It was a warm March afternoon when Amy Schindler, COO of the Animal Welfare League of Arlington, received an all-too-familiar call from an Animal Control Officer: what to do with a days-old kitten found in a car engine?

Without hesitation, Schindler brought the kitten home as a foster. She and her roommate aptly named him Otto and provided him with the round-the-clock care he required with his fragile age and profound respiratory issues.

“This happens more than you’d think,” Schindler said. “A lot of times, cats or kittens will crawl into spaces of a car because they are warm. They tuck into car engines, hoods of cars, and wheel wells. People find them in various places around parking lots, in storm drains, you name it. In this case, thankfully, somebody heard him meowing, and our animal officers rescued him.”

For animal control and rescue organizations, calls like this as the temperature rises and the days get longer mark the start of “kitten season.” It’s that time of year when unspayed female cats most often go into heat and give birth, leading to a massive surge in the kitten population. 

For Northern Virginia, “kitten season” spans multiple seasons.

"It's more than just a season now — it’s an ongoing influx of litters that goes right into October,” Schindler said. “These kittens come from outdoor and indoor-outdoor cats that haven't been spayed. The repopulation doesn't stop until the temperature drops. We’ve found that, as it gets colder, things kind of shut down. Cats tend to transition from breeding to just trying to find a place to stay warm.”

Tails High Rescue, a non-profit, fully foster-based cat rescue organization, has also observed “kitten season” stretching across most of the year.

"The reality is that it truly never ends,” Acacia Waller, Board President of Tails High, said. “We see a slight reprieve from December to February because the community cat population isn't moving as much and procreating in the cold, but the focus on taking in kittens and getting cats spayed and neutered is constant. The harsh reality is that only 25% of kittens born outdoors survive without human intervention.”

Working with the AWLA and Tails High, two local organizations that have special expertise in caring for neonatal kittens, is key to saving more of these young lives. Neonatal kittens, bottle babies, are aged newborn up to about four weeks old and require special nutrition. When neonatal kittens find themselves without a mother, it takes specially trained volunteers to help them thrive. The AWLA and Tails High each care for hundreds of cats every year that come from communities across Northern Virginia, and even into West Virginia. 

"Our kitten program is built on a strong network of fosters and a highly knowledgeable staff, modeled after the standards of the National Kitten College,” Schindler said. “Arlington doesn’t face the same volume of stray cats as more rural areas, so we utilize our resources to act as a safety net for neighboring regions. We collaborate with rescuers and shelters across Virginia, West Virginia, and DC to transfer neonatal 'bottle babies' and orphaned kittens that require specialized care and socialization.”

As Arlington’s animal shelter, AWLA provides temporary humane shelter for lost, abandoned, surrendered, or otherwise homeless animals, including, but not limited to dogs, cats, and other small companion animals. AWLA's primary responsibility is to the animals and people of Arlington County and it will accept any animal regardless of condition from within Arlington County, as well as animals from the City of Falls Church (and other localities in some circumstances). awla.org 

Reserving neonatal care for their many experts has allowed Tails High to scale readily across the pandemic and subsequent trying times.

"We have many neonatal experts dedicated to volunteering who understand exactly what fragile kittens need before they are weaned," Waller said. "While we reserve those super tiny kittens for our experienced fosters, we still want the community to get involved. We pair newer volunteers with weaned kittens. They are a lot of fun to nurture but don’t require intense, around-the-clock care. Specialized tasks like bottle, syringe, or tube feeding require nuance and experience. We’ve worked hard to set high standards for kittens under four weeks old, which includes using incubators to maintain the specific body temperatures and environments they need to survive and thrive."

Tails High  aims to get cats and kittens off the streets and into homes where they are safe, so the group often helps orphan kittens, mama cats with litters of kittens, friendly strays, and cats and kittens with health concerns needing urgent medical attention.

Awareness is key to saving thousands of little feline lives on the line this season. As Northern Virginia residents encounter more kittens during these warmer months, experts from both AWLA and Tails High urge community members to follow three basic principles.

1. Above all else, keeping kittens with their mother gives them the best chance for survival.

“If someone sees kittens somewhere, there’s a decent chance that there is a mom taking care of them,” Waller said. “It is all about knowing the right time to intervene. Moms have to hunt, so they may leave their litter for several hours at a time while they look for food. Unless the kittens are in an unsafe environment — like in a dumpster or the side of a busy road — we normally say to give it several hours and then check back in with us. We don’t want people to 'rescue' kittens only to leave a mom behind who will never be spayed; if we do that, we’re just back in the same situation over and over again.”

It is common for mother cats to stow away their kittens in warm corners as safe spots — window wells, decks, porches — while they find food to support their broods.

When a kitten is in a compromising situation — like the AWLA’s Otto who was found in a car engine — that’s when it is time to take action. 

