What do you do if you are walking outside and see a mewing kitten or an entire litter of adorable, newborn baby felines?
First, determine if their mother is around. Kittens do best when they are with their mother, who instinctively knows how to nurture and protect her young. The mother’s milk provides the kittens with vital nutrients for their immune systems. If the kittens are underage (less than 2 pounds or younger than eight weeks old) and mom is still around and taking care of them, leave the kittens where they are until they are weaned. To help the mama cat, you can provide shelter and put out food nearby.
If the kittens’ mom is not around, wait at least two hours to see if she comes back. If she doesn’t return, please consider fostering the kittens until they are at least two pounds.
Kitten season phenomenon
Kitten season is coming. Newborn and toddler felines are going to be popping up all around the County. It is an annual occurrence, starting in April, peaking in July and August, and usually ending by autumn.
Since the shelter doesn’t have the capacity to properly nurture and socialize underage kittens, we need community members who find infant felines to step up and foster them. Once they are old enough to be spayed/neutered (three months old), the shelter staff will ensure they are adopted to good homes.
FOTAS provides “kitten kits” containing instructions and the supplies you need to take care of found kittens until they are old enough to come to the Aiken County Animal Shelter. These kits are customized for infant kittens as well as older kittens.
While kittens under four weeks old must be bottle fed, older kittens just need a little of your time to nurture and socialize them. If you are unsure of their age or care needs, you can bring kittens to the shelter for assessment. We can help you decide on a plan for adoption or direct you to other options, including our TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return) program, which is free to Aiken County residents, or the spay/neuter voucher program.
Foster volunteers needed
Because citizens are sometimes unable to bottle feed and socialize the kittens they find, we have a small team of FOTAS fosters who take in babies and give them the care they require. These dedicated volunteers save many felines every year. To join this special team, please send an email to info@fotasaiken.org or call the shelter at (803) 642-1537, option 3.
Their lives are in our hands.
By Bob Gordon, FOTAS Communications Director
