Stories Of My Life

Outside Is Fine

   In case you're reading this and don't know I've been fostering kittens for a couple months. I have my second litter a brother and sister pair that'll hopefully go up for adoption in 2 weeks at most. So I have been volunteering for my local animal shelter in fall for four years. And want to address something that I feel strongly about. Many people when they see cats especially kittens outside right away think oh they'll be better off in a shelter so they can be adopted or in the case of small kittens especially still nursing ones they think their abandoned this is the case with my current fosters someone found them at about 3 1/2 weeks and right away thought I'd be in their best interest to be taken to the shelter. I know they meant well but Leo and Jiji had a mom they came in weighing in at almost a pound and were well groomed which an abandoned 3 1/2 week old kitten can't achieve without something taking care of them cause their still nursing at that age. Taking well taken care of kittens away from their mom can do way more harm then good unless their in imitate danger because lots of supposedly abandoned kittens get sick or even die because they don't have the care of their mother, kittens aren't made to nurse on a bottle or syringe and eat formula. This not only compermizes the kittens health but it just leaves the possibility for there to be more kittens because the mom is still out there having more kittens. It's better for the kittens and cat population all together to trap the mom and kittens get her spayed and the kittens spayed or neutered and adopted or released back outside. And always remember just because a outdoor cat is friendly doesn't mean it wants to be locked inside with you all day. So leave cats and kittens where their supposed to be if possible outside with their moms or inside with their moms. And one last thing if you see a cat with the tip of one of their ears cut off pretty cleanly this means they've been TNRed (trap neutered and returned) they do this with female as well as male cat taking a ear tipped cat to a shelter with mostly like end in it being their for possibly over a year waiting for a home or in most cased put down because their feral and unadoptable only small numbers of the ear tipped cats that come through shelter doors come out. So just leave them be or adopt them your self.