Update 11-2-07:  While the number of pregnant cats and newborns is tapering, we have an extremely high volume of kittens in the 8 week to 8 month range, both in shelter and in foster homes.  Sadly, kittens over 4 months old are often passed by because people are looking for little ones,

• Adopt a shelter kitty, or better yet, two.  A pair of kittens can keep each other amused for hours while amusing you with their antics.  Looking for a calmer addition to your household?  Many older, more mellow adult cats wait for months just to have a chance to show you how loving and devoted they can be.     

• Become a foster home.  If you are interested in becoming a foster home, you can fill out our foster application on our "animals needing foster" page. A commitment of a few weeks to a few months can bring countless rewards to you and your foster animals, and if you are interested in adoption, you can get to know the animals well before they permanently join your family.

• Consider donating much needed supplies or money to help us to provide the best possible care for these kitties.  Kitten formula, bottles, canned and dry kitten food, and clay cat litter are always needed, and financial donations are needed to offset the additional medical expenses during this critical time.

• Help us by becoming a part of the solution, instead of contributing to an already serious problem, by spaying or neutering your own pets. 

• Help make spay/neuter surgery available for those who cannot afford it by contributing to the John Vogel Spay/Neuter fund.

Interested in adopting one of these kittens, or want to go through our approval process to choose a cat or kitten later?  Our adoption applications can be found on Spottie's page.

Kitten Season update as of 04/03/08: 

Last year's kitten season has come to a close, and this year's season is just beginning.  Our first litter of the year was born to a pregnant stray on 2/13/08, and as more pregnant cats and younger kittens arrive, our foster homes will once again be focused on longer term fosters, spending 2-3 months with each litter while preparing them for adoption.  As of 4/2, we have four litters of kittens in foster care--the first litter is now 7 weeks old, and the younger kittens are 4-5 weeks, 2-3 weeks, and 1 day old, and we have at least one more pregnant cat soon to deliver.  Watch this page for updates on our little ones.  Most kittens will first be posted at 5-7 weeks old. 

We will also follow one family now in foster care--Mama and her kittens (born April 3rd) and post photos, video  and descriptions as they progress.

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Samir, Nina, and Bob

We are Siamese mixes who were born outside to a feral cat, and were  approximately 10-12  weeks old when we came to the shelter in late November. As many people who have worked with feral cats know, kittens who have not had some human interaction by this age can be extremely difficult to tame. We were terrified of humans, hissing and growling and even swatting and biting at them when approached, but luckily for us, kitten season was coming to an end, and a foster volunteer came along who was willing to try to bring us around.  Using lots of food, catnip and toys and even more patience, our foster mom very gradually taught us to approach her for for a special treat.  Over time, we leaned to accept petting and handling while eating and playing, and we would come running to see her whenever she came into the room!  After several weeks, we didn't mind our foster mom, but still spooked pretty easily, and we were too busy playing with each other to want interaction with her--even though we needed individual 1 on 1 time at this point.  In addition, our foster home is very quiet, and we needed to start learning to adjust to new stimuli and new situations. One other foster home had an opening, and the shelter asked if they would be willing to work further with one of us.  The foster volunteers agreed, and Nina, the only female, was transferred to a new foster home.  Bob and I (Samir) remained in our original foster home, where we continued to make progress, while our foster home tried to provide new situations by bringing new people to meet us and moving us to a new room.    I have advanced the furthest--though still very nervous of new situations, I no longer hiss or growl whenever I'm faced with anything new, and I love to run up to and play with my foster mom.  When she is sitting on the floor with me, I often climb into her lap and go to sleep--I am turning into an affectionate kitty, and sometimes I even give her kisses too!  Bob, who has blue eyes and tabby markings like our sister Nina, is the most skittish.  He plays with our foster mom, approaches her for toys and treats, and will curl up next to her, but he is still wary when approached and is not sure how he feels about being handled and petted--he knows he does not like to be picked up and carried.  Bob is the most likely to revert to aggression when terrified and backed into a corner, so working with him requires both patience and caution.  Bob is very bonded to me, and of course we would love to join a family together, but the shelter would consider separating us to further our socialization progress (especially Bob's). We are ready to move on from our temporary home into a permanent one, and we are hoping to find a special home with people who are willing to work with us and give us plenty of time to adjust.  Young children would be too much for us, as there is just too much noise and excitement with the little ones.  We recently spent a few nights in our foster parents' bedroom, where we played much of the night and then finally curled up in bed with our foster people--me the closest but Bob stayed on the bed and slept nearby--but their own cats were not happy with our invasion of their turf so we went back to the special foster kitty room!

Here are some pictures of me (Samir).

Nina, in the meantime, has adjusted well to her new foster home.  Like Bob, she still spooks easily, but she is actually pretty content when being held.  She loves to play with the other cats in the new household, and she follows adults and young children around from a moderate distance and watches their activities with interest.  She will reach out and touch her foster mom with her paw, but if mom reaches down to pet her, she will move out of reach.  If her foster people are sitting on the couch, she will curl up on the couch or on their blanket, but does not sit directly on their laps like I do.  She occasionally still hisses at new people or sounds, but she doesn't typically swat or act aggressive.  From her behavior, it is obvious that she very much wants human companionship, but she is still learning to get past her initial mistrust.   Update 2/25/08:  Yesterday was a landmark day for Nina--for the first time ever, she climbed onto her foster mom's lap and curled up for a snuggle!  She stayed for about an hour, and didn't attempt to jump down when her foster mom was petting her and picked her up!

