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Species Speak
Kitten season
12:00 am Jul 9 - by Sarah Bransley – buzz Writer
You see those eyes peeking out at you from underneath some brush, or from your barn’s loft. That eerie glow is slightly unnerving, but that distinctive hiss is undeniable. You’ve found yet another cat that has made its home outside. In Champaign-Urbana, kitten season is upon us. The question many of our residents find themselves asking is how can you tell if it’s someone’s pet?
The first thing you should know is that a cat that has lived its entire life outside is called a feral cat. This is a cat that was not raised by humans and is not tame. These cats are basically wild animals and should be treated as such. They will not come to you for food or attention, and if you try to catch them they will fight back. According to Gail Buchwald, the Senior Vice President of the ASPCA Adoption Center and an expert on feral and stray cats, some studies have found that feral cats have a different brain development from our companion pets.
“After several generations with absence of human contact, feral brains develop differently,” Buchwald said. This is why when you find a cat that is outside, you should not immediately think it will be friendly.
During kitten season, many people find what they believe to be abandoned kittens in different areas. Buchwald says this may not always be the fact.
“In most cases,” said Buchwald, “there is a mother close by looking for the kitten. Make sure mom isn’t somewhere nearby, scared and watching, or possibly transferring.”
Transferring is when a mother cat decides to move her litter of kittens from one area to another. She can’t carry them all at once, so this must be done with one kitten at a time. After you have made sure that the mother is not in the vicinity, Buchwald recommends taking the kitten to your nearest shelter.
A local man, Kevin Walsh, literally drove into this situation. He found a kitten covered in motor oil on the side of Route 48 between Boody and Decatur. Thinking she was a turtle, Walsh pulled over to turn the fellow around so he wouldn’t walk into traffic. What a surprise he got when the little black puddle meowed! Sadly, Kevin’s family has some cat allergies and was not able to adopt this little one, but a coworker of his wife’s heard about the kitten’s plight and took heart. Elizabeth Mueller, a resident of Champaign, adopted Ophelia, named after the drowning victim in Shakespeare’s play, the next day.
“I really wanted pets so I got this one,” Mueller said. “I really only approve of keeping rescue cats.”
Ophelia, being only three or four weeks old, requires bottle feedings many times a day. After a visit to the vet, it was found she was malnourished, but otherwise healthy. Mueller is very happy to have the little calico (realized after a good wash with Dawn) in her life.
While this story is a happy one, Buchwald says that most singletons, a name for single kittens found by themselves, are abandoned by their mothers due to sickness. If they aren’t abandoned, they must face many hardships out in the wild. Among them are hunger, parasites, predators (which include other cats), infectious diseases passed by other cats, exposure to the elements, and much more. Overpopulation is a very big issue in the animal world and it is something entirely caused by humans. Local humane society, CatSnap founder Susan Norris sat down and talked with me about their program on helping our community to fight overpopulation.
CatSnap has a network of foster homes for stray cats but they also run a Trap-Neuter-Release program. TNRs are programs that are going on throughout the United States. The basic idea is to humanely trap colonies of feral cats, get them to a veterinarian for a spay/neuter and then release them back into their habitat. This process is done to help reduce the feral population as well as fix the overpopulation problem. CatSnap recently trapped around thirty adults and several kittens at a colony in Rantoul. While this may seem like a country problem, consider this.
“It’s very clear that intact cats will roam in search for a mate,” Buchwald said. “They can smell a mate—some think up to one mile— and will follow that scent.”
If your own cat is not spayed or neutered, they may contribute to the problem.
“Our community kills thousands of animals each year,” Norris said. “Until we stop killing healthy animals, there is no reason to breed cats.”
Spaying and neutering your cat may seem like a large investment now, but it is small compared to the costs of veterinary bills related to cat fights or kittens. Male cats will roam and they will end up in fights. They spray urine that has hormones to attract a mate, which may smell great to Ms. Kitty but smells horrible to us. Females will also roam, but if confined they will cry and howl. Anyone who has gone through one heat cycle with a female cat can tell you it is painful to hear. If your cat is an indoor cat, “it only takes getting out once” Norris said, just one time to get into a huge fight or one time to get pregnant. The typical litter size is six to eight kittens, which will not be weaned until seven or eight weeks. That’s two months with six times the mouths to feed. Not to mention vet bills for de-worming and examinations.
Even if your pet doesn’t ever get out, spaying and neutering will be healthier for your cat. Pyometra is an infection of the uterus that is often fatal. Once a cat is fixed they have a much lower chance of developing cancers related to sexual organs or problems such as pyometra.
If you don’t already have a pet and are thinking of getting a cat, consider adopting one from CatSnap or the Champaign County Humane Society. Both have had an influx of kittens and cats in their ranks. Many of their adoptees will have already been spayed or neutered. If you are loving the idea of a kitten, CatSnap does provide spay/neuter at low cost for low-income families and many veterinary clinics will offer discount spay/neuter if they know your pet came from a shelter. If you want more information on low cost spay/neuter for low-income families you can contact CatSnap at 217-819-3535.
Kitten season is a time to reflect on our pets, their lives, and the lives of their possible offspring. With wonderful programs like the ASPCA, Humane Societies and CatSnap working on our behalf to lower the pet population, will you do your part as well?
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