A Flood of Homeless Kittens

It starts as a trickle and quickly becomes a flood. Homeless kittens, that is, come flooding into animal shelters every spring, and it doesn’t stop until fall. At the Arlington animal shelter the trickle has begun. We have 26 unweaned kittens in six different volunteer foster homes already. We receive kittens from many sources: owners who haven’t neutered their cats and many, many stray kittens rescued by good Samaritans. Some come in with a mother cat, but most do not. Some can’t eat solid food yet and must be bottle fed. Some have never experienced human contact and must be handled and socialized. Most of these tiny kittens would not survive without the special care (sometimes round the clock) of foster caretakers.

Once these kittens are eight weeks old and weigh at least two pounds, their foster parents bring them back to the shelter for adoption. All of them are spayed or neutered before going to their forever homes so that they do not perpetuate the cycle of increasing numbers of homeless cats.

Our foster caretakers have room in their hearts and in their homes for defenseless creatures that need their care to survive. Although they may have a hard time letting go of their “babies” when it’s time for adoption, foster parents love to see their kittens going to loving, permanent homes.

And we can't forget the adult cats in our shelter. Some of which have been waiting for months for the right person to give them love and security in a permanent home. In the summer when there are many adorable kittens for adoptions, these adult cats are often overlooked. They need homes just as much as the kittens do.