Since May 1, the South Suburban Humane Society has taken in more than 250 homeless kittens.

It's what animal advocates call "kitten season," a problem not unique to the Chicago Heights shelter.

Rescue organizations and shelters throughout the region are seeing a flood of felines.

"We are full to capacity and are turning away cats and kittens every day," said Victoria Bealsey at Lake County Animal Control.

Since families watching budgets are hesitant to take in one more mouth to feed, shelters are scrambling to find the kittens new homes.

"Right now all of our fosters are full and people are calling us every day trying to give us more kittens," said Joan Roback with Treasured Friends Rescue. "Our adoptions seem to be down as well and I believe it is because of the economy and so many people losing their jobs."

With many organizations still trying to recover from last year's kitten population boom, they are playing catch up. The Independent Cat Society is fielding reports of stray kittens from residents in five counties.

"Last year was a banner year in that we started getting kittens in April and May and they continued to come in all summer long," said Dorothy Ripperdan of the Westville-based rescue agency. A few kittens from last year's litters still remain at the ICS shelter.

"I wish we could say we had gotten them all adopted, but we are still working on it," she said.

Shelters say the answer is simple: Spay and neuter.

"Most people don't realize that in a warm year, one unspayed female can have four litters of kittens," said Emily Gruszka, executive director of the South Suburban Humane Society. "Since the average litter is four kittens, that's 16 unwanted kittens from just one female cat."

Several local organizations -- such as the South Suburban Humane Society -- offer low-cost spay and neutering services. Many also offer specials for those looking to adopt, such as adopt one cat or kitten and get a second free.

The Independent Cat Society also offers a "Trap, Neuter and Return" program in which residents are encouraged to take control of their own neighborhoods first, by trapping, neutering and returning cats to their colonies.

"TNR is ongoing throughout the year, and we have seen no litters in neighborhoods where TNR is performed on at least 90 percent of the cats in a colony," said Connie Szawara, the TNR Squad coordinator. "We offer support, traps, low-cost surgeries -- whatever is needed to get those free-roaming cats fixed."

Without public awareness, the problem will persist, said Debbie Cabrera, director of Heaven to Betsy's Rescue.

"The phone continues to ring with calls for help," Cabrera said. "Without volunteers, foster care and donations, many animals will end up being euthanized. We cry for them."