Hello, Kitties

I’M IN UR PLANET, GETTIN ALL HOT N BOTHERED 7

Things that global warming is responsible for: Melting glaciers, skinny polar bears, disappearing coastlines, and rampant kitty sex.

Kittens gone wild. Photo: iStockphoto

That's right. We're seeing an increase in hot pussy action as global warming gets America's cats all hot and bothered. Climate change is expanding the kitty mating season and creating -- you guessed it -- more baby kitties.

According to the group Pets Across America, there was a 30 percent increase [PDF] in the number of cats and kittens coming into some of their shelters from 2005 to 2006, while the organization saw a 7 percent increase overall. Other shelters across the country have noted a similar increase.

"Cats are typically warm-weather, spring-time breeders," said the group's president, Kathy Warnick. "However, states that typically experience primarily longer and colder winters are now seeing shorter, warmer winters, leading to year-round breeding."

Thanks to warmer weather, there's no longer a lull in breeding season. So cats are breeding all willy-nilly, all the time. Perhaps this could be a boon for the biofuels industry.

Since Bob Barker retired this week, I'm here to remind you to help control the pet population: spay and neuter your pet today. And quit warming the planet already.

Kate Sheppard is Grist’s political reporter.

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  1. caniscandida Posted 1:36 pm
    07 Jun 2007

    Love's a many splendored thingReally, though, we owners of companion-animals do indeed have a responsibility to control their population.  Spaying or neutering is the right thing to do.
    Also, cats should not be allowed to wander free out of doors.  That is very very dangerous to them, and adds to the dangers faced by the neighborhood's birds and other small critters.

    Chickens are our cousins!

    So are other sensitive animals!

    Enough is enough!

    No more factory farms!

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  2. d41295 Posted 4:54 pm
    07 Jun 2007

    0.7 FIt is absolutely absurd to believe that a 0.7 F rise in global temperatures has spawned a 30% rise in cats seeking shelter. This kind of absurd reasoning is a major reason why no one takes the left seriously and why they consider them fruit loops. That includes you, Kate Sheppard -- apparently you learned nothing of science and logic while in college, and are content to spout back anything a press release tells you to. You should be ashamed of yourself and, frankly, embarrased to the hilt.

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  3. SustainableGreen Posted 5:34 pm
    07 Jun 2007

    Uh, like ya know, I mean cause and effect?Hey, all:
    Yeah, real rigorous science goin' on here.  We might just as well blame this on Castro or Chavez.     Far more likely is a shortfall in municipal or NGO  budgets affecting neutering services.  Hey, It's Okay to be paranoid if you know they are after you, but sometimes paranoia is just stupid.  And still other times, it is a useless distraction.  
    David

    Sustainability For Life
    Messages done with sustainable energy, with Wind and Sun!  

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  4. amazingdrx Posted 10:39 pm
    07 Jun 2007

    Cat scratch feverRwwwwrrrrr!  Mother nature getting ready for rat population explosions?  Probably something like that.
    Ever seen the video of the Australian rodent outbreaks?  Scarrier than a horror movie.
    The bubonic plague in europe followed a wave of cat killing.  It seems the religiously fanatic decided cats were allied with witches.  That's a shame.
    Feral cat killing was a raging topic a few years back, will it come up again with this wave of cat fertility?

    http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

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  5. caniscandida Posted 11:47 pm
    07 Jun 2007

    As Mrs. Slocum might say,"Oh, Mr. Akbar, could you peek through the mail slot, and see if my pussy is alright?"
    Only in Britcoms ...
    OK, Amazing, I know how you feel, when big rodents get out of hand.  But letting kitties run free is risky business.
    Terriers might be a better idea.  Those little dogs are true killers, the original wolvish characters are preserved, and killing rats is what they are bred for.
    At the closest dog-run to us in Riverside Park, there is a section for small dogs.  And it happened that the first time I went there with Little Dog (a poodle/bichon mix), there were two Jack Russell terriers in the small-dog section.  They were very cute, and looked like Olive in the Christmas story "Olive the Other Reindeer."  But in fact, once we entered and joined them, they were savage: I had to pick up Little Dog, who was terrified, and those dogs kept jumping up, trying to bite her.

    Chickens are our cousins!

    So are other sensitive animals!

    Enough is enough!

    No more factory farms!

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  6. amc89 Posted 1:03 am
    11 Jun 2007

    Support TNR!I don't think the writer of this post was trying to blame the ENTIRE rise of cats dropped off at shelters on climate change, but that it just might explain some of it. As a former animal shelter volunteer, I find it really concerning that kitten breeding season may be getting longer, since I know first hand how the resources of shelters are already stretched very thin.  Anyhow, I agree with Kate's conclusions, continue fighting climate change, spay/neuter and please please please go to your shelter for your next pet, not a pet store or breeder.  If you have a feral cat colony near you, help out with Trap, Neuter and Release (TNR) programs. Visit http://www.alleycat.org for more info.

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  7. Johan Posted 2:42 am
    11 Jun 2007

    timeline and put a bell in their collarhow has the amount of cats and kittens varied over the years? large changes in one year would imply a large change in something but the weather has been more or less the same. so then dont blame climate change.
    but then it has been noted before that changes in the length and timing of seasons will also change the breeding seasons for a large number of animals.
    if i had a cat i would let it go out. imagine sitting couped up inside everyday of the year. i would go soggy in my brain ... poor cats let them go out.
    if you are afraid your cat will kill all birds in the neighbourhood: put a bell in its collar and put up bird houses where the cat cannot reach them.

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