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Springtime Brings the Birds and the Bees, and Lots of Stray Cats for Animal Shelters

Kevin Willis

It’s the time of year when animal shelters across the state become inundated with kittens.

Margie Patton, with the Barren River Animal Welfare Association in Glasgow, says many in the shelter community come to dread the spring and summer months because of the number of cats that are dropped off.

She says it’s a problem that could be largely solved by increased spaying and neutering.

“Most people don’t realize that female cats can get pregnant when they’re four or five months old, and so often people come in and they’ve had this surprise litter,” Patton says. “So we’re trying to encourage people to spay or neuter their cats before they’re four months of age.”

According to Patton, BRAWA has made solid gains in recent years in the number of dogs it’s been able to match with new owners. But the ability of cats to procreate at such a prolific level makes it nearly impossible for the shelter to handle the number of felines that are dropped off.

“They can have three litters a year, four litters a year. The females will stay in heat and just keep having kittens. We’ve had some who were in here to get spayed, who had eight-week old kittens, and they were already pregnant again.”

Patton says many kind-hearted people feed stray cats in their communities. She suggest bringing those strays to the shelter to be spayed or neutered is an even better idea, because it’s much easier to find a home for one cat, as opposed to a litter of kittens.

BRAWA receives some grant funding to help pay for the spaying and neutering of feral cats. The shelter also offers humane traps that can be used to bring strays into the shelter for spaying and neutering.

Last year, BRAWA took in over 1,500 stray felines.

Kevin is the News Director at WKU Public Radio. He has been with the station since 1999, and was previously the Assistant News Director, and also served as local host of Morning Edition.
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