Have you ever thought about caring for newborn kittens? Now is your chance to learn from the kitten foster expert herself, Hannah Shaw (aka The Kitten Lady), who is teaming up with Royal Canin to bring you a four-part livestream series on caring for and fostering newborn kittens.
There are many reasons to foster a kitten, especially now. As the world faces a global crisis, Hannah and Royal Canin are encouraging people interested in caring for kittens to #StayHomeAndFoster. Why the urgency?
Kitten season is here. That means shelters are starting to receive thousands of newborn kittens and young cats. That might sound cute, but it poses a serious challenge to animal shelters already struggling with maximum capacity. Especially now with the shortage of staff due to the ongoing global health crisis, the situation this spring will quickly become critical.
So how can you help? You can foster kittens at home!
Fostering newborn kittens is an incredibly heart-warming and rewarding experience. Since millions of people are quarantining at home right now, there’s no better time than right now to learn how to foster newborn kittens and help save a life.
Find out how you can start caring and fostering newborn kittens with this FREE webinar series hosted by Royal Canin and The Kitten Lady.
The free, interactive livestreams will cover the most important kitten topics – caring for neonates, feeding and nutrition, kitten behavior and socializing, among others.
Introducing Catology
Royal Canin is excitedly launching their new campaign Catology – an educational series for first-time kitten fosters and adopters – as well as a free month of nutrition for kittens and cats being fostered or adopted (for the first 1,000 sign-ups).
That’s right – if you want to foster but are not feeling confident about how to get started, Royal Canin and The Kitten Lady are here to help you through this process! We love to see how brands are stepping up in the middle of this crisis to help others.
Right now is an unprecedented time for everybody! If you can’t foster, but know a friend who can, please pass along this information.
Resources
New kitten fosters and adopters, can visit royalcanin.com/foster for information on how to receive free Royal Canin kitten and cat food.
Learn more about fostering here: StayHomeAndFoster.org to connect with a shelter or rescue in your area.
If you’re worried about not being able to get out, many shelters are currently offering foster pet delivery or low-contact pet pick up.
For additional foster resources, visit kittenlady.org/webinar.
How to Foster Kittens (Free Webinar Educational Training)
Fostering saves lives. Neonatal babies who are found outside, abandoned, or are dumped at shelters, are at risk of illness and death if not given around-the-clock care. Their immunities are not yet fully developed; they need to be bottled-fed, kept warm, and safe.
If you would like to foster kittens but aren’t sure where to start, follow along as The Kitten Lady gives free educational training online.
When? Catch the free webinar series during the next four Saturdays starting at 11am PT/2pm ET. The webinars will be streamed live on the official Facebook and Instagram of Royal Canin and the official Facebook and Instagram of The Kitten Lady.
Register here (it’s FREE!)
What You’ll Learn…
Webinar 1: Caring for Itty Bitty Bottle Babies
When: Saturday, April 18 11am PT/2pm ET
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How to set up space in your home for foster kittens
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How to identify the age, sex, and weight of a young kitten
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How to bottle feed, syringe feed, and provide nourishment for hard-to-feed kittens
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How to provide bathroom assistance, grooming, and comfort to neonates
Webinar 2: Beyond the Bottle – Caring for Growing Kittens
When: Saturday, April 25 11am PT/2pm ET
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How to safely and properly wean kittens onto solid foods, including tips for difficult-to-wean kittens
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How to litter train kittens
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Tips for developing healthy behaviors in kittens and creating an enriching environment
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Step-by-step instructions for finding your foster kitten a forever home
Webinar 3: Keeping Kittens Healthy
When: Saturday, May 2 11am PT/2 ET
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How to provide basic preventative care like dewormers and probiotics
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How to deal with GI issues such as diarrhea, constipation, and parasites
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How to handle respiratory and eye infections, fleas, ringworm, common viruses, and more
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How to properly sanitize and quarantine kittens for maximum health benefit
Webinar 4: Feral Felines and Kittens Found Outdoors
When: Saturday, May 9 11am PT/2pm ET
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How to assess and respond to a variety of outdoor kitten scenarios including finding orphans, feral kittens, and families
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How to safely handle and trap feral kittens and cats
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How to participate in sterilization programs for community cats
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How to socialize hissy feral kittens
5 Reasons to Foster Kittens
If you’re not sure why fostering kittens matters, here are a few reasons to showcase just how important the work of fostering really is.
Neonates need around-the-clock care
Newborn kittens are precious little things. They need feeding around-the-clock, even if that means it’s 3 am. If kittens are abandoned by their mother (she might have gotten into an accident, lost, etc.) then the kittens will need help – human help – to survive. Other than feeding, kittens need to be kept warm (in a toasty 88-92 degrees). Kittens left outside and abandoned don’t have high chances of survival.
Shelters are overwhelmed
If you find kittens and think the shelters will be able to take them in and care for them, think again. Every year, shelters across the country take in thousands of extra cats. Not only is that a burden financially, the staff just can’t properly house and care for so many at-risk animals. Especially now when people are forced to quarantine at home, shelters are suffering a loss in staff and are in dire need of your help.
Fostering = Fun
Fostering kittens is so much fun. Getting to watch fragile babies grow into bouncy, playful fluffballs is an especially rewarding experience! Besides, who doesn’t want to receive endless amounts of purrs and cuddles every day?
You save lives
There’s no doubt about it – fostering saves lives! And you can be directly a part of that. Fostering gives kittens a second opportunity at life.
Helps control the pet overpopulation
By fostering you help kittens – and their mothers – become acclimated to human contact, which in turn enables us to provide necessary spay/neuter procedures that help to prevent unwanted cat pregnancies and an even bigger surge in numbers when “kitten season” rolls around each spring.
Get kittens ready for adoption
Fostered kittens grow up in loving homes. When it’s time, the foster kittens will find their forever homes. Of course, there’s always cases of #FosterFails which is when a fostered kitten and their loving foster become bonded beyond separation (so instead of giving them up for adoption their fosters keep them).
Fostering is a cycle of love. Every effort you do is reward double-fold! There’s never been a better time to try fostering a kitten than now.
Register now for free – don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity!
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Special thanks to the team at Royal Canin for sponsoring The Fluffy Kitty to help promote this educational training opportunity as part of their new launch of Catology – an educational kitten care series designed to provide support and resources to people who have welcomed a newly fostered or adopted kitten into their home.