More Than 100 Up for Adoption: What is Kitten Palooza?

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Kitten Palooza was an event held in Sherwood in the state of Oregon. Like its name suggests, it was intended to encourage locals to adopt more than a 100 kittens and other cats who were at the event. As a result, the people behind Kitten Palooza made matters easier by making sure that the cats had been vaccinated as well as either spayed or neutered. On top of this, the event included not just games and activities but also booths of various sorts, thus providing it with something of a festive air.

Why Is Kitten Palooza So Important?

The event served as an excellent reminder of a serious issue throughout the United States. In short, there are a lot more cats in the United States than there are households interested in taking them in, meaning that there are a lot of cats that are either stuck in animal shelters or scraping out a meager existence as strays. Something that is not just detrimental for the cats but also detrimental for the communities that host them.

For example, most animal shelters are doing their best to take care of the cats that have been entrusted to them. However, even the best animal shelters are not the best environments for cats because of the new stimuli to which they are introduced on a constant basis, which can cause the cats to become stressed out. Unfortunately, when cats are stressed out, they become more susceptible to sickness as well as a wide range of other problems in much the same manner as humans. This is without considering how animal shelters are often strapped for money, manpower, and the other critical resources that they need to keep on running, particularly in seasons when they can expect a surge in the number of their guests. Something that is particularly relevant for cats because kitten season starts up in March and continues until August, meaning that cats are actually more fertile than most people might expect.

Moreover, it should be mentioned that animal shelters have limited space. As a result, there are a lot of cats that are euthanized in the United States on an annual basis, so much so that some animal shelters are known to euthanize more than 80 percent of their cats. This isn’t because the people at these animal shelters are sadistic monsters who want to kill cats, but rather because in a lot of cases, animal shelters lack the resources to support more than a limited number of animals.

Due to this, it is clear that there is a serious problem of overcrowding at animal shelters. Unfortunately, stray cats aren’t that much better off, particularly since they may or may not have the set of skills needed to feed themselves when out on their own. Even worse, stray cats can be a huge nuisance for a wide range of reasons. For example, stray cats will root through human garbage in search of food, thus creating a huge mess in the process. Likewise, stray cats will sometimes gather in entire colonies, which is something that can speed up the spread of potentially problematic pests as well as diseases.

What Can Be Done?

The current cat problem in the United States is caused by a number of factors. Some of these factors can’t be changed. For example, the fertility of cats as a species isn’t something that can be changed in a practical manner, meaning that it isn’t worth thinking about. In contrast, other factors can be influenced by human input. For example, pet owners are often encouraged to either spay or neuter their cats for the purpose of combating overpopulation, which has a horrendous impact on the population of cats as a whole.

On its own, Kitten Palooza didn’t change the general trend of things. However, it was part of the ongoing effort to improve the lot of cats by combating overpopulation as well as other problems that are having a negative impact on their well-being. In this light, it served a much-needed purpose, meaning that it would be a good thing if it continued to happen in the future. After all, the lot of cats won’t improve unless people are willing to take action as a whole, which in turn, won’t happen unless they are informed about the relevant issues.