Since 2003, Cat Depot has been a lifeline for felines in need, providing rescue, medical care and adoption services to thousands of cats and kittens in the Sarasota area.  The passionate staff and volunteers provide a wide array of services, but kitten season is perhaps their biggest ongoing challenge. “Kitten season is the time of year when cats are most prolific with their breeding and the birth of their kittens,” says Claudia Harden, the Senior Director of Advancement at Cat Depot. “Up in northern states, kitten season would usually run from spring into fall. Here in Florida, it’s pretty much year-round, because we don’t get a cold, snowy winter. We only get a break when it starts to get rainy.”

Kittens flood into Cat Depot from a multitude of sources. The organization works closely with local municipal shelters in Sarasota and Manatee Counties when they have an overflow of kittens, and also accept kittens brought in by residents who care for outdoor strays.  “If people happen to come across a kitten, we ask them to please call us before they bring it in,” Harden says. “We walk them through the appropriate steps, let them know the mom may be just around the corner and make sure they’re not taking the kittens prematurely.”

Every cat or kitten that arrives at Cat Depot receives a full age-appropriate medical exam. Before being adopted out, each cat will be microchipped, fully vaccinated, dewormed if necessary and spayed or neutered. That costs about $250 to $300 per cat and doesn’t include costs associated with daily care and fostering until cats get adopted. Last year alone, the Cat Depot team took in over 800 kittens and adopted them out. To put that number in perspective, Cat Depot finds homes for just under 1,200 cats in total each year. As you can see, kitten season accounts for a large percentage of the work they do and it requires a massive amount of resources. 

“If  folks  in the community would like to assist us with the kittens’ care, obviously monetary contributions are always greatly appreciated. We also have kitten wish lists on Amazon and Chewy so people can donate items to their care,” Harden says. “If people would like to take cute little furballs into their homes for a couple of weeks or months depending on the kittens’ ages, we are also always looking for wonderful foster homes.We’re here for the community and for the cats and the kittens. But we can’t do it without the community support.”