Global Warming Linked to Severe Weather, Heat Related Deaths, and now ... Kittens?

Posted by Jill Hussein C., Brilliant at Breakfast at 4:53 AM on July 25, 2008.

Cute? Yes. But overpopulation is a cause for real concern.

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Global Warming Could Lead to More Kittens
By Eoin O'Carroll | 07.23.08

"Each year it seems to get worse and worse," said Christina Gin, an animal shelter volunteer in Hayward, Calif., to the Hayward Daily Review earlier this month.

She was talking about the shelter's surplus of kittens, a problem that animal shelters across the country face every summer. But lately, it seems that there have been more and more of the furry carnivores.

Ms. Gin blames global warming for the feline glut, and she's not alone. The Humane Society has observed that kitten season, which usually starts in March and April, has been starting earlier and lasting longer.

The Kansas City infoZine quotes Nancy Peterson, manager of the Humane Society's feral cat program, who explains how warmer weather sends female cats into heat: "The brain receives instructions to produce a hormone that basically initiates the heat cycle in a cat," said Ms Peterson, "and those instructions are affected by the length of day and usually the rising temperatures of spring."

But the warmer weather could still lead to a population increase, by increasing kitten survival rates, hastening the onset of cat puberty, or by helping more rats and mice survive, providing a more abundant food source.

Last year, Pets Across America -- an umbrella organization for animal shelters -- said that shelters are seeing spikes in the number of incoming cats and kittens. According to a press release from the organization, several shelters experienced an increase of more than 30 percent from 2005 to 2006.

An increase is not just perceived in the United States. The BBC recently reported a dramatic increase in kittens in a shelter in Bristol, England.

No definitive link has been established, but climate change has been shown to change the breeding patterns of at least some mammals.

Tagged as: environment, global warming, kittens, christian science monitor, humane society's feral ca

Jill Hussein C. blogs at Brilliant at Breakfast.

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not the worst that could happen.. [Report this comment] Posted by: luzmejor on Jul 25, 2008 8:19 AM Current rating: 4 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] ..but the fertility churches and the Bush cabal will love it if warm weather also affects early sexual maturation of teenaged girls. Then all they'll need to do is to lower the age of consent even further, to say, nine or ten? That's every pornographer's dream. Human greed is corrupting and destroying evrything in the natural world. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] ANOTHER Reason for the Kitten Explosion [Report this comment] Posted by: Tara Downer on Jul 26, 2008 2:56 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] While I'm sure that "Climate Change" is a major factor in the increase, the diminishing wealth of most of us and the growing costs of pet care lead cat owners (who often are taking in one of the neighbors' or friends' unwanted litters) partly responsible. When I took my puppy to the vet for spaying and shots, the bill was close to $400.00! Later, I discovered that there is a service in a nearby town that does spay and neuter for much less, but it would still have been about $100.00. I think that it's time that we all accept that none of us can afford a cat or dog unless we are upper middle class or wealthy. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] High Cost of Pet Care [Report this comment] Posted by: Freticat on Jul 26, 2008 4:12 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] I recently had a 19 year old cat go through a lingering illness that ended in his death. Over the course of his final month, I incurred about $500.00 in vet bills. The final blow was a pet cremation that ran $150.00, which is not much less than it cost to have the same service for my late wife. The Busheviks are intent on remaking the world into a place where the former middle class will be barely able to afford the barest of necessitiesmuch less the niceties such as pets. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Three litters this year [Report this comment] Posted by: rotation on Jul 27, 2008 4:11 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] We live in a forest and feed wild cats outside for rodent and snake control (we had Rattlers and Coral snakes). We fix those we can catch but one we call Joyce has has three liiters this year for a total of 12. There are lots of dangers coyotes, hawks, raccoons)and all but 4 are gone. I never associted this with global warming but it is a good possibility. We had a warmer than usual winter this year. The cost of feeding these cats is minor compared to being bitten by a Coral snake. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] This could be why [Report this comment] Posted by: AMERICAN VETERAN on Jul 27, 2008 7:45 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] I was getting a bit more pussy than usual this past spring.lol [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] » RE: This could be why Posted by: jimidee even more reason to spay/neuter [Report this comment] Posted by: macguffin25 on Jul 30, 2008 12:29 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] With the cat population already too high, we need to be making sure that every cat is spayed or neutered, including strays and homeless ones. Here's a link to low-cost programs http://www.lovethatcat.com/spayneuter.html [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Lifted?? [Report this comment] Posted by: andrewjh on Jul 30, 2008 2:46 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] This entry seems to have been yoinked in-full from a post on Eoin O'Carroll's Bright Green blog at CSMonitor.com, posted a week ago. What gives?? [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] » RE: Lifted?? Posted by: WizardofOhm My Kitty [Report this comment] Posted by: WizardofOhm on Jul 31, 2008 9:20 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] I rescued a five year old Tabby this January who spent the majority of the next two months in heat before I could get her fixed (didn't want to do it during and mess up her hormones, don't worry she's an indoor cat and I don't think my dogs were going to knock her up!) I live in colorado and we had a record cold winter, was this because of our heating, or does this disprove the article? I don't know, she is my first female cat, I tend to pick the wild boys. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: This could be why Posted by: jimidee

» RE: Lifted?? Posted by: WizardofOhm

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