“Kitten season is coming up.”

The Gloucester-Mathews Humane Society experienced an explosive kitten season of 400-500 kittens last year, according to shelter manager Jasmine Jutras.

“It was the worst kitten season I’ve seen in 10 years,” said operations manager Chevy Carper. “It was bad.”

“We’ll always take the kittens in,” said Jutras, “but we really want to see the mother spayed.”

“Let’s help solve the problem, instead of addressing the result,” said Carper.

GMHS is committed to setting the public up for success. The shelter loans traps for people to use to capture feral cats in their neighborhoods so they can be taken to be spayed or neutered. The shelter can also provide information for low- or no-cost spay and neuter services in the area, like its own Fixin’ to Save Spay and Neuter Clinic at White Marsh Shopping Center.

“Let’s start looking at the solution and get mom fixed,” said Jutras.

“Spay and neuter saves lives,” said Carper.

A large percentage of kittens born in the wild will either starve or die a horrible death in the elements, according to Carper.

“It’s not going to go away,” she said about this problem.

GMHS is always in need of foster homes for animals, which plays a big part in surviving kitten season.

“We don’t have enough socialization fosters,” said Carper.

Kittens that are 12 weeks or older when they come to the shelter are more difficult to socialize, compared to kittens before they reach the 12-week mark.

“We can’t do what we do without them,” said Carper about fosters.

Kittens or cats who are sick also flourish in foster homes. Since there are many fosters who take in sick animals, this has greatly diminished the number of sick cats in the shelter since disease is less likely to spread.

“One-on-one care is the best thing for them,” said Carper about sick animals.

“We provide everything,” said Jutras about fostering. “We just need your house and love.”

The type of winter an area experiences is a good indicator of how many kittens will be born during the season, according to Jutras. A harsh winter may lessen the impact of kitten season as it may be too cold to breed.

FIV

“I think it has a lot of misconceptions,” said Jutras, speaking about feline immunodeficiency virus.

A diagnosis of FIV used to be known as a death sentence for a cat; however, in reality, cats typically live for about the same amount of time as their FIV-negative counterparts.

“Cats can live perfectly normal lives with FIV,” said Jutras.

FIV-positive and negative cats can also safely cohabitate as the virus is only spread through a very deep bite, which is not common among cats in regular play and interactions.

“It has to be a deep puncture bite,” said Jutras about the spread of the virus. “It’s not airborne.”

Other living beings in the home also do not have to worry about being around FIV-positive cats.

“It’s not spread to humans and dogs,” said Jutras.

The acute phase of FIV can include a fever or no symptoms at all and can last for months or even years. The progressive phase of FIV comes later in the cat’s life and can start affecting teeth and gum health. However, health issues are not only for senior FIV-positive cats.

“Any cat can have issues as they get older,” said Jutras.

Since FIV lowers the immune system in cats who are positive for the virus, owners are instructed to keep their pet inside to decrease the chance of their contracting an infection. Regular veterinary checkups are also recommended for FIV-positive cats.

Cats living with feline leukemia can also have long, normal lives. “It’s all case by case,” said Jutras.

However, feline leukemia can be spread to other cats through prolonged exposure via shared food and water dishes, grooming (saliva) and communal litter boxes (urine and feces exposure).

Cats living with feline leukemia should also be kept indoors since they are also immunosuppressed. Humans and dogs cannot contract this disease.

Many shelters will euthanize for both FIV and feline leukemia, but not GMHS.

“It’s a very outdated practice,” said Carper.

“Everyone has a chance to get adopted and find their forever home,” said Jutras.

“Treat it and take good care of them,” said Carper about these pets.

“We are here to help educate further,” said Jutras.