Kitten Season at Michigan Humane

Seasons are, for the most part, a predictable part of our year here in Michigan.  The same is true for our shelter population when we consider cats and kittens. While we typically have cats and kittens entering our shelters throughout the year, we also experience what we refer to as “kitten season” every year.

The warmup and increased sunlight from winter to spring not only activate our plant life but also encourage animals to breed and give birth when it will be most advantageous for their young to survive. This leads to an influx of kittens in our communities and shelters starting around February-March and going until around October each year.

Kitten Fostering

Michigan Humane’s foster families make all the difference during kitten season. Fosters take in kittens of all ages and ensurethey are fed, healthy and loved until they are old enough to be sterilized and put up for adoption. More than 50 percent of animals that come to Michigan Humane benefit from time in a foster home, and more than half of those foster animals were neonatal kittens under 8 weeks of age.  

Learn more about kitten fostering from Dr. Clarissa Funke, DVM: