When is Kitten Season?
Wondering when kitten season is and what it is? Kitten season is the time when most unaltered female cats go into heat and start giving birth to litters of kittens. When a female cat is in heat, it means she is ready to meet a male cat and conceive.
When is Kitten Season?
Although cats can go into heat any time of year, it most often happens during the warmer months. This means that warmer climates like in Southern California often experience two kitten seasons.
Kitten season typically runs from March through October. During this time, there is a rise in kittens, most of which come from feral cat colonies, and end up in shelters.
Female cats can even conceive more than one litter at once, meaning they’ll give birth to multiple kittens who have different fathers as a result of mating with different males within a period of seven days.
During kitten season animal shelters experience an influx of kittens. It’s a great time to adopt a couple of kittens or to volunteer at your local animal shelter. They need all the help they can get! Check out some of the friendliest cat breeds to adopt.
If you have a pet door at home and want to keep stray cats out, check out how to keep cats from using the dog door for some tips and tricks.
Pet Doors for Cats
If you've just brought home a new kitten, you may be considering installing a pet door. An Endura Flap Pet Door is an excellent option for letting your cat come and go on their own terms.
A pet door frees up your time spent opening and closing the door for your cat all day. It also provides your cat with the freedom and enrichment they crave. Here's what makes the Endura Flap Pet Door great for cats.
The Endura Flap is a heavy-duty pet door designed to keep your home insulated year-round. The strong magnets can be tricky for some cats to navigate. Luckily you can easily adjust the magnet strength of your Endura Flap for easier use.
Check out our collection of Window Pet Doors, which are popular options for cats.
If you have a sash window, take a look at the Thermo Sash 3e for Cats. If you have a horizontal window, take a look at the Cat Door for Horizontal Sliding Windows.
Both of these options have a small flap that is perfectly sized for cats. We recommend using the Small Endura Flap only for cats since the larger flap sizes can be too heavy for some cats to use comfortably.
Preparing for Kitten Season
It is important to make sure your cat is spayed or neutered before they can come and go freely from the pet door. This prevents them from becoming pregnant or impregnating stray cats and contributing to rising cat populations during kitten season.
Shelters are often overrun with kittens during kitten season, and sadly they often cannot find home for all of them. In addition to spaying or neutering your cat, here are some steps you can take during kitten season:
- Adopt any new feline family members from shelters instead of buying from mass breeders.
- Keep an eye out for stray cat colonies. If you come across a colony, repot it to your local shelter that offers a trap, neuter, release program to keep the population from getting out of hand.
- Volunteer or donate at your local shelter to help care for the influx of kitties during kitten season.
Looking into adopting a kitten but worried about allergies? Take a look at 10 breeds that shed less than others. Interested in learning more about cats? Check out some of our recent articles:
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Pets: My dog Benji is mixed Yorkie, Poodle, Chihuahua, and MaltiPom (YorkiPooChiMaltiPom?), yet he mysteriously bears no resemblance to any of these breeds.
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