It's been a couple of months since we started blogging, in earnest, about our Bottle Baby Program, so I thought it might be interesting to post about our progress to date.
As of May 1st, we have cared for 237 kittens. That's 237 kittens that have been hand fed, loved on & cared for by our 100% volunteer team. The monthly breakdown is as follows:
Jan - 5
Feb - 0
Mar - 57
Apr - 174
33 kittens we took in were reported as "offspring from pet" during surrender to TLAC (possibly more that were unreported). This tells us that many people out there are not spaying/neutering their pets. Low cost spay/neuter surgeries are available through Animal Trustees of Austin and EmanciPET. We encourage the public to prevent unwanted animals by contacting these clinics.
If you do not spay your female cat and she has kittens, please remember that kittens are not able to feed themselves independently until they are at least 4 weeks old. It is critical that baby kittens receive their mother's milk until they are a LEAST a month old (two, preferably). If you FIND a litter of kittens, we have a resource guide available for you.
The ages of the kittens we're getting vary greatly, but the majority have been:
7 days old - 30 kittens
3 days old - 19 kittens
21 days old - 16 kittens
Survival rate of our kittens is 88%. The majority of losses have been for kittens taken to the shelter when they are too young. We have placed 40 kittens with nursing momma cats that are in our foster program.
And...20 of our kittens have already been adopted! (case in point, Shelby - aka "Frieda" - of the F2 litter above in her new toy basket).
For every kitten that goes to foster, we have room for another at the Bottle Baby Trailer. And for every kitten adopted, we have room in APA! for another from TLAC. We have a long way to go in Kitten Season, which will start slowing down in August. Please support our efforts through donations, volunteering, adopting or fostering.
