The Austin Pets Alive! Bottle Baby team has experienced a rush of baby kittens in the last week ranging in ages from 10 days to 3 weeks. In fact, we've rescued 18 kittens requiring bottle feeding every 3 hours and our team of steadfast volunteers has jumped to the challenge!
Kitten season runs from March through September, with the largest volume of kittens being born in April. We had anticipated this 2nd wave, as female cats have weaned their first litters of the season & become pregnant again. It's a never ending cycle when cats aren't spayed and neutered. Litters of kittens flood neighborhoods & homes and quickly become unwanted. What is even more tragic is how sick these sweet kittens become when they are dropped off at the shelter, which puts them at risk from rescue at all. Our job is to take as many babies from the shelter as we can, get them healthy & fattened up, and into foster homes. Once they are 6 weeks old, they can be pre-adopted, and once they are spayed/neutered and microchipped, they can go home with their new families.
We are accepting donations of KMR (Kitten Milk Replacer, also available at pet stores) and wire crates. Purchased items may be dropped off at our Bottle Baby Trailer at the corner of S. Congress & Gibson, near the San Jose Hotel.
If you are interested in learning how you can become part of our amazing team of caregivers, send an email to [email protected]. We also need fosters so that we can continue to rescue kittens. Once foster homes are full, the rescue process slows considerably because we have nowhere for them to go.
If you find a litter of kittens, please refer to our Resource Guide. And as always, please spay/neuter through your own vet, EmanciPET or Animal Trustees of Austin and spread the word to your community!
