Helping hands needed

Susan at Wildrun has written an impassioned plea for support for her cat rescue program, and others like it. Foster families and/or financial donations are needed by just about every rescue program in the county at this time of year, as the kittens just keep on comin’. We don’t even do “formal” cat rescue work, yet since May we’ve had little Rory, the four kittens we have now, and I know there’ve been at least 5 others at the vet’s office needing homes.

At the animal adoption center near us, they have a mother cat with five kittens, and there’s no telling how many kittens are at the larger shelters and rescues around the city. This is truly the time of year when offering a $20 donation to a local organization, or offering up a room in your house for fostering, can make a real difference.

You’ve heard it before, but fostering is very simple, especially fostering cats. If they require bottle-feeding they’re obviously a bit of a time commitment, but if they’re eating on their own, you can keep a foster cat in a spare bedroom or bathroom. Many shelters will provide supplies so your out-of-pocket expenses are minimal. If you already have “too many cats”, fostering is a way you can help out without increasing the number of pets you own. Any cat you foster means that a shelter has room for one additional rescue who might otherwise go unaided.

I’ve had many people post on this blog, telling me how wonderful I am for bottle-feeding kittens. I’ll tell you a secret, though—I’m the one who’s reaping the benefits of the arrangement, and it’s not a sacrifice. I love spending time with the kittens. Even when I have to wake up in the middle of the night to do a feeding, I’m never resentful, and feel a happy anticipation about spending time with them.

They calm me down, lower my blood pressure, and force me to put quiet moments into my day. I love seeing their first attempts at grooming themselves, their first attempts at eating from a dish, their first successes in the litterbox—everyday is full of surprises, and they’re always making me laugh.

If you’re craving a dose of unconditional love in your life, bottle-feed a kitten, and then listen to it purr as it curls up against you once it has a full belly. Every day with kittens is a brighter, happier day. Feed a kitten from a bottle just one time and it will stay in your memory forever.

So, that’s my attempt to brainwash you to be a kitten foster parent smile Try it, you’ll like it!

Little Liam used the litterbox for the first time today. I plunked him down into it, he dug around a bit, and then peed! Such a good little guy!