the third is that someone calls the shelter and reports that there is a kitten, or cat family, that needs their help and the Animal Control Officers will come to their rescue.
While intervention clearly makes the difference between life and death for these fragile felines, Noble stresses that the best thing anyone can do is to call the shelter for assistance. "We had a resident call who thought they were helping when they found a litter of newborn kittens and placed them in a box for the Animal Control Officers to pick up. However, if you find a litter of kittens do not remove them from where you found them," Noble says.
The kittens at the shelter need months of care before they’re going to be old enough to be available for adoption. Anyone can contribute and all donations are very gratefully received. The best way to offer assistance is to make a monetary donation at smasf.org to help cover the cost of veterinary care, surgeries and additional medical needs as they arise. But with all of those little hungry mouths to feed, the shelter also needs kitten food and you can help, even if it’s just a little bit, by shopping their wishlist on chewy.com.
Moreover, with all of this additional kitten chaos, the shelter itself is constantly requiring improvements. Noble says that this year, the large-scale improvement project that the shelter is raising funds for is to upgrade the cat isolation room.
"The shelter needs a proper space where they can care for all the cats and kittens that arrive at the shelter. The current space is inadequate and must be renovated," Noble says, adding that some of the necessary improvements to the space include painting the room with a special paint that can be cleaned, new cages that are designed for a cat isolation space and a ventilation system.
"The renovation project is going to be a costly undertaking, with an estimated cost of $100k, but it is a vital shelter improvement," Noble says.