Update 5/10/08:  Nina has found her forever home!  

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Ashton	Lindsey adopted
Thor Adopted

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The Blues Clues trio

These three beautiful kittens were approximately 6 weeks old and terrified when they brought to the shelter as strays.  They would hiss at anyone approaching, and though they showed no signs of aggression (they had not yet learned to swat at or bite people but would instead cower when picked up), we knew that some more intense socialization would be necessary to prevent issues in the future. They were also fighting a very minor upper respiratory infection, and we hoped that removal from the shelter environment during treatment would prevent a more severe illness from developing.  The kittens responded quickly to antibiotic treatment, and luckily they were young enough to respond fairly quickly to socialization, and 3 weeks after their arrival, the kittens had learned to respond positively to their foster humans and to enjoy being held.  During their time in foster care, the kittens have also been been exposed to other cats and young children, and they have seen the foster family's small dogs though they have had little direct contact.  The kittens are now very sweet, and while in extremely stressful situations they may occasionally still hiss, they are docile and easily handled.  Once comfortable, they like to snuggle with people as well as to play!

Magenta	Blue
Stevie adopted

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The Little Rascals

These six kittens were born to a feral cat in April of this year.  We were not able to place them in foster care immediately so they remained in the shelter for their first several weeks. Unlike many kittens, they didn't learn fear of humans from mom--even when she was hissing and growling, the kittens would be at the front of the cage when staff was working in the room.  When they were about 6 weeks old, we were able to transfer the kittens to foster care to work with them more closely and continue their socialization.  All six kittens are now playful, friendly, and well-adjusted, and they are almost ready to join families of their own!

Darla	Jane adopted	Spanky
Buckwheat	Stymie	Porky

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The Flintstones kittens

The Flintstones kittens were born to a pregnant stray in April.  At 8 weeks as of late June, the kittens have turned out to be beautiful, playful, and sweet babies who would do well in many homes!

Fred	Barney	Betty adopted
Bam-Bam adopted	Dino male

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Laila and Frieda

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These 5 kittens came to the shelter as strays without a mom in early June.  They were approximately 6 weeks old at the time, and a little underweight for their age.  Luckily, foster space was about to become available, and they were soon transferred to their foster home, where they quickly began to grow and adjust to life in a home.  George, the lighter of the two orange kittens, was named because he is the most curious of the litter, exploring his surroundings and checking out new people!  Shylowe, the adorable grey boy, is both the smallest and the most shy, but he is a sweet boy. Georgia is distinctive because she is  a deeper red, and the two beige kittens, both female, are an adorable little matched pair.  The kittens have been around other cats and dogs in their foster home, and have done well with both.

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Chipper	Disraeli	Burrito
Chessie	Flic

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These 5 kittens were only a few weeks old when they came to the shelter with their feral mom in late spring.  Because mom was aggressive and would not allow her kittens to be handled, the kittens were a high risk for becoming fearful and aggressive with humans themselves.  To give the kittens a better chance, we moved them to Dannika, another mother whose kittens had just been placed, and they were placed in foster care with their new mom.  Dannika and the kittens' foster human took over care of the new babies, with Dannika feeding and cleaning the kittens, and their foster humans supplementing the smaller kittens as needed with kitten formula.  The kittens are now healthy, happy babies, and they are well socialized with adults and children too!  At this point, we hope they will be ready to join new families in mid-July.

Odie	Scooby	Sassy
Shadow	Rex

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Vita female	Rosencratz female
Annabelle Lee app pending	Hawthorne male

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We were brought to the shelter as strays a few weeks ago.  Although we came in without our mom, it was obvious that she had been taking care of us, because we were clean and fed (though two of us were clearly very underweight, and not doing so well).  The people here tried to place us with another mom cat who had milk, but she was not willing to accept us, and they had no other mom cats to take us, so they had to put us in foster care without a mom.  When we got into our foster home, it soon became even more obvious that we had not been away from mom before--even though we were old enough for solid food, we didn't know what it was or how to eat on our own (some of us weren't interested in the food at all, while those of us who were spent a lot of time in the food dish, covered in food!).  We didn't know how to use the litterbox or groom ourselves yet either.  For the first couple of weeks, our foster people had to syringe-feed us food and formula, and because we weren't cleaning ourselves, we got lots of baths.  Sadly, despite our foster peoples' efforts, our smallest sister, the one who wasn't doing so well when we got here, didn't survive.  The rest of us hung on, though, and Storm, the other smaller kitten, has finally caught on to eating, though he is still looking pretty scruffy from all of the combing and baths has been through while he was learning!  Over the past week or so we have made great strides--we are now eating solid food and using our litterbox, and though we aren't perfect at keeping ourselves clean yet, we are improving daily.  We also love to play and have adjusted well to humans.  The people here say that if we continue to make progress at this rate, they hope we will be ready to join families in 2-4 weeks (sometime in July).

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The Friends Kittens   

Chandler	Ross	Joey
Monica	Phoebe	Rachel

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Amanda	Abbey	Ashley
Adam	Aiden	Anna

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