‘Tis the Season for Kittens and the Michigan Humane Society’s annual Kitten Shower

Spring is finally here and that means it’s kitten season! To help prepare for newborn kittens, many of them orphans, MHS is holding its annual Kitten Shower to support their Kitten Project. This year’s event will take place on Saturday, June 15 from 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. inside the Berman Center for Animal Care at 900 North Newburgh Road, Westland, MI 48185.

Eli+Hank Courtesy of Michigan Humane

A kitten shower is a baby shower for newborn kittens that gives the Michigan Humane Society the opportunity to educate the public about neonatal kittens and the importance of fostering. Just like a regular shower, the Michigan Humane team has created a baby registry to assist in providing much needed supplies for the hundreds of kittens entering the shelters. This event will allow guests of all ages to enjoy kitten snuggling, crafts, games, refreshments and more. During the event, guest can attend a 30-minute workshop about how they can become fosters and help care for the newborn kittens.

Black Neonatal kitten Courtesy of Michigan Humane

 

“Kittens are a vulnerable population in shelters across the country, not just here in Michigan, due to the special care they require” says Dr. Clarissa Funke, DVM, of Michigan Humane. “Our Kitten Project, with the kick-off shower event, has allowed us to save hundreds more kittens than ever before and create so many new families.”

Guests are also encouraged to brings items from the MHS baby registry. The items on this list will help the caregivers care for the newborns. These items include blankets, food dishes, formula, heating pads, kennels, syringes and more. To RSVP for the shower and get registry information, please visit michiganhumane.org/kittenshower.  Supporters can then bring their gifts or item receipt to the shower and have the chance to adopt a feline for free.

DaisyMae Courtesy of Michigan Humane

Those unable to attend the shower can also drop their gifts off at Michigan Humane’s adoption centers in Detroit, Rochester Hills, Westland and Petco of Sterling Heights. Supporters can also donate online at MichiganHumane.org/donate.

About the Michigan Humane Society

The Michigan Humane Society, founded in 1877, is the oldest and largest nonprofit animal welfare organization in the state. Each year, MHS achieves 100 percent placement of more than 10,000 healthy and treatable animals through compassionate care, community engagement and advocacy for humane treatment. The MHS operates three shelter and veterinary centers in Detroit, Rochester Hills and Westland; five adoption partnerships with Premier Pet Supply, Petco and PetSmart; and both a Cruelty Investigation Department and a Statewide Animal Response Team. Learn more at michiganhumane.org.

Guest Blog:Best Friends Animal Society’s lighthearted awareness campaign highlights serious needs of kittens and animal shelters

An adorable photo of snuggly wrapped baby kittens (aka “purritos”) on Best Friends Animal Society’s Facebook page not only invokes an “aww” but helps to spread the word about kitten season.

“Sometimes you have to go cute to get serious information out there,” said Best Friends Animal Society’s Holly Sizemore, director of national programs, community programs and services. “We are glad that people are enjoying the ‘purritos’ and especially glad to see the offers by people to get involved in being part of the solution.”

A national problem, kitten season technically lasts from February through November when shelters become overwhelmed with these helpless pets. The majority of kittens land in shelters without their mothers and need to be bottle-fed every two hours. They are usually weeks away from weaning, spaying or neutering, and being able to be adopted into permanent homes.

The workload for a typical animal shelter almost immediately outweighs what staff can handle and results in many kittens being killed upon intake simply because of a lack of resources.

“Recent surveys indicate something like 91 percent of pet cats are sterilized, which suggests that the vast majority of unweaned kittens are born to free-roaming, unowned community cats,” Sizemore said. “That is why Best Friends Animal Society and like-minded organizations are working together so hard to spay and neuter these cats, we want to break this tragic cycle.”

Sizemore explained the spay/neuter efforts are known as trap/neuter/return or TNR. Unowned cats are humanely trapped, neutered and vaccinated, then released into the community to live out their natural lives.

What remains true is often the kindest thing you can do if you find a litter of kittens outdoors is to leave it alone, Sizemore said:

 “We want to people to understand that if they see a litter of kittens, especially tiny ones, please resist that urge to scoop them up because the mother cat is probably nearby and will return to care for them. Taking them away from her severely lessens the kittens’ chances of survival.”

If you find a litter of kittens:

1. Observe and leave the kittens alone - make sure they have been abandoned before you take action. Take note of the exact location. That way you can share the address, and description of where the kittens are located if you find that they have indeed been abandoned. 

2.    Contact your local animal shelter or TNR group to see what resources might be available in your local area to help kittens and/or mother cat. 

3    If the mother does not come back and you are willing to volunteer with your local group to care for the kittens, please first read Best Friends’ resource article “Feeding and Caring for Bottle Babies.”

4. If the mother does return, keep your eye on her and the kittens until they are old enough to be trapped, spayed or neutered and returned to the area they came from. TNR is not only the most humane method of preventing cats from entering the shelter system, it’s the most effective.

In addition to TNR programs for community cats, Best Friends has established lifesaving kitten nurseries in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. Through its community cat initiatives, Best Friends supports kitten nurseries at shelters in other key municipalities as well that are staffed with teams of dedicated caregivers and supported by a cadre of devoted volunteers.

