Catty Corner: Navigating an early kitten season – Ashland Information – Neighborhood-Supported, NonProfit Information

Friends of the Animals presents methods everybody will help

By Midge Raymond

Kitten season got here a couple of month early this yr, says Terri Frazier, the cat foster program coordinator for Ashland-based Friends of the Animals (FOTAS). Yet whereas the season started ahead of common, it reveals no indicators of an early finish; at its most recent adoption occasion earlier this month, FOTAS adopted out 14 kittens and 5 grownup cats — and nonetheless has greater than 50 cats in its foster program.

“We are working closely with the other rescues to find fosters for as many cats as we can,” says Frazier. “I know we will run out of available fosters at some point.”

Fostering is without doubt one of the some ways animal lovers will help rescues with the challenges of kitten season. “Our biggest need in the way of fosters are the experienced fosters that can take bottle babies, mamas with babies and pregnant cats,” Frazier says. 

Surprisingly, typically a very powerful factor a human can do for stray kittens is depart them the place they’re — which is greatest for the cats and in addition eases the burden on rescues. Understandably, when folks come throughout a litter of kittens alone within the wild, their first intuition is to scoop them up and convey them home. Yet this might in reality be the worst final result as a result of a young kitten’s greatest likelihood of survival is to stick with their mom.

Eliza Kauder, who wears many hats at FOTAS (bookkeeper, donor administration, growth coordinator, and vaccination and microchip clinic coordinator), refers involved cat lovers to the Humane Society of the United States for tips on how to know when to assist stray kittens. But she has additionally seen firsthand what occurs when well-meaning folks inadvertently take kittens from their moms. 

Earlier this season, she says, “we got six kittens, only 1 or 2 days old, and all of them died. It’s traumatic.”

These kittens may need survived in the event that they’d been left with their mom. “Mama’s milk, mama’s comfort, mama’s heat,” Kauder says, “is something we can’t replicate. There are things in the mother’s milk that help with antibodies and makes them less susceptible to diseases, so there’s a health benefit to being with mama. And the mama is more in tune to the kittens’ needs. Mama’s instinct helps ensure kittens get what they need.”

What normally occurs is that individuals see kittens alone and assume they’ve been deserted, which is commonly not the case. “You may be ‘kit-napping’ inadvertently, thinking you’re doing the right thing,” Kauder says. “If a mama cat has five or more kittens, she can only move them one at a time, so if people move kittens it’s possible that mama is in the process of moving them. Obviously if they’re in the middle of traffic or in any kind of danger, move them — but to a place mama can still hear them or see them.” 

She cautions towards placing kittens right into a field, the place the mom wouldn’t be capable to access them. If a field is critical to guard kittens from the weather, Kauder suggests placing the field on its aspect so the mom can nonetheless see and listen to the kittens and be capable to attain them. 

While you don’t need to “kit-nap” by mistake, it’s vital to keep watch over stray kittens, to make sure they’re being cared for. “But if you’re standing by,” Kauder says, “mama won’t come back. ‘Keeping an eye’ means going away, coming back and peeking around the corner, going away, coming back and peeking around the corner” — till you’re certain the mom cat is concerned.

Usually a mom who’s transferring her infants will reappear inside a few hours. But, “if the mama hasn’t come back before dark,” Frazier says, “kittens should be taken inside and kept warm.”

The greatest scenario for stray kittens could be to feed the mom and kittens in a place the place they’re protected — then, when the kittens are about 5 weeks old, work with a rescue to get the mom fastened and the kittens adopted. If you’ll be able to’t inform how old they’re, “send us a picture,” says Frazier. “Then we can take them into a foster that can handle kittens that are eating solid food. They will be socialized and given all routine and medical care necessary. At about 12 weeks old, they will be spayed and neutered and up for adoption.” 

If you’re keen on cats and kittens however don’t need the 20-plus-year dedication, fostering is a wonderful manner to assist — and it’s a lot wanted. “We’re experiencing compassion fatigue,” Kauder says. “We have to say no a lot. We don’t have enough people to foster.” 

Right now, FOTAS wants foster households for a spread of cats and kittens. “We’re looking for fosters for a variety of ages, especially mamas with kittens,” Kauder says. Mothers and kittens are simpler to look after than bottle infants as a result of the mothers deal with all their kittens’ wants. “You don’t have to get up every two hours” for feedings, Kauder says, although kittens do should be dealt with to allow them to be weighed, monitored and socialized. She notes that even pleasant mama cats may be fierce protectors of their infants — however she’s discovered artistic methods to deal with such issues. “You can use a spatula or a serving spoon to scoop up the kittens,” she says.

All cat provides are offered to fosters — together with meals, bedding and toys — and, most vital, FOTAS has a robust assist community for its foster households. “Everybody has a mentor,” Kauder says. “For anyone fostering in Ashland, I am their mentor. You’re never doing this alone.” Click right here to use to be a foster household with FOTAS.

And to maintain these provides readily available, donations are all the time welcome. “It costs approximately $200 to feed, vaccinate and fix a kitten,” says Kauder. “With more than 50 kittens in our custody now, that’s $10,000. We normally need close to $70,000 a year to cover our costs.”

FOTAS additionally covers medical bills and microchipping, so the $200 cost is the minimal, and the adoption charge is barely $100 per cat, or per pair. “We’re losing money on every kitten,” Kauder says with amusing. “It’s not a great business model. We are dependent on donations to keep rescuing.” 

You can sponsor a kitten right here — and adoption is yet one more manner to assist. Adopting cats or kittens not solely brings pleasure to your family, but it surely makes room for rescues to soak up extra animals in want. As Kauder says, “As soon as they get adopted, more come in.” Click right here for info on the following FOTAS adoption occasion, developing on May 11.

Ashland resident Midge Raymond is co-founder of Ashland Creek Press and creator of the novel “My Last Continent.” Email strategies and questions for Catty Corner to her at [email protected].