Kitten Care Learning Module

This module is designed to acquaint volunteers with the requirements of fostering kittens. The material used comes from both the experience of Osceola County Animal Services kitten fosters and "Orphan Kittens" by the Kitten Lady, Hannah Shaw. Included in this module are videos from The Kitten Lady's resource archives. We ask that you view the entirety of each of the videos.

Ms. Shaw has spoken both at Animal Services and to the general public in Osceola County.

Introduction

Throughout the past decade, Osceola County Animal Services has been increasingly using volunteers as fosters to save the lives of kittens that come our way. A few years ago, there were over 100 kittens and cats in foster care around the county during a single month.

This commitment requires that this agency have as many willing volunteers trained and ready to take in some of our smallest and most needy residents who otherwise would not have a chance.

Qualifications:

• must be over 18 years of age

• complete the foster application and training

• permission from others living in the home to foster

• permission from landlord to foster

• space to foster

• time to foster

• willing to make a commitment to foster

Levels of kitten foster volunteers::

A note on levels: Foster volunteers do not necessarily have to move from beginning to expert level. We want our foster volunteers to be comfortable at which ever level suits you and your lifestyle.

Which kittens go out to foster and why?

• Kittens under weight (less than 2 pounds+) most common foster

  reason: kittens must be at least 2 pounds before being spayed or neutered, socialization

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• Kittens and mother, less common

  reasons: kittens must be at least 2 pounds before being spayed or neutered; give kittens time to be weaned, socialization

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• Kittens that are orphaned; less common; requires intense volunteer commitment for a few weeks (feed every 2 hours or so; 24/7)

  reasons: kittens must be at least 2 pounds before being spayed or neutered; must be bottle fed for a period of time, socialization

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• Kittens that are ill or have behavioral issues; less common; requires expert foster or bottle feeding

  reasons: kittens with the above issues or illnesses cannot be adopted out, socialization

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Socialization is defined as the process during which the kitten develops relationships with other living beings in its environment.

**All kittens that go out to foster homes have been cleared by the vet staff as healthy enough for a home environment.

Considerations before deciding to foster:

Time

• short term commitment, usually from a few days to three weeks, but sometimes longer

• special needs and bottle feeders take more time, at times virtually 24/7

• all kittens will need socialization time with you, which is a great deal of fun (mostly play time).

• volunteers with full-time jobs should not foster bottle feeding kittens

Your pets at home

• foster kittens should  be kept separate from other pets in your home, at least initially

• a "quarantined area" away from other pets is best

• a small room, playpen or cat condo are ideal

• all pets in the home must be up to date on all vaccinations

Cost of care*

• Osceola County Animal Services will give you all of the supplies needed to care for the foster kittens, so your only cost will be time and attention

• OCAS provides veterinary services

• there are team members ready to help you when you need it

• fosters have access to an emergency phone number

Space

• kitten care does not generally take up a great deal of space

• the littlest ones will stay in a carrier most of the day

• you can request a playpen or condo for kittens to spend most of the day in

• should be in a climate controlled, easy to clean room away from other animals

Becoming attached

• though your time together is short, it is easy to get attached to foster animals

• fosters give these kittens an entry way to a happy, healthy life

• you will probably miss them when they are gone, but should celebrate that they are in a new forever home

• kittens that have been fostered and socialized generally get adopted very quickly.

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* Special note on cost of care: all veterinary services and supplies will be provided by Osceola County Animal Services. Any other expenses incurred by the foster must be approved by the shelter prior to being spent or they cannot be reimbursed.

Setting up a space for your foster kittens

A Kitten Lady video

Assessing Kittens

Daily foster care routine

Bottle Feeding

Only specially trained and experienced fosters will foster bottle feeding kittens, but here is how it is done.

Bottle feeding training is available on site generally once a year.

It is conducted by a local foster with expertise and experience with very young kittens.

Watch your newsletter and email for scheduled training times.

Monitoring progress

It is important that fosters continually monitor the progress of the kittens.

To accomplish this, it is good to have the following:

• a small digital scale for weighting the cats*

• a dedicated notebook to keep track of progress and issues

Note the kitten's weight every two or three days - remember the goal is at least 2 pounds , which will make the cat ready for surgery, then adoptable.

Issues noted should be reported to Animal Services during business hours; serious issues can be reported anytime. Your foster training and paperwork will tell you what is an emergency and what is not.

*The shelter does not have enough scales for all of our fosters, so it is recommended that you purchase one (prices start ant about $10.00 - $15.00) if you are going to foster a number of very small kittens. The scales are available at big box stores, online retailers and some craft stores.

Bathroom issues

It may seem a strange topic, but this can be a serious issue for kittens. Diarrhea, in particular, can be fatal very quickly for kittens, as it leaves them dehydrated and lacking essential nutrients. The vet suite has nutritional supplements that can stem this issue, but digestion issues must be reported to the staff immediately.

• Kittens with a mother cat present will have all of the help that they need using the bathroom, including using the litter box, eventually.

• Very young kittens without mom there may need some help. Here are The Kitten Lady's observations and suggestions.

Veterinary Care

Routine vet care for which kittens will be scheduled as needed:

• FVRCP vaccine, helping prevent common feline viruses - 4-6 weeks of age

• Dewormer, at about 2, 4 and 6 weeks of age, dependent on weight

• Spay or neuter, after reaching the 2 pound+ milestone

• Rabies vaccine - 12 - 16 weeks of age

Dealing with fleas

Fleas occur from time to time in young cats. The shelter has some sprays and treatments to help fosters deal with this eventuality. However, you may be asked to bathe a kitten to help rid them of these pests. to do so,

• 

  Run warm tap water

• Use a bit of gentle dish soap (Dawn is a good choice)

• Put a ring of soap around the neck

• Gently wash down, avoiding the head, except for spot cleaning

• Rinse with warm water

• Dry with a hair dryer on low temperature at about 2 feet away

Should you run into an infestation in an area of your home, the shelter has a spray that can deal with that eventuality.

Common kