WEST NUECES COUNTY, Texas — Kitten season is here, which means residents in South Texas might notice more cats appearing in their neighborhoods. Local experts are sharing advice on when to intervene with stray kittens and when to leave them alone.
"Are the kittens 8 weeks or older? No. Are the kittens with mom? Yes, that's when you leave them be," said Cassandra Redman, vet tech at Edgar and Ivy's Cat Sanctuary Incorporated.
Redman emphasizes that keeping kittens with their mother is always the best option. Mother cats provide essential care and protection that humans cannot replicate.
"Mother cats can have like 2 to 3 litters per year, and if unspayed, that cycle just keeps going on and on," Redman said.
According to Redman, it's normal for mother cats to leave their kittens alone for up to 9 hours while searching for food. When well-meaning people remove kittens during this time, it creates problems for both the mother and her babies.
"Their odds of survival are far greater with mom than without, even if they are healthy, because she has, I mean, she has the antibodies in her milk to prevent them from getting sick from all of these illnesses, especially in shelters," Redman said.
The vet tech warns that mother cats may reject their kittens if they detect unfamiliar scents on them after human handling. Additionally, contaminants on human hands can potentially make kittens sick.
Edgar and Ivy's Cat Sanctuary is already experiencing the seasonal influx of cats and kittens.
"We have quite a bit right now. It can get overwhelming as we become more of a high-volume shelter, we still sometimes lack the resources and the personnel to take care of all of these cats," Redman said.
Currently, the sanctuary houses about 200 kittens up to 12 weeks old. Their maternity ward contains 23 cages filled with mother cats and litters ranging from 2 to 8 kittens.
"We kind of have no choice but to say yes, we'll take them because we think who else is gonna take them, you kno,w and we would rather try to care for these kitties aside from them getting left by a dumpster or taken to animal control to be euthanized," Redman said.
For those wanting to help reduce the stray cat population, Redman recommends trap-neuter-return programs for healthy adult cats and kittens that are old enough. The sanctuary also offers bottle feeding classes for those interested in providing kitten care.
For more information about the shelter, click here.
For more resources, Edgar and Ivy's Cat Sanctuary recommend Alley Cat Allies as a resource guide.
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