Posted on 07/23/2008 6:57:50 AM PDT by ZGuy
Global warming and kittens. While it may seem hard to see the connection between the two - a climate phenomenon that melts glaciers and acidifies oceans, and cuddly, 4-ounce balls of fur - experts say there could be one.
Each spring, the onset of warm weather and longer days drives female cats into heat, resulting in a few months of booming kitten populations known as "kitten season."
"The brain receives instructions to produce a hormone that basically initiates the heat cycle in a cat," said Nancy Peterson, feral cat program manager of the Humane Society of the United States, "and those instructions are affected by the length of day and usually the rising temperatures of spring."
Peterson said kitten season generally starts in March or April, as the days get warmer and longer, and the flood of kittens continues throughout the spring and early summer.
What shelter officials and veterinarians have begun noticing, however, is that kitten season is starting to begin earlier and last longer.
"They're mating earlier and we're starting to see them coming into the shelters much earlier in the season," Washington Humane Society Shelter Director Michelle Otis said.
In February 2007, for instance, the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society recorded a total cat intake of 672. The intake in February climbed to 1,008.
"Right now we're getting absolutely flooded with kittens," said Rory Uhler, president of the Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary in Cincinnati, noting that kitten season usually tapers off in the third or fourth week of June.
Newspaper ads and signs on street corners advertising "free kittens" are popping up all around Cincinnati, where kitten season started a month early this year, Uhler said.
"I don't know any shelter that has any room in Cincinnati," he added.
Where does global warming fit in? Some experts say rising temperatures could be lengthening kitten season by altering cat reproductive cycles.
"It might make sense that if temperatures are rising, cats will go into heat more often," Peterson said.
On its Web site, the Environmental Protection Agency states that rising temperatures may cause some small mammals to start breeding earlier in the year.
"Domestic cats evolved from African ancestors," said Julie Levy, a veterinarian and shelter medicine professor at the University of Florida. "Although they have adapted to climates throughout the world, it is possible that global warming is mimicking their ancient origins and helping them reach their full reproductive potential."
Other experts disagree, holding that the heat cycle in cats is based on day length and light exposure, not temperature.
"A cat's cycle is based on day length, and day length isn't changing," said Christine Petersen, assistant professor at Iowa State University's College of Veterinary Medicine. "Temperature's going up a little, but the sexual cycle of the cat isn't based on temperature."
Even if rising temperatures are not directly influencing cats' heat cycles, they can play a role in other ways. Some experts believe, for instance, that milder weather increases kitten survival rates.
And Levy offered another theory - that warming could hasten the onset of puberty in cats, as it does in some other species, creating a larger pool of fertile cats each breeding season.
Yet another explanation could be a "food chain effect," in which warm weather may help more rats and mice survive, providing feral and stray cats with more prey and allowing their numbers to thrive, said Gail Buchwald, vice president of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Adoption Center in New York.
Whatever the cause, the cat population crisis is hitting animal shelters hard, and in many cases, may result in higher euthanasia rates.
The Humane Society of the United States estimates that half of the 6 million to 8 million dogs and cats that enter U.S. shelters every year are euthanized.
"There just is not enough space, and there just aren't enough homes for all the cats and kittens being born right now," Otis said.
Theoretically, one cat that mates three times a year - cat pregnancies last 63 days and produce four to six kittens - and her offspring could produce 420,000 kittens over seven years, according to the Humane Society of the U.S.
Experts agree that the most critical factor in decreasing the cat population is sterilization through spaying or neutering.
Many veterinary clinics and animal shelters offer discount spay and neuter rates for pet owners, and many also operate programs that trap, neuter and release feral cats.
"We were part of the problem," Buchwald said. "We need to be part of the solution."
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
I don’t see a problem with this. Their skins can be turned into some pretty fine handbags and purses.
Ben Affleck hasn’t made a good movie in years — I’m pretty sure that this is because of Global Warming.
Therefore, Al Gore has developed a new program to combat this obviously increasing peril to our planet, and make a little money for himself at the same time. It is called Fat Al's Recycle Technology.
