three wise monkeys

Mild weather in early winter meant more cats outdoors, more frisky antics, and a population explosion in the GTA
Mar 09, 2007 04:30 AM
Carola Vyhnak
Staff reporter

It’s raining cats and climate change is to blame.

Milder weather in cold seasons means cats are outdoors more, doing what comes naturally, say animal workers on the frontlines. The result is a population explosion that’s stretching GTA pounds and shelters beyond their limits.

“We’ve been racking our brains to figure out why we’re seeing more cats in January and February,” says Lee Oliver, spokesperson for the Toronto Humane Society. “Now we realize the spike in kittens and strays is because of the weather.”

They can’t keep up with the influx.

“Every time we adopt out two cats, we get three strays in. It’s like we get a cat and a half back for each adoption.”

It’s a trend that’s developed over the past two or three years, said Kathy Duncan, manager of animal services for Oshawa.

“When I came here 17 years ago, there was a clear breeding pattern of litters in spring and late summer/early fall. But now kittens are arriving much earlier. We’re seeing newborns in January.”

“We’re full and we’re constantly full,” Duncan said of Oshawa’s Farewell St. pound, which is designed for 60 cats but has housed up to 120.

Cat owners let their pets outside when it’s mild and keep them indoors when it’s cold. So the moderate temperatures of recent fall and early winter seasons translates into more opportunities to breed and wander off. (A similar trend hasn’t occurred with dogs because their owners usually keep them under control.)

Female cats come into heat every few weeks until they mate and can become pregnant again even if they’re nursing kittens. With a gestation period of about two months, a cat could potentially have as many as three litters a year.

Feral cats that live outside on their own are also adding to the numbers, Oliver said. Their lifespan is usually three to four years but when the weather is less harsh, they live longer and breed more, he said.

The Humane Society of Durham Region is also seeing evidence of cats multiplying faster.

“We had cats still giving birth at Christmas. People were letting them go out because it was mild,” said manager Ruby Richards.

The society, which only takes in strays that are in distress or at risk, had 160 cats – triple the capacity – at its Oshawa headquarters in January. Overcrowding led to the deaths of 20 cats from viruses that got out of control, Richards said.

Being constantly full not only puts a huge strain on staff and resources, it means there’s no downtime to adopt out animals in preparation for the spring baby boom.

The Toronto Humane Society, which can house 400 cats at its River St. shelter, held a special adoption campaign before Christmas in a desperate bid to get the numbers down. It was a wild success but now they’re back up to 425 cats – “really high for us,” said Oliver.

They’re holding a pet giveaway over March break to ease the crunch again.

Animal workers point out that irresponsible pet owners are also to blame for the kitten boom.

“People are taking in cats they can’t afford,” said Richards. “And unbelievably, we still see people who say, `I want my kids to witness birth,’ so they let their cat have a litter.”

Males should be neutered, females should be spayed and unaltered cats should be kept indoors, she said.

Don’t get a cat if you can’t afford the vet bills, Richards advises, quoting rates of $200 to $300 for spaying and about $50 less for neutering. On top of that, three sets of shots at $65 to $85 per set are required.

Pets should also wear identification and be microchipped, animal workers say.

The results of irresponsible pet ownership are not pretty, Richards points out.

“We’ve just had two cats come in with frostbite that are about to lose their ears. One of them, Gabrielle, didn’t know how to fend for herself and she nearly froze and starved to death.”

Other casualties include cats that are hit by cars or attacked by dogs, she said.

Duncan deplores the “disposable” attitude toward cats. Less than 3 per cent that end up in Oshawa’s pound are claimed, she said.

The growing population means more animals have to be euthanized because there aren’t enough adoptive homes to go around. “And when there’s a choice of 8-week-old kittens versus adult cats, most people want the kittens.”

Source: The Toronto Star