7 Things To Do If You Find Stray Kittens

[eridani]

http://www.care2.com/causes/7-things-to-do-if-you-find-stray-kittens.html




It’s kitten season! For cat lovers this means pictures of friends’ newly adopted bundles of joy on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and whatever hip new social media sites I haven’t even heard of. But it also means stray fur babies who need help.

What should you do if you come upon kittens outdoors?

1. Assess the situation.

First investigate whether the young ‘uns are on their own. Their mother may be away temporarily to hunt for food, she may be hiding because you are there, or she may be moving the family, one by one, to cushier digs. Back a ways off, stay still, and watch. Give her some time — at least a few hours. If no mom appears, move on to #2 below.

If the mother shows up your action plan depends on whether she is a stray (a pet who has lost her home) or feral (a wild animal who wants nothing to do with you). It’s easy to tell the difference: try to pet her. If she won’t let you close enough for petting, try bribing her with food to get her within arms’ reach. To catch a stray mom, see #5 below.

[ginnyinWI]

1. you would need lots of resources to do this right.

You will need money: for the spay/neuter and all the other veterinary care, for each kitten. They often come in from outdoors with parasites and eye infections that need treatment. And they will need immunizations, too.

You will need a lot of time: feeding, cleaning up after and socializing. You will need to spend time finding homes for them too. If you work during the day, think of how much time that will take out of your evening.

If you have other pets, you need to keep the strays isolated until you know if they have anything contagious.

Since I volunteer at a local no-kill shelter that routinely does all of this stuff and fosters out the little ones, I'd recommend that as the way to go. Taking them to a shelter like this is going to be putting them into the hands of caring, experienced staff. You could volunteer to be their foster caregiver if they are too young for adoption, and then you'd have someone else paying for the medical bills and supplies, and someone else finding them homes when they were big enough. Sounds like win-win to me!

[Voice for Peace]

2. Many places have spay/neuter/release programs

Whole family will be trapped; if nursing mother is trapped, kittens will be located; all will be neutered and vaccinated, and returned to the neighborhood, or placed for adoption/fostering if they are potentially tame.