Most of us who stumble upon a stray kitten are inclined to scoop it up and take it to a shelter or rescue organization. But that’s not necessarily the best approach, experts say—especially right now.
Animal shelters’ monthly intake is more than two times higher in summer, compared to winter, according to Best Friends Animal Society, a national organization dedicated to saving the lives of dogs and cats in shelters. One reason is that summer is “kitten season.” The longer and warmer days stimulate cats’ reproductive cycles, leading to an uptick in mating and births by un-spayed cats.
As a result, many shelters are currently overcrowded. “The big crisis is space in shelters and the ability to provide care,” says Lindsay Cope, director of programs at Arlington-based Lucky Dog Animal Rescue. “It’s really not a lack of wanting to care for those kittens or get them into a loving forever home. It’s just the resources to do that. Young kittens have a critical period of socialization that closes around 12 weeks, so making sure they get adequate human attention during that time is crucial. In an overcrowded shelter, that does not always happen.”
Currently, Lucky Dog is “overflowing with kittens,” she says. Locally, it has 137 cats available for adoption. Another 40 to 60 are either at partner shelters or at its rescue campus in Florence, S.C., getting ready to come to the DMV for adoption. On average, the rescue operation takes in about 200 cats per month.
Let Mom Do Her Job
If you stumble upon a litter stray kittens, Cope urges assessing the situation before taking action. A kitten that needs help will look sick, skinny or unkempt—”like it doesn’t have a mom cat looking out for it.”
A prudent approach is to monitor the nest for 12-24 hours to see if the mom returns. She might be away from them only temporarily (for instance, get food and water). “Oftentimes there is a mom,” Cope advises. “They’re just not going to come back while you’re there.”
A mother cat is going to provide the best care for those kittens, concurs Anna Barrett, animal control services coordinator at the Animal Welfare League of Arlington. AWLA not only takes in strays, it also has a contract with Arlington County to provide animal control services.
“Newborn kittens up until the age of two weeks old—or when their eyes first open—are really best left with their mother,” Barrett says. “There are all sorts of things a mother cat can provide that even the most skilled foster parent can’t provide: colostrum, comfort, the companionship and warmth of siblings, grooming, purring, and even pheromones play a part in the development of a healthy, happy, newborn kitten.” Colostrum is the first form of milk that mammals produce after giving birth.
Most mother cats don’t leave kittens out in the open, but you can make a shelter for them against summer heat and storms, Cope says. For instance, you can line a plastic tub with straw and put it in your yard to see if they make their way to it.
Sometimes moving kittens is necessary for their safety. Barrett says she once found kittens in a cove a few feet up from a waterway. “I knew that rain was coming in the next few days, and I knew that if I left them, they were going to be swept away,” she says.
If you do have to relocate kittens, keep them as close as possible to their original location so the mom can find them easily, Cope says.
When to Intervene
Eventually, growing kittens may require some form of intervention, even if the mom is still around.
Once their eyes open and their teeth erupt, “I start getting more enthusiastic about wanting to bring them in [to a shelter],” Barrett says. At this point they face a higher risk of developing parasites, upper respiratory infections and other illnesses, so they need vaccinations.
It’s also important to spay or neuter them. They’re ready when they weigh about 2-3 pounds and look more like a cat than a kitten, says Cope. The standard age for spaying and neutering is four to six months, although it can be done earlier if necessary.
Barrett says cats younger than 12 weeks will go through AWLA’s Kitten College, a foster program that aims to socialize cats to make them adoptable. If they’re older, they go through the Community Cat Program, which uses the trap, neuter/spay and return, or TNR, process.
Cats in the TNR process receive vaccines, parasite treatments and an ear tip, which involves surgically removing a small portion of their ear so that people know it has gone through TNR. They are then released back outside.
“They’re going to be happier out there in the neighborhood that they came from,” she says. “It gets them healthy and back into the community, and it gets rid of all of those behaviors that are associated with cats that are not neutered…and it also stops them from reproducing and creating a problem overall.”
Ultimately, Cope says, shelters should be a last resort for stray kittens. “The beauty of Lucky Dog is that we’re a foster-based rescue, so all of our animals will eventually end up either in foster care or getting care in a PetSmart adoption center or at our cat café partner, [Mèo Maison Cat Café in Georgetown],” she says. “But a shelter can only provide what it has the manpower to do. Sometimes it’s just keeping them fed and clean and not much else.”
The best course of action upon finding stray kittens is to monitor them for 12 to 24 hours to see if the mom is caring for them. If not, contact an animal rescue organization such as AWLA or Lucky Dog. If they are being cared for, wait until they are old enough for vaccinations and sterilization. The organizations may opt to bring Mom in, too, so she also can get treated.