As spring brings warmer weather, it also marks the beginning of kitten season, which is when a flood of new kittens are born and wind up at animal shelters like Humane Society Silicon Valley (HSSV). And these adorable kittens really need some foster parents to provide them with care and attention.
Luckily, there are many ways to help. If you love cats, sign up to foster kittens while they’re too young for adoption. By offering your time and love, you can socialize and prepare your foster cat or kitten for adoption into a permanent, loving home. The shelter has kittens of all ages that are in need of fostering. The older the kittens are, the longer they can be left alone, which means that if you work you can still foster. While the youngest bottle baby kittens need to be fed every few hours, weaned kittens (about 5 weeks and older) can be left alone for longer periods of time.
Last May, HSSV took in more than 600 kittens that month alone, and nearly all needed to be fostered, so there is an incredible need for foster parents. If you’re interested in fostering a kitten, you can attend an orientation class at the shelter to learn more and submit an application. After you become a foster parent, you will be assigned a mentor, whom you can contact whenever you have questions, or when you want to get some tips and tricks for working with your foster cat or kittens.
In addition to foster parents, there is also a huge need for supplies to help care for these kittens. If you’re looking for a way to help all those cute kitties but don’t have the ability to foster, you can join the “baby shower” and contribute some much-needed items.
All you have to do is go to www.hssv.org/get-involved/volunteer/foster-an-animal/foster-a-cat.html and click on the kitten baby shower link at the top. You’ll see their Amazon wish list, where you can help contribute bottles for the newborns, toys, grooming supplies and many other items. Right now, the shelter is especially in need of crates (bottle babies stay in them while they’re young), KMR (kitten milk replacement to fill their baby bottles), and miracle nipples (really helpful for feeding the smallest bottle baby kittens). Your donation can make a huge difference.
For more information about fostering kittens or contributing supplies for them, email [email protected].