Lakeland Animal Shelter

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"It's only one."

With millions of animals out there, one unaltered one doesn't make a difference... And anyway, kittens (or puppies) are easy to find homes for." "As long as I find homes for the babies, my animal is not part of the problem."

Spoken or unspoken, these are some of the most common misconceptions that shelters and rescue groups work to conquer on a daily basis. Scroll down to see pictures of the results of one unspayed cat who came through out doors.

Rebecca

Kit-Kat (born 2006) Tigger (born 2006) Cinnamon (born 2006)

Male Female Female Female Female

Rebecca's new kittens

Male Female Female Male Male

Kit-Kat's kittens born approx 5/7/07

(photos taken 6/9/07)

Male Female Male

Tigger and Cinnamon's kittens born approx 5/7/07

(photos taken 6/9/07 and 6/16/07)

Rebecca's Story

In early 2006, a Walworth County gentleman passed away. Neighbors had seen several cats, including Rebecca, on his property while he was alive, and Rebecca is believed to have been one of his cats. In the months following his death, with her caretaker gone, Rebecca appeared more frequently. The neighbors began feeding her, and a few months later, in the fall of 2006, Rebecca was spotted with a litter of kittens. The neighbors tried to set up a warm and safe place for Rebecca and her babies and continued to feed them through the winter and spring. Rebecca and her kittens stayed nearby, until in spring of 2007, when the neighbors noticed that all three of Rebecca's girls--Tigger, Cinnamon, and Kit-Kat--appeared to be pregnant. When they left for a vacation, they expected that the three cats would give birth soon. As they expected, when they returned from vacation, all three cats had given birth. All of the kittens are believed to have been born between May 7th and 9th. At this point, we were not aware of Rebecca or her kittens.

Shortly after their return, we were contacted for assistance. The property was to be sold, and our assistance was needed to remove the cats from the property. The cats had access to the inside of a building, and the mom cats kept the kittens in the building also. Though Rebecca was friendly, she had by this time become used to living with little human contact, and her kittens, now almost a year old, had very little interaction with humans, so they did not trust people enough to be easily caught. Over Memorial Day weekend of this year, with the assistance of the neighbors, we began to live-trap the cats. Kit-Kat and her five kittens were caught first. Though only a few weeks old, Kit-Kat's kittens were already showing their lack of socialization, hissing and spitting at the people who were trying to help them. Kit-Kat herself was so terrified that we doubted she would continue to take care of her kittens in the shelter. Another mom cat, Edna, whose litter had just been weaned was pulled to help out the kittens. Edna took to these kittens immediately and began to nurse them and keep them clean.

Tigger's and Cinnamon's kittens were together in the building, where the mommas, who were stressed by the activity of the people and the live trapping, were moving them around so regularly they couldn't be found. But late on Saturday, the neighbors located the kittens. Unfortunately one had died, but the other 8 appeared to be doing well. Like Kit-Kat's kittens, these 8 were largely unsocialized. The neighbors decided they needed to take these kittens, with or without the mommas, before they were moved again and couldn't be found. Just as they were preparing to bring the kittens to us, Tigger was caught, and she was brought to us along with the 8 kittens. Though terrified, Tigger's maternal instincts remained strong, so she was kept with the 8 kittens while we attempted to trap Cinnamon.

On Sunday, Rebecca was caught and brought in to the shelter. The neighbors who were helping with the trapping were unaware that Rebecca was pregnant, but it was clear that she too was expecting, and the following day (Memorial Day), Rebecca gave birth to 4 more kittens. Shortly after Rebecca's capture, Cinnamon was caught, but she was too scared and her milk production had dropped after being away from the kittens, so she was not placed back with her kittens. Tigger, who was still very scared and stressed, was placed back with Rebecca where she could be more comfortable, and the two moms jointly cared for their 12 combined kittens.

In less than a year and a half, one unspayed female, Rebecca, was responsible for the birth of 20 more cats. If the cycle hadn't been stopped now, in just a few more months, that number would have grown even further, and by next fall, with the addition of next year's litters, including those born to this year's 9 female kittens, the number of cats in this group would have risen to over 100 and continued to grow. Even if homes had been found for the kittens, if not altered by their owners, they would continue to multiply.

What happens next?

Rebecca. Tigger, and their kittens were transferred to a foster home with the capacity to handle them all. Tigger is gradually becoming less scared, but she still has a long way to go to learn to trust humans. Rebecca, who was already well socialized, has taken on the primary mothering role, and the kittens, who were young enough to be quickly socialized, have become more trusting. All of the kittens will be examined, and we hope they will have a clean bill of health and be ready to join families in July (the older kittens) and August (the younger kittens)--after we have altered them to end the cycle. Tigger's and Cinnamon's kittens will visit the shelter during the adopt-a-thon on Saturday, June 23rd, and Sunday, June 24th, to meet prospective adopters and hopefully find future homes.

Because we did not have any more foster home space available, Edna and Kit-Kat's kittens remained at the shelter. They are doing fairly well, but are being treated for coccidia, a common parasite that Edna was carrying. Because of this treatment, these kittens will likely not be available as early as the other 8 kittens of the same age, but once they are cleared and healthy, they too will be made available for adoption.

The moms will be spayed and made available for adoption. Rebecca, who is well-socialized, should quickly adapt to almost any family, while Tigger, Kit-Kat, and Cinnamon will need homes with special people who will continue to work with them as they gradually learn to be less fearful and more trusting.

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