Friends of the Animals offers ways everyone can help

By Midge Raymond

Kitten season came about a month early this year, says Terri Frazier, the cat foster program coordinator for Ashland-based Friends of the Animals (FOTAS). Yet while the season began sooner than usual, it shows no signs of an early end; at its most recent adoption event earlier this month, FOTAS adopted out 14 kittens and five adult cats — and still has more than 50 cats in its foster program.

“We are working closely with the other rescues to find fosters for as many cats as we can,” says Frazier. “I know we will run out of available fosters at some point.”

Fostering is one of the many ways animal lovers can help rescues with the challenges of kitten season. “Our biggest need in the way of fosters are the experienced fosters that can take bottle babies, mamas with babies and pregnant cats,” Frazier says. 

Surprisingly, often the most important thing a human can do for stray kittens is leave them where they are — which is best for the cats and also eases the burden on rescues. Understandably, when people come across a litter of kittens alone in the wild, their first instinct is to scoop them up and bring them home. Yet this could in fact be the worst outcome because a young kitten’s best chance of survival is to stay with their mother.

Eliza Kauder, who wears many hats at FOTAS (bookkeeper, donor management, development coordinator, and vaccination and microchip clinic coordinator), refers concerned cat lovers to the Humane Society of the United States for how to know when to help stray kittens. But she has also seen firsthand what happens when well-meaning people inadvertently take kittens from their mothers. 

Earlier this season, she says, “we got six kittens, only 1 or 2 days old, and all of them died. It’s traumatic.”

These kittens might have survived if they’d been left with their mother. “Mama’s milk, mama’s comfort, mama’s heat,” Kauder says, “is something we can’t replicate. There are things in the mother’s milk that help with antibodies and makes them less susceptible to diseases, so there’s a health benefit to being with mama. And the mama is more in tune to the kittens’ needs. Mama’s instinct helps ensure kittens get what they need.”

What usually happens is that people see kittens alone and assume they’ve been abandoned, which is often not the case. “You may be ‘kit-napping’ inadvertently, thinking you’re doing the right thing,” Kauder says. “If a mama cat has five or more kittens, she can only move them one at a time, so if people move kittens it’s possible that mama is in the process of moving them. Obviously if they’re in the middle of traffic or in any kind of danger, move them — but to a place mama can still hear them or see them.” 

She cautions against putting kittens into a box, where the mother would not be able to access them. If a box is necessary to protect kittens from the elements, Kauder suggests putting the box on its side so the mother can still see and hear the kittens and be able to reach them. 

While you don’t want to “kit-nap” by mistake, it’s important to keep an eye on stray kittens, to be sure they’re being cared for. “But if you’re standing by,” Kauder says, “mama won’t come back. ‘Keeping an eye’ means going away, coming back and peeking around the corner, going away, coming back and peeking around the corner” — until you’re sure the mother cat is involved.

Usually a mother who is moving her babies will reappear within a couple of hours. But, “if the mama hasn’t come back before dark,” Frazier says, “kittens should be taken inside and kept warm.”

The best situation for stray kittens would be to feed the mother and kittens in a place where they’re safe — then, when the kittens are about five weeks old, work with a rescue to get the mother fixed and the kittens adopted. If you can’t tell how old they are, “send us a picture,” says Frazier. “Then we can take them into a foster that can handle kittens that are eating solid food. They will be socialized and given all routine and medical care necessary. At about 12 weeks old, they will be spayed and neutered and up for adoption.” 

If you love cats and kittens but don’t want the 20-plus-year commitment, fostering is an excellent way to help — and it is much needed. “We’re experiencing compassion fatigue,” Kauder says. “We have to say no a lot. We don’t have enough people to foster.” 

Right now, FOTAS needs foster families for a range of cats and kittens. “We’re looking for fosters for a variety of ages, especially mamas with kittens,” Kauder says. Mothers and kittens are easier to care for than bottle babies because the moms handle all their kittens’ needs. “You don’t have to get up every two hours” for feedings, Kauder says, though kittens do need to be handled so they can be weighed, monitored and socialized. She notes that even friendly mama cats can be fierce protectors of their babies — but she’s found creative ways to handle such things. “You can use a spatula or a serving spoon to scoop up the kittens,” she says.

All cat supplies are provided to fosters — including food, bedding and toys — and, most important, FOTAS has a strong support network for its foster families. “Everybody has a mentor,” Kauder says. “For anyone fostering in Ashland, I am their mentor. You’re never doing this alone.” Click here to apply to be a foster family with FOTAS.

And to keep those supplies on hand, donations are always welcome. “It costs approximately $200 to feed, vaccinate and fix a kitten,” says Kauder. “With more than 50 kittens in our custody now, that’s $10,000. We normally need close to $70,000 a year to cover our costs.”

FOTAS also covers medical expenses and microchipping, so the $200 cost is the minimum, and the adoption fee is only $100 per cat, or per pair. “We’re losing money on every kitten,” Kauder says with a laugh. “It’s not a great business model. We are dependent on donations to keep rescuing.” 

You can sponsor a kitten here — and adoption is yet another way to help. Adopting cats or kittens not only brings joy to your household, but it makes room for rescues to take in more animals in need. As Kauder says, “As soon as they get adopted, more come in.” Click here for information on the next FOTAS adoption event, coming up on May 11.

Ashland resident Midge Raymond is co-founder of Ashland Creek Press and author of the novel “My Last Continent.” Email suggestions and questions for Catty Corner to her at CattyCornerAshland@gmail.com.