Carol Maul said she was totally overwhelmed when she started volunteering at Best Friends Animal Society’s kitten nursery in Salt Lake City: “To know there were so many stray kittens broke my heart. What Best Friends is doing is saving their lives.  Also, because the kittens will be spayed or neutered before they are adopted, that will keep them from making hundreds of new babies. I hope more people will volunteer at kitten nurseries but they need to know this is hard work. It is also rewarding when you see these tykes go from being bottle babies to a two-pounder with a personality of their own. It’s a great feeling.”

To find out more about how you can get involved during kitten season and year-round to help community cats visit bestfriends.org/communitycats.

About Best Friends Animal Society^®

Best Friends Animal Society is the only national animal welfare organization dedicated exclusively to ending the killing of dogs and cats in America's shelters. A leader in the no-kill movement, Best Friends runs the nation's largest no-kill sanctuary for companion animals, as well as lifesaving programs in partnership with rescue groups and shelters across the country. Since its founding in 1984, Best Friends has helped reduce the number of animals killed in American shelters from 17 million per year to about 4 million. By continuing to build effective initiatives that reduce the number of animals entering shelters and increase the number who find homes, Best Friends and its nationwide network of members and partners are working to Save Them All®.

To like Best Friends Animal Society on Facebook go to: http://www.facebook.com/bestfriendsanimalsociety

Follow Best Friends on Twitter: http://twitter.com/bestfriends 

Kittens:Best Friends offers tips on what to do if you find litter outdoors

Roughly 70 percent of the cats who end up in America’s shelters are killed (National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy Shelter StatisticsSurvey, 1994-97). Most of these are community cats (stray and free-roaming). In response, Best Friends is working to save lives by implementing innovative trap/neuter/return (TNR) programs across the country. Through TNR cats are humanely trapped and taken to a veterinarian who spays/neuters the cat, vaccinates them and tips one ear as a visual signal that this cat has been sterilized. The cats then are returned to their outdoor home to live out their lives. 

   

“Right now we are in what is known across the country as ‘kitten season’ and shelter employees everywhere are bracing themselves for the influx of babies,” said Dankert. “At Best Friends, we hear from shelters all over the country that are overwhelmed with the arrival of kittens still weeks away from being old enough to be weaned, spayed or neutered and adopted. Some arrive without mothers and need to be bottle-fed every two hours, and the workload almost immediately outweighs what shelter staff can take on.

“What I don’t think most people understand is that most animals shelters simply do not have the resources to care for neonatal kittens, so well-meaning people who ‘rescue’ a litter of kittens by taking them to the shelter have in almost every instance inadvertently signed the kittens’ death sentences.” Dankert said.

Best Friends Animal Society offers the following tips on what to do if you find a litter of kittens outdoors:

First of all – don’t panic. Observe and leave the kittens alone - make sure they have been abandoned before you take action. You’ll often find that their mother is simply out looking for food or for a good place to move them. Take note of the exact location so you can share the address and description of where the kittens are located if you find that they have been abandoned.

Contact your local animal shelter to get the contact information for your local community cat or TNR program.  These groups will be able to determine if mother comes back in a normal time frame or if the kittens will need to be bottle fed. 

Though it may go against your instincts, don't immediately scoop kittens up and take them to the shelter.

If the mother does not come back and you are willing to volunteer with your local group to care for the kittens, please first read Best Friends’ resource article “Feeding and Caring for Bottle Babies” . 5. If the mother does return, keep your eye on her and the kittens until they are old enough to be trapped, spayed or neutered and returned to the area they came from. TNR is not only the most humane method of preventing cats from entering the shelter system, it’s the most effective.

Want to help community cats?

Best Friends Animal Society has volunteer opportunities in Los Angeles, San Antonio, Baltimore, Albuquerque, DeKalb County, Georgia, St. George, Utah and the Four Directions program for rural southern Utah.

The Best Friends No More Homeless Pets Network of local animal rescue groups and shelters has more than 250 groups nationwide that are involved in helping community cats.

Your local animal rescue groups and shelters can put you in touch with the community cat programs that are not affiliated with Best Friends, you also can do an internet search to find groups in your area.“Bottle feeding is a very rewarding but also incredibly demanding endeavor, so make sure you have the time, resources and a suitable home to care for the kittens,” said Dankert.
 

​“​ And please also remember how important it is to spay and neuter your pets. This is the single most important thing we can do to prevent unwanted litters. Best Friends has an education campaign called Fix at Four  and you can enter your zip code to find local veterinarians and low-cost spay/neuter clinics.”

About Best Friends Animal Society®
Best Friends Animal Society is the only national animal welfare organization focused exclusively on ending the killing of dogs and cats in America's shelters. An authority and leader in the no-kill movement since its founding in 1984, Best Friends runs the nation's largest no-kill sanctuary for companion animals, as well as life-saving programs in partnership with rescue groups and shelters across the country. Since its founding, Best Friends has helped reduce the number of animals killed in shelters from 17 million per year to 4 million. Best Friends has the knowledge, technical expertise and on-the-ground network to end the killing and Save Them All®.

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