Supporting Kittens in Dallas During Kitten Season

Spring has arrived in Dallas, bringing with it warmer days, blooming flowers, and tiny paws, thanks to ‘kitten season!’ Between early spring and late summer, animal shelters and rescue groups in North Texas see a dramatic influx of kittens. If you’ve been dreaming of adding a furry friend to your family, now is a wonderful time to adopt from your local humane society or rescue group. With so many felines roaming Dallas neighborhoods, it’s important to know the difference between cats that are ready for adoption and those that are best left in the community. Here is all you need to know about supporting kittens in Dallas during Kitten Season!

Helping Kittens During Kitten Season

Between March and October, Dallas-area shelters and foster homes brim with kittens of all sizes, colors, and personalities. By choosing to adopt, you’re not only giving a kitten a loving home but also freeing up shelter resources to help more animals in need. And, you’ll be helping reduce the population of stray and community cats in our city. Consider supporting kittens during kitten season as follows:

• Visit your local humane society or search out Dallas rescue groups online to find adoptable kittens
• If you’re not ready to adopt, consider fostering—you’ll help prepare kittens for their forever homes and save lives
• Make a donation to a local rescue or shelter that is caring for kittens, which can be a costly undertaking
• Consider fostering neonatal kittens if you have the time and willingness to learn how to care for these tiny, delicate kittens when they have lost their mamas and are at the highest risk of illness and death

Kittens That Can Be Adopted vs. Kittens That Can’t

There are two kinds of kittens to support this time of year. Here, I’m breaking down the difference between stray kittens and feral kittens. To learn more about “community cats” and how to help them check out Alley Cat Allies.

Stray Kittens

Stray cats are often former pets who have become lost or abandoned. They are generally used to people, may be friendly or shy, and can usually adjust well to indoor home life. You’ll usually find stray kittens thriving in foster homes, purring in shelter kennels, and ready to be adopted.

Feral Kittens

Feral kittens, on the other hand, are typically unsocialized cats. They have never lived indoors and are wary of human contact. They form colonies that live outdoors year-round, often relying on kind neighbors for food or shelter but preferring to keep their distance. Attempting to place a feral adult cat in a home is stressful for both the cat and the adopter—these cats are much happier staying where they are.

The interesting thing about kittens is that it doesn’t take long for them to become “feral” because they tend to learn fear of humans from older cats’ pretty quickly. For this reason, rescuers try to trap kittens in community cat colonies early if we want them to learn to thrive in a home environment. Otherwise, they are trapped, spayed or neutered, vaccinated (aka TNR,) then released. When we wait to long to trap them, they, unfortunately, won’t be good candidates for a life as a pet and face many more dangers than indoor cats.

Supporting Kittens in Dallas During Kitten Season

At Park Cities Pet Sitter, we love rescue cats and kittens! We support rescues and shelters every year during North Texas Giving Day, National Shelter Appreciation Week, and more. We even adopt cats for our office, which has always filled our hearts. You can learn the story of our longtime and beloved office cat, Kruzer, here.