“We usually tell people to wait and watch for a day; oftentimes, the mother is just out searching for food,” Schindler said. “However, we do see cases where kittens are truly orphaned and need immediate supportive care. We are ready for any scenario.”

In either case, or if in doubt, these rescue organizations are just a call away.

2. Kittens need a very specific type of nutrition (not cow or goat milk). Leave care of tiny kittens to their mothers or the experts.

“The most important things for neonatal kittens are warmth and proper nutrition,” Schindler said. “We have to steer clear of 'old wives' tales' like goat milk and ensure they get specific kitten formula.”

Tails High has also encountered dangerous assumptions that any type of milk will do for a kitten.

“There is a misnomer that cow’s milk is okay for cats, but it actually makes them really sick,” Waller said. “People are well meaning, but when kittens are little, they need a mother’s milk or a very specific kitten formula.”

3. There is a critical difference between community cats, stray cats, and feral cats.

When a rescue expert is trying to determine the needs of a cat reported in the field, the process moves much faster if the caller has already deciphered whether they are looking at a feral cat, a community cat, or a stray.

Feral cats are unsocialized cats that are completely unsuitable for any kind of pet life, community cats are largely outdoor cats who are taken care of but without a documented owner, and stray cats are typically one-time pets who are lost or abandoned. 

In the case of feral cats, it is even more helpful if the person reporting their presence can determine whether they have been spayed or neutered; these cats will often have a clipped ear to indicate they have already gone through a Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program.

"Cats are scattered everywhere in our area, and when people call in, our first goal is to triage the situation by asking basic questions,” Waller said. “We need to determine if we’re looking at a stray, a feral cat, or an established community cat. In a truly feral community where cats aren't socialized or ear-tipped, we are much more likely to see kittens pop up. TNR is the most critical piece of this puzzle. We want the community to know that organizations like the Animal Welfare League of Arlington or the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria offer training and low-to-no-cost spay and neuter programs. It can be as simple as a quick training session and borrowing a trap; we just need more neighbors willing to take that step. … The rule of thumb in the rescue world is, ‘you feed it, you fix it.’”

The best way to tell the difference between a stray cat, a community cat, or a feral cat is by consulting with neighbors.

“Before assuming a cat is in distress, ask around — post on Nextdoor or your local listserv to see if anyone is already caring for them,” Waller said. “You might see an ear-tipped cat living in the environment and not realize that several people on the block are already providing food and monitoring their health. Being able to tell the difference between a cat in truly dire need and a well-managed outdoor cat often starts with learning about the community that is already surrounding them.”

Community cats are especially common in Arlington, where Schindler noted a specific shelter policy: cats can only be released back to their outdoor environment if there are at least two confirmed feeding sources ensuring their care. 

“Because it is a transient area with a heavy rental landscape, indoor-outdoor cats often get left behind, and then new people move in and continue feeding them,” Schindler said. “We work closely with rescuers and neighbors to determine the best outcome for every cat we’re asked about. It’s a delicate process of assessment: when a mother cat is brought in and we don’t know her history, we have to put a lot of consideration into determining if she’s a candidate for adoption or if she belongs back in her outdoor community,” after she has been spayed.

“Kitten season” presents Northern Virginia rescues with a daunting numbers game. A single fertile cat can produce two to three litters per season, averaging four to six kittens each, meaning one mother can bring nearly 20 new lives into the community in just a few months. It’s a staggering figure, but it’s exactly why this work matters.

Unfortunately, while Otto didn’t survive, he spent most of his short life in the care of someone tending to his every need, physical and emotional.

And for every Otto, there are more who go on to live beautiful lives beyond the shelter.

“We have a 97 percent live release rate,” Schindler said. “It’s heart breaking to lose even one, but what keeps us all going is the hundreds that we do save every year.”

The Tails High team also sees overwhelming survival rates for kittens who land in their care.

“More often than not, the only cats we have who aren’t adopted are those in hospice or those who are extremely shy and need extra time,” Waller said. “To ensure the best outcomes, we just keep our kittens until they are at least eight weeks old so we can spay or neuter them before they go to their new homes. In that time, they get their proper deworming, vaccines, and other vet care so they can thrive.”

Ultimately, if people want to be a part of this life-saving cycle, it is a great time to get in touch with the AWLA or Tails High.

The AWLA is ready and willing to train fosters for cats of any age, and can accommodate varying time commitments.

Tails High looks for fosters who can commit to at least a month. 

For people who cannot foster, or for fosters who need a much-deserved break from the process, donating or contributing to these organizations in other ways can be so impactful. 

“You don’t have to adopt 20 cats to make a difference,” Waller said. “The simple act of sharing one of our stories on Instagram can help get a cat adopted and into a brand new, happy life. We’ve seen that over and over again — in the rescue community, small actions can turn into big, beautiful transformations.”

To get involved with the AWLA, visit www.awla.org or call 703-931-9241.

To support Tails High, reach out to the team through www.tailshigh.org or follow their journey on social media @tailshigh