Pet of the Week- Quarantine Edition (What To Do When You Find A Kitten)
As we continue our “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” Pet of the Week segment, we’re going to stray a bit from owned pets and talk about kittens, specifically found kittens. There are lot of myths and unknown information about what do when you find a kitten and we’d like to help clear some of that up, so we are all giving ‘found’ kittens the best care we can.
Spring kicks off what we call “kitten season.” This is the time of year that hundreds of kitten litters are born in our valley and they flood into the shelter. Kitten season is one of the most challenging times of the year for shelters around the country, as staff and volunteers struggle to place kittens in homes and have enough foster homes to keep them in while waiting for them to become old enough or healthy enough for adoption.
WVHS does have programs is in place to help address the homeless cat population, including a TNR Program and a low cost Spay/Neuter Program, but both are temporarily on hold right now due to the coronavirus pandemic. As you can imagine, staff, volunteers and community members are concerned about the impending spike in the homeless cat population over the next several months.
And, with good reason. There will be plenty of kittens in need. But there will be many that will be accidentally identified as ‘in need’ who are really quite safe. We are asking the community to help alleviate the stress and demand on animal control, foster families, and shelter staff during this time by familiarizing themselves with the difference between a healthy kitten and a kitten in distress.
Healthy kittens belong with their mothers–not in a cage. A mother’s milk provides the best chance for survival for kittens, and taking them from mom, to an animal shelter, puts them at risk. Many cats and kittens don’t need WVHS for placement, as they are very likely to find new homes in the neighborhoods they are raised.
To help, we’ve attached a hand graphic that will assist with determining if kittens should be left where they were found or not. By familiarizing yourself with this information, you could be saving a life!
WVHS is eager to continue and expand life-saving programming on the other side of this pandemic, and appreciates your help in keeping felines out of the shelter until then. By keeping healthy cats and kittens out of the shelter, we can focus resources on helping at-risk cats and kittens, including orphans and those with injuries.