Everyone will be required to wear a “fart meter,” (Cost $75, available only from Al Gore) which will record and automatically transmit to a new government agency (the Federal Automatic Recording Technology Department) the occasion of each fart and the volume thereof.
For an additional fee of $4,500, interested parties can purchase a fart capture device (available only from Al Gore). This 25 pound device can be conveniently worn under the special clothing available also from Al Gore in attractive shades of brown.
When full, the interested consumer can present his fart capture device to Al Gore's recycling center, where for a fee of $0.10 per fart, the captured farts will be recycled into the US natural gas distribution system. Al Gore also will receive a modest fee of only $0.015 per fart for the energy content of the gas.
The interested consumer will also receive “fart credits” for the number of farts he recycles. These “fart credits” can be traded to other consumers, who elected not to purchase a fart capture device, through Al Gore's Fart Trading Exchange. Al Gore will extract only a small commission of $0.01 per fart for each trade.
All Consumers will be required to be “fart neutral” by a “Cap and Trade” regulation, administered by the new Federal Automatic Recording Technology Department.
Legislation is being developed as we speak, by the concerned Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, and her erstwhile compatriot in the Senate, Harry Reid.
Get ahead of the mandated stampede to control this growing threat to our planet. Get you fart capture mechanism now.
Simply contact Al Gore and follow his instructions.
Yes!... Yes! Alright, it’s true!
Bush ordered this! it’s HIS fault!!!
10 million North Koreans would agree...
Name any phenomenon - it’s caused by global warming, of course.
...global warming makes kittens go boom?
Man, it’s worse than I thought.
Global warming is also causing an unusual increase in the “crunchiness” of Captain Crunch cereal.
Correction: Human Stupidity could cause a kitten boom when owners don’t sterilize their cats.
Just when I think these eco freakazoids can’t get any more stupid ... they lower the bar and surprise me.
i was eating at a restaurant several years ago and looked out the window
to a group of trees and beyond the dumpster.
there were dozens of cats and kittens, probably all feral, living off of that
restaurant!
The warmists are always having kittens
Anything can cause a kitten boom. No news there.
WRONG!!!! The ONLY thing that can cause a kitten boom if CATS.
if CATS.
If cats what?
Since the increase of global warming alerts I have seen the increase of human stupidity..
Add human stupidity to the list please
It is simple evolution/natural selection, we are doing more to make sure that both early and late born kittens survive to reproduce, the stretching of the breeding season has nothing to do with the whether.
Whether or not........?
I need my morning coffee that should have been weather.
I was just teasing......
We all make misteaks sometime.
I was just teasing......
We all make misteaks sometime.
This explains the black kitten that showed up at my house about 5 days ago that my wife and kids keep feeding.
Where are all the cute kitten pictures! I thought this thread would be chock full of them?
I need a kitten fix, the more the better!
Is kittn season between duck season and wabbit season?
So this means global cooling would kill all the kitties?
Whats worse?
Oh my head is spinning with this dilemma!!
I can’t believe the only way you get money to study the reproductive cycle of cats is linking the study to global warming!
Just think -- if it was a Chinese restaurant then you might have seen the whole "Circle of Life" thing illustrated in a nutshell (or fortune cookie).
Global Warming causes kittens?.....
Paging Algore!....Paging Algore!
I think I have seen this same story over a year ago. Plus the kitten season would still go on global warming or not, as a volunteer of a local no kill cat/kitten/dog/puppy shelter and adoption center. =^..^=
Uh Oh... immaculate cat conception. The new cult will soon assemble....
One of my favorite cat pictures, the Viking Kitty.
Bookmarked this, and all cat related stuff. =^..^=
Many more at Icanhascheezburger.com.
I’m sure the animal welfare people could get PETA members to help them euthanize all the extra kittens.
Combined General and GW Ping.
PING!
Don’t forget that global warming also increases snow shoe accidents and causes excessive ear wax formation and dandruff.
OOOOOPS!!! I have no idea how that little two-letter creep crept in there. Anyhow, I answered the question with the other three letters.
Who has that three screen list-o-links for GW phenomena?
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