LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Hundreds of thousands of stray cats are estimated to be living across the Las Vegas valley, making kitten season especially challenging for local shelters.
The Animal Foundation says it is now bracing for the seasonal surge and needs as much help as it can get. According to estimates, there are between 200,000 and 400,000 stray cats in the valley.
Meet Bristlecone. He’s just a couple of days old and is being cared for at The Animal Foundation. Staff believe his mother may have been taken by someone, leaving the rest of the litter behind.
He is being bottle-fed every few hours and kept with other kittens in incubators set at around 90 degrees.
Shelters prepare for influx
Although kitten season may sound cute, The Animal Foundation says it is also one of the most difficult times of year for shelters, as they prepare for a major influx of kittens.
“Kitten season usually lasts March through October, so the warmer months,” said Kelsey Pizzi, communications manager at The Animal Foundation. “What happens is it gets warm outside like it is now, and cats start breeding, and then we see those kittens start to flow into the shelter.”
A local professor is also stepping in to help care for strays. He says when he bought a property downtown, it came with some unexpected companions — a colony of stray cats.
“And then I thought to myself, well, what am I going to do, right?” said Dr. Ma. “So, obviously, as a healthcare provider and a caregiver, I thought to myself, I’ve got to take care of these guys.”
What began with simply feeding them quickly turned into something much bigger.
“And then you realize that when you start feeding them, they start to multiply,” he said.
Building shelters, finding homes
Dr. Ma says he then taught himself how to better care for them — building shelters with heat for cold weather and air conditioning for extreme summer temperatures.
For years, he has also trapped cats using a homemade remote-controlled trap he built himself, getting them spayed and neutered and helping them get adopted. He says he has even taken in six of them himself.
The shelter and Dr. Ma both say more help is needed right now — especially from foster families willing to care for kittens until they are strong enough for adoption.
“We can work with your schedule and, you know, what you’re willing to do,” Pizzi said. “But fostering is just so rewarding, and it’s truly saving lives.”
Staff say spaying and neutering pets is one of the most important ways to help reduce overpopulation. They say that is especially critical during kitten season, because the average female cat can give birth to more than 100 kittens in her lifetime.
Copyright 2026 KVVU. All rights reserved.
