Kitten season has arrived, said Maria Diamond, Pearl River County SPCA cat room volunteer, and the SPCA will hold a kitten shower Saturday, May 11, from 11 a.m. 2 p.m., where the public is invited to meet and play with kittens in the local shelter’s cat room.

“We just want people to have a fun day and to make people aware of the precious kittens in our community,” Diamond said.

From late April to September, cats in Pearl River County typically give birth to three litters, which creates an excess of unwanted kittens in the county, Diamond said. Typically the shelter receives 200 to 300 kittens per month from May to July, she said.

The county even transports cats and kittens to shelters in Hattiesburg, because Pearl River County’s warm climate produces more stray kittens than other parts of the state, she said. Cats do not have as many kittens farther north because the cold weather lasts longer, she said.

The kitten shower gives the public an opportunity to play with well-socialized kittens that have been spayed or neutered and given age appropriate shots, Diamond said. These kittens are ready for adoption, she said.

Just like any other shower, the kittens are registered for gifts such as milk and cat toys at the Picayune Walmart under PRC SPCA. The kitten shower also gives the community a chance to get to know their local animal shelter, she said.

“Some people don’t want to come to the shelter and we just want them to know, it’s a happy, friendly place and people can have a good time here,” Diamond said.

The PRC SPCA is also looking for new volunteers and foster homes, she said. The shelter needs people to care for kittens younger than 8-weeks-old, which are too young to be adopted and are at risk of becoming ill if they stay in the shelter, Diamond said. The shelter provides all food and medical care for the kittens and all a foster needs is a safe room to keep the kitten in, she said.

For any shower goers who want to take home a kitten, same day adoption is available with a $100 adoption fee. There is a discount for adopting two kittens at once, Diamond said, because kittens that have another cat to play with are less likely to get into mischief in the household.

The shower will include refreshments and a gift basket raffle, Diamond said. Paintings made by kittens, via kittens with paint on their paws walking across paper, will also be available for purchase, she said.