04/27/2025
"Kitten Season" 2025 is well underway, unfortunately. 😬
What should you do if you find a newborn kitten or litter of kittens outdoors?
Step 1: Please resist the urge to scoop up the kitten(s) because that could do more harm than good.
Instead, watch from a distance and wait for Mom to return.
STEP 2: If Mom DID come back …
Great! If you want to help by offering food and shelter, make sure this doesn't cause trouble for the cat family. Extra food will fuel Mom's milk production — BUT put it at least 20 feet from the kitten nest. If food is too close, it will attract other animals, and Mom will move her kittens to a safer place. If Mom doesn't have a great weatherproof place for the kittens, offer a weatherproof cat shelter — again, not too close to the current nest. Let Mom choose whether to use it or not. By offering resources without scaring Mom into moving her family, you'll know where the kittens are when they're weaned (6ish weeks to pull to help transition to canned kitten food and socialize) and old enough to be safely trapped for taming and adoption at 12 weeks of age.
🚩And, most importantly, don't forget to trap and spay Mom the same day you pull the kittens!
Have a plan. Schedule her TNR appointment right when the kittens are born, so it's scheduled, and call to get the kittens on every rescue and shelter intake list that same day as well. Do not delay. Mom can go into heat when her kittens are 2 weeks old, so do not wait. The clock is ticking to save lives.
STEP 3: If Mom is truly NOT feeding and caring for her kittens, then please intervene -- https://www.kittenlady.org/age.
See this link for further information/resources: https://www.alleycat.org/take-action/leave-them-be/
Post adapted from Watching Over Whiskers.
