The thought of a cute little kitten makes most of us go, “Aw!!!” But even though we all love kittens, most shelter workers at this time of year will say, “Ugh!” The staff at the ARL who cares for the cats are holding their breath and crossing their fingers this year. We have yet to see the usual influx of kittens coming into the shelter – a flood that normally starts in March at the first sign of warmer weather. Called “kitten season,” this time of year begins a very long and unhappy time for shelter workers when all of the kittens born to stray and feral cats are brought in by often well-meaning people who find the cats in their yards or in other outside areas. Until November, the ARL and other open admission shelters will see on average 700-800 cats and kittens come into the shelter each month. Yes, each month. No wonder the staff is dismayed. There just are not enough homes for all of them.

Unspayed females will go into heat as winter shows signs of winding down. The kittens are born about eight weeks later. That often translates into early April, with a few litters frequently arriving in late March. But maybe our winter was a little colder and harsher than usual, delaying the heat and the inevitable kittens.

We’re also hoping that the delay in the arrival of kittens may have something to do with all of the efforts of the ARL and local organizations such as Fairchild Foundation, No-Nonsense Neutering, One-By-One Cat Rescue and The Cats Works. We have been working on raising awareness through education and availability of more low-cost spay and neuter clinics. Could it be possible that we are finally making a dent in the problem? One can only hope.

When people drop off kittens at the ARL or other shelters, they assume that the cats will find homes. Given the large number of kittens coming in, it’s just not possible. Another factor is the age and behavior of the kittens. If the kittens were taken from their mom before they were weaned, most shelters do not have the resources to bottle feed kittens. Sure, the ARL has staff members who foster the kittens but they can only take so many. And the behavior of the kittens is a huge issue. If the kittens had never been exposed to humans, it could take weeks of special handling to get them accustomed to being with humans. Some come around while others will always remain skittish and unadoptable.

The ARL continues to work on solutions to the cat overpopulation but we need the help of the community. What are some things that people can do?

1.       We cannot say this enough – spay and neuter your cats, even if they are indoor cats.  All it takes is one escape to the outside world and your cat is very likely to find a mate, given the huge number of strays in this area.

2.       Become a foster family for homeless cats and kittens.

3.       If you find a stray, contact the ARL or any of the organizations listed above to get it spayed or neutered. If you know of a colony of feral cats, volunteer to help trap them and get them spayed and neutered.

4.       Talk to your friends about the cat overpopulation problem and enlisted them to spay and neuter and help with your efforts to trap feral cats.

5.       Support the ARL by giving them kitten food, kitty litter and monetary donations.

6.       Adopt an adult cat. So sadly, the very sweetest nicest cats will sit in shelters unadopted while people come in and take home the kittens. It breaks our hearts.

Maybe one day if we all work together, we will have the cat overpopulation problem resolved. But we do need to work together.

Please tune in to the ARL's Berks Community TV show tonight at 7:00pm. My special guest is Martha Kahan from No-Nonsense Neutering. As you know, we're entering kitten season and the need to spay and neuter becomes more evident at this time of year.  Martha and I will be talking about the low cost spay and neuter clinics that they offer.

The show is rerun on Wednesday at 1:00pm, Thursday at 10:00pm and Friday at 9:00am, and you can also stream it on-line at www.bctv.org

A few years ago, my dog Gizzy taught me a lesson: All pet owners should know pet first aid.  He had just finished his dinner, inhaling it in his usual fashion, and came right over to me.  This behavior was unusual; he always lurked near his “brother’s” dish to scarf up any morsels left behind.  But this night, he was clingy and acted scared.  His eyes were large and round.  That’s when I heard a strange sound coming from him; his breathing was labored and raspy.  I had never heard that sound before.  He’s had food stuck in his throat in the past but he always coughed and dislodged it.  Not this time.  I rubbed his throat and he continued to wheeze.  His eyes were getting bigger, registering panic.  Then something told me to press on his abdomen.  Without realizing it, I was giving him the Heimlich maneuver.  It worked.  He brought up a few pieces of food that had been caught in his airway.  My sweet mischievous boy had been choking and could have died within minutes if I hadn’t acted quickly.  I was stunned and shaken.  Like nothing had happened, he happily gobbled what he had just gagged up as I sat on the floor trying to recover.  Dogs! 

All pet owners need to learn the Heimlich, as well as CPR, how to stop excessive bleeding and other first aid procedures.  You just never you know if your pet will choke on something, get a deep cut or stop breathing for some reason.  After the incident with my dog, I bought a great book called The Pet First Aid Companion for Dogs and Cats by Amy Shojai. The book covers a large number of conditions including bee stings, bites from other animals, diarrhea, heat stroke, choking, burns, cuts, and many, many other issues. The first chapter reviews items that everyone needs to have on-hand – your pet’s medicine chest – as well as a list of human medications that can be safely administered to dogs and cats.

The American Red Cross also has books and DVDs available through the Red Cross Store.

Remember, as the weather gets warmer, dogs and cats will be more at risk of heat-related dangers and other injuries as we all come outside in the nice weather. It’s best to be prepared.

The latest buzz on animal welfare web sites, blogs and Facebook pages has been about Patrick, the Pit Bull who was found starved and thrown down a garbage shoot in New Jersey. If you haven’t read about him, this poor dog was emaciated when a maintenance worker discovered him stuffed in garbage bag. An Animal Control Officer came for him and immediately put him on IV fluids. The dog is now at a veterinary clinic where he is miraculously recovering every day. Public outcry has been predictably tremendous: Facebook pages, petitions, a proposed law to prosecute abusers called Patrick’s Law.

As I read the multitude of Facebook updates and cross posts about this sad story, I was completely overwhelmed by compassion fatigue. I had to stop reading.  Why?  Obviously, this story is so upsetting to me that I just could not continue to keep reading about it. How could someone purposefully harm this dog? I felt helpless and very discouraged that everything we try to do to help animals, there are still so many people who don’t care.

But the bigger reason why I had to stop reading was frustration. Patrick’s story is not unique.  The ARL sees this type of abuse on a weekly, sometimes daily basis, as do most open-admission shelters (those who have the animal control contracts). The frequency of animal abuse is disgusting. We see animals starved all the time.  Last month, our Animal Control Officers visited two separate locations where several dogs had been left to starve; some had already died while a couple were taken back to the ARL and nursed back to health. We are constantly getting dogs left in our stray building who have never been to a groomer. Their matted hair creates an armor around their bodies, often cutting off the blood supply to limbs. Recently, we had two cases of dogs with chemical burns on their bodies. And of course, most of you heard about the dog who was thrown against the wall by his owner and paralyzed.

And finally, another reason why the Patrick story upset me is that the ARL has a policy not to publicize all of the misery we regularly see.  We could very easily be the shelter getting all of the publicity about a dog like Patrick. The public has no idea of the horrible things we witness all the time. We could very easily post all of the miserable things that people do to animals all over our Facebook page, web site and on email blasts.  But we don’t.  Simply for the reason why I had to stop reading about Patrick’s story.  Overload.  It’s human nature to become numb after reading about too much sadness. Instead, the ARL prefers to post the happy endings, the good news. We’re not out to make a name for ourselves or play political games. We prefer to be the unsung heroes of your community.

But know that the ARL and most open-admission shelters see Patricks all of the time. We all need your help and support.