Cat Spay of Santa Fe is open for business at Zimmer-Foundation.org

Easter marks -- not only the beginning of spring time -- but also the start of kitten season  -- the eternity from early spring to late fall when intact female cats go in and out of heat every two weeks -- even when they're nursing baby kittens.

Nationally, most intact female cats have at least two litters a year -- in warmer climates or years when winters are less frigid -- three litters are not uncommon.  And, when female kittens are born early in the breeding season, they'll be sexually mature in 16 weeks and contribute a litter of their own during the same kitten season they were born in.

Spring and summer are also the time of year when pet adoptions are at their highest.  Shelters are kept busy fostering and socializing baby kittens and adopting out as many as they can before they get too old to be selected.   Media announcements alert us to the shelters' plight of too many kittens and not enough homes -- and yet the irony is that the shelters only see the top layer of available kittens.  85% of all cat and kitten adoptions are done person-to-person not shelter-to-person.    And -- potentially -- an even higher number of kittens don't make it into adoption statistics at all -- they simply are born and continue to live -- not as companion pets but wildlife -- in feral colonies with their mothers and fathers -- much the same way that squirrels and rabbits live. 

As cute and loveable as kittens are -- the problem of cat overpopulation is not -- in fact it's dark and ugly.   But -- it does have a known and implementable solution:  pro-active sterilization of all cats and kittens living indoors or out -- the sooner the better.

We've been working pretty hard over the last few months getting our Foundation registered in New Mexico, checking accounts set up, and literature prepared so we'd be ready to start issuing our free spay/neuter vouchers before kitten season got too far along.  The last piece of the process was publishing our web site and it was completed last week.  So now we're open for business at Zimmer-Foundation.org.  We can issue free veterinary vouchers -- covering the full cost to spay or neuter up to three cats -- for Santa Fe County families with annual incomes under $40,000 per year. The procedure is simple:

If you live in an apartment complex or a mobile home park and have an e-mail address, click on our e-mail application and complete the form. Once you’re done, click the e-mail button (at the top of the form) to send it to us for processing.

If you don’t have an e-mail address and/or you own your home, you’ll need to use the mail-in application. After you complete the form online -- print it out using the double-sided setting on your printer-- and simply fold it in thirds with our address on the outside. It’s pre-addressed so all you need to do is add a first class stamp and stick it in a mailbox. (Homeowners also need to include the 2009 tax information requested as independent verification of annual family income.)

We’ll process applications quickly and send vouchers for qualified cats through the mail.  If you don't hear back from us within 10 days, call or e-mail us for an update.  The voucher specifies the clinic authorized to do the surgery. As soon as you receive your voucher(s), call that clinic to schedule your surgeries as the vouchers are only good for 30 days.

If you live in Santa Fe county and would like to help us get the word out – simply print out our flyer and post it on a public bulletin board.  Good locations for posting are pet stores, veterinary clinics, churches, schools and fast food restaurants. And, if you know someone who has an unsterilized cat, you could even print out the mail-in application and hand it to them to use.

Fixing cats is the best way – if not the only way -- to fix the companion animal welfare system. No longer spraying, fighting and kittening – sterilized cats are better companions and  much less likely to be abandoned outdoors or relinquished to a shelter.