Many shelters have volunteer foster programs (volunteers who care for kittens until they’re ready for adoption) and will try to match the kittens with a volunteer to give them the care they need. However, if caring for the kittens and socializing them until they’re old enough for adoption isn’t feasible, then take them to your local animal control agency. For additional questions, please contact our Foster team at 2: Bring the kittens to a Municipal Shelter.ĭue to the sheer number of kittens in shelters during kitten season, their best chance of survival is your ability to foster them. You will keep the kittens in your care at your home and we will provide the supplies and medical care and place the kittens for adoption once they are of adoptable age. You can sign up to foster through the East Bay SPCA by filling out our foster application here. You can sign up to be a temporary kitten foster through the East Bay SPCA or another rescue group could possibly accept the kittens into an adoption program. Pet Food Express offers kitten kits to members of the public as well. Buy Kitten Milk Replacement (KMR), a product available from pet stores in liquid or dry form that you prepare for the kittens. It’s important not to offer them cow’s milk (this will make them sick). If there isn’t a mother cat and the kittens are not yet eating solid food, they will need to be bottle-fed every 2-3 hours. Option 1: Foster the kittens in your home until they are 8 weeks of age. If you see no visible health problems (crusty eyes, visible wounds or injuries), go ahead and leave food out for the mom and continue to monitor her as she cares for her kittens until they are eating solid food and are 5-6 weeks old.įor help determining the age of the kittens you are looking at, check out /age. Kittens under 4 weeks cannot eat on their own and they need to nurse or be bottle-fed. It would be easy to trap mom and then realize that her kittens aren’t where you thought they were! The kittens would not only be lost, but also vulnerable. *Please note* Trapping mom and all the unweaned kittens can be difficult, since she continually moves the kittens. Ideally mother and kittens should be provide with a shelter in a safe environment: a garage, outdoor cat house, or bathroom if the person is able to bring them indoors, until the kittens can eat on their own. (Hint for determining the age of nursing kittens: if they are nursing and their eyes haven’t opened, they are under 2 weeks). Kittens begin to nibble at wet food at 4 weeks of age and are fully capable of eating on their own at 6 weeks. If there is a mother cat, is she nursing and caring for the kittens? It’s best to leave them with mom until they’re weaned. If you move the kittens, she won’t be able to find them and continue to care for them. Stand at least 30 feet or more away from the kittens for a few hours to see if mom will return. It is not unusual for a mom to leave her kittens for several hours looking for food. Mom cats move their kittens often and she may be in the midst of moving them and on her way back to these seemingly abandoned kittens. Keep an eye on them and see if a mother cat comes for them. Even though they are adorable and helpless! It may seem counter-intuitive, but the best thing to do for the kittens is not to move them. Surrendering kittens to the East Bay SPCAĭon’t “kitten nap”! Resist your instinct to scoop up abandoned kittens right away.Resources if you CAN foster the kittens.Resources if you cannot foster the kittens.Learn more about feral cats and our affordable spay/neuter program for them. However, kittens under four-months old can often be socialized and adopted even if born to feral cats. Feral cats generally cannot be easily socialized and adopted. Stray cats can often be socialized and then adopted. For more information on caring for neonatal kittens, download the East Bay SPCA Neonatal Care Manual. Neither one has a legal owner however, the difference between a stray cat or a feral cat is that a stray cat is accustomed to people and a feral cat has lived in the wild and has been self-sufficient with little to no contact with people. Many of these litters are either strays or ferals. Stray and Feral Kittens are an Epidemic: Between the months of March and September, every shelter in the region will be overrun with kittens, both orphaned litters and those with a mother. Stray Cats, Feral Cats and Kittens Have you found a stray cat or litter of kittens? Here are some resources that may help.
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