How Residents Can Help During Kitten Season

Kitten season is upon us and continues into summer. Unfortunately, there are many fertile feral cats, which means it will not be long before you may come across little kittens.

Sumter County Animal Services has a program called Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return (TNVR) to help stem the feral cat population. In this program, unowned outdoor cats are trapped, spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and returned to their outdoor homes. These cats are also "ear-tipped," which is a visual sign that they have been sterilized and vaccinated. If you have feral cats in your area that are not ear-tipped, you can contact Animal Services to request a trap to be set up on your property.

Microchipping your cat can also help shelters differentiate between lost and feral cats.

Residents are also encouraged not to separate unweaned kittens from their mothers and instead provide resources and support to help keep mother cats and their babies safe until the kittens are eating on their own.

Furthermore, Sumter County's foster program has proven useful in allowing the kittens and cats that do enter the shelter system to be quickly placed in foster homes for future adoption.

If you are interested in adopting or fostering, please visit https://www.sumtercountyfl.gov/adoptor https://www.sumtercountyfl.gov/foster