Main Shelter Information: 240.773.5960

"KITTEN SEASON" IS HERE:  YOU CAN HELP BY ADOPTING OR FOSTERING

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CAT ADOPTION OPEN HOUSE SATURDAY, MAY 16

Rockville, MD – May 7, 2009 – “Kitten season” has arrived at the Montgomery County Animal Shelter, and the Montgomery County Humane Society is receiving kittens by the boxloads. In March 2008, MCHS took in 180 adoptable cats and kittens, and the number swelled to nearly 300 by September the same year.

 “Kitten season” is the unofficial name for the mating season for cats. It begins in late spring and runs into early fall. Cats are prolific breeders. A female cat can begin having kittens at age six months and can go into heat every three weeks.  The size of an average litter is four to six kittens. Unaltered females can become pregnant while nursing and give birth to multiple litters each season. The result is a surge of pregnant cats and offspring.

Special event:  Cat Adoption Open House 

To help find loving homes for the many cats and kittens that have already begun to arrive at the shelter, MCHS is hosting a Cat Adoption Open House on Saturday, May 16, from 12 noon to 5 p.m. at the county animal shelter. Visitors can meet more than 100 felines of all different ages and in a wide range of colors – orange, gray, cream and brown tabbies, blue torbies, black and white tuxedo cats and more. Special discounts are available on cats 7 years old and up. HomeAgain is donating free microchipping for cats adopted during the open house.

What:        MCHS Cat Adoption Open House

When:       Saturday, May 16, 2009, 12 noon-5 p.m.

Where:      Montgomery County Animal Shelter, 14645 Rothgeb Drive, Rockville, MD 20850

Other ways you can help:  Foster and volunteer

MCHS is seeking foster homes willing to care for kittens that are too young to be adopted. Individuals bring mother cats with nursing kittens and underage kittens (under eight weeks) to the shelter by the dozens. Underage kittens cannot legally be adopted, and MCHS depends on foster parents to provide care and socialization for these little ones until they are eight weeks old. If you are interested in fostering cats or kittens, contact Laureen Prebilic at fostermau@mchumane.org, 240.453.9404.

MCHS is also seeking volunteers to assist with the care and socialization of cats at the shelter. If you are interested in volunteering, contact David Poole, dpoole@mchumane.org, 240.773.5969.

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About the Montgomery County Humane Society:
The Montgomery County Humane Society (MCHS) in Rockville, Maryland, is a non-profit animal welfare organization that has provided animal sheltering services for Montgomery County since 1958. In addition to managing the animal shelter for the county, MCHS also maintains an overflow private rescue center especially well-suited for animals with special needs. As an open admission shelter, we never turn an animal away. In 2007, MCHS assisted The HSUS with a puppy mill rescue from Hillsville, VA, saving 25 dogs and puppies.

The private rescue is located at 607 S. Stonestreet Avenue, Rockville, MD 20850.

www.mchumane.org