Cedar Rapids, Iowa City shelters inundated with cats

CEDAR RAPIDS — Animal shelters in Eastern Iowa have gone to the cats.

The Cedar Rapids Animal Care & Control center was housing 200 cats — not including those in foster care — as of Monday morning, said Diane Webber, program manager for Cedar Rapids Animal Care & Control. The Iowa City Animal Care and Adoption Center hit that mark a couple weeks ago, before a push in the last few days to get some cats adopted, said Liz Ford, supervisor for the center.

In Cedar Rapids, the situation has meant getting creative about finding room for all of the felines. That means kennels in the locker room and even more in the shower.

'I've got kittens everywhere,' said Webber, noting she can put more kennels in the center's back hallway and in other rooms if necessary. The shelter at 900 76th Ave. Drive SW was built with a capacity of 124 cats in mind.

So, what's led to this hairy situation? Webber and Ford blame it on the birds and the bees. A mild winter meant that more cats were able to find food, thrive and reproduce. That wave of kittens is now what is hitting the shelters.

'All of us in animal welfare expected a bigger crop of kittens,' Ford said. 'We thought it was going to come earlier this year ... It didn't come earlier, but it definitely hit much harder.'

Ford said last year's 'kitten season' led to the cat population at the shelter hitting around 150 to 160 cats. In Cedar Rapids, the peak was around 186, including those in foster care, Webber said.

While feral cats can contribute to that increase in the feline population, Webber said many of the cats that are coming into the shelter — either surrendered or captured — were clearly domesticated at some point. Many of the cats have been front declawed and show signs of having been fed regularly.

'You know they had an owner,' Webber said.

The problem, Webber said, is that roughly 90 percent of the cats they're finding have not been spayed or neutered. Therein lies the answer to the cat problem, Ford said.

'The solution ... is you spay and neuter your pets,' she said. 'If they're not spayed or neutered, they should not go outside ... There are quite a lot of cats that are allowed to go outside. If they're not spayed or neutered, they're going to have just as many kittens as the feral cats.'

Despite the large number of cats at their respective shelters, neither Ford nor Webber anticipate having to euthanize any of the cats for space purposes.

'We teeter on that point,' Ford said. 'We haven't had to do it for a couple of years, but that is a concern.'

And while some communities have tried to tackle the cat population issue by adopting a practice of trapping, neutering and releasing stray cats, Ford said Iowa City's leash laws prevent that from being an option locally. Webber said they simply don't have the resources for that undertaking.

Instead, both shelters rely on a network of foster homes to help manage the feline overflow. The Iowa City shelter has a state-authorized capacity of 40 cat foster homes. Cedar Rapids Animal Control relies on a network of 20 foster homes.

Like Ford, Webber said the most important thing cat owners can do to reduce the stress on the shelter is to spay or neuter their cats.

'That's the biggest thing they can do,' Webber said.

Beyond that, Webber said cats should not be let out and, if they do get lost, owners should take all possible steps to find and reclaim their cat.

Finally, Webber asks that if a cat owner feels the need to surrender their pet, call the shelter first.

'We can help you out some way or convince you to wait until we have space,' she said.

The standard cat adoption fee at the Cedar Rapids shelter is $90, which includes spaying or neutering. At the Iowa City shelter, the fee ranges from $15 to $85, depending on gender, whether or not the cat needs to be spayed or neutered, and rabies vaccination status.

Both the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City shelters are running cat adoption specials this month. Cedar Rapids Animal Care & Control is also hosting its annual pet fair this Saturday, which Webber said will feature lower adoption costs.