Animal Shelters See Large Numbers of Kittens During “Kitten Season”

Animal shelters are seeing an influx of kitten litters during what they call “kitten season.”

Kitten season refers to the time of year when unfixed cats tend to reproduce. This leads to overwhelming numbers of kittens at shelters. Cookeville-Putnam County Animal Shelter Director Jennifer Tracy said the key to preventing overcrowding at shelters is spaying and neutering.

“We just don’t have enough space,” Tracy said. “And when it starts getting crowded like this, it starts getting stressful for the animals and the more stress there is the more likely they are to get sick. And then they end up staying even longer because they’re sick, so it’s kind of a vicious cycle that goes on.”

Tracy said the biggest issue shelters face when it comes to kitten season is a lack of resources like food and fosters for their litters.

“Obviously we need supplies, but we’re also desperately needing fosters,” Tracy said. “Especially for those situations where we have the nursing moms or the orphan babies, and occasionally those bottle babies that aren’t even eating solid foods yet. Really we don’t have the resources, the time, the space, to care for those cats properly.”

Tracy said that they don’t always get litters from free-roaming, stray cats. She said sometimes shelters can get litters from outdoor cats or cats who accidentally get out from their families’ home without being fixed.

Last year, Tracy said that, despite COVID, they statistically took in more cats than any other year. She said this year numbers were looking normal. Tracy said kitten season typically lasts from April to November.