A Cute Crisis: It’s Kitten Season In Lubbock & We Need To Step Up

It will probably come as no surprise that I love cats and kittens. Most people who don't have a severe allergy or a traumatic cat-related experience tend to at least like cats. They are adorable and have fun little personalities.

In addition to my cats, I also have the pleasure of hanging out with my area's "community cat," a neutered alpha boy who serves a vital function in our neighborhood- he keeps troublesome nuisance cats away. With Mert around, we don't have yowling, spraying, fighting, disease spreading mating cats.

And he's pretty dang cute:

Mert is a TNR (trap/neuter/release) success story. And it's a story we need to repeat in every Lubbock neighborhood. We are in the middle of Kitten Season here in Lubbock, and we have the opportunity to prevent suffering- always a noble goal.

Luckily for Lubbock, we have organizations like Kat's Alley Cats, that humanely TNR community cats- reducing the feral cat population. However, it's an uphill battle, because there are so many irresponsible pet owners in Lubbock.

It is a myth that cats should have one litter. It doesn't make them happier or healthier, in fact, it can be very dangerous to a female cat's health. And unneutered male cats spray- something nobody wants in the house or on their property. Yuck.

Neglectful owners of indoor/outdoor cats are causing a cat population crisis by failing to neuter their animals. Kat's Alley Cats is doing everything they can, but are in need of more donations and volunteers to help tackle this problem.

They recently took on a huge project- a neighborhood with 51 cats and kittens on one block! There's more to it, including a heroic momma cat who fed orphaned kittens. You can read about it here:

This is how we can help: you can donate to Kat's Alley Cats (any amount helps), or you can volunteer with the organization. And remember- the biggest help is not adding to the problem in the first place- spay and neuter your pets!