It’s getting warmer outside, the days are getting longer and you all know what that means…It’s kitten season! Area shelters and NMHPKC have already started seeing the kittens come through our doors. Last week, NMHPKC pulled eight kittens from Halfway Home to put in foster. This is only the beginning, but here on some tips to help make it through the season:
1) If come across kittens without a mom, don’t handle them! Back away from the area and keep an eye to see if mom is just off finding food, hiding from you or is just out of sight for the moment. You’ll want to watch for a couple of hours to see if she comes back. It is very important for young kittens to receive their mom’s milk during the first few weeks of life.
2) If mom doesn’t return, you need to decide if the kittens are young enough to bring in or if they need to be trapped/neutered/returned.
3) If they are young enough to bring in, you should gather them in a kennel to start taking care of them. If they are not weaned (younger than 5-6 weeks) they will need to be bottle-fed. If you aren’t sure what you are doing, please contact us at 816-333-PETS and we will be able to help!
4) If the mother does come back, try to judge to see if she is friendly. If she is, you can bring the whole family inside while the babies are nursing. If she is not, you can set up shelter, food and water for the family. Once the kittens are weaned, they can be removed and placed in to a foster home or local No-Kill Shelter.
5) The best thing you can do is practice TNR for all feral and free-roaming cats. We are here to help!
6) If you want to become a foster home for cats and/or kittens, please contact us at 816-333-PETS and we will work to set you up as one. We are always looking for new foster homes…the more homes we have, the more animals we can help!
7) If you decide to find the kittens homes on your own, please be sure to contact our spay/neuter clinic to have them altered before adoption!
Kitten season is always full of lots of adorable faces and wonderful stories, but is also a lot of work. By putting in some hard work and having a little fun, we can come though another kitten season together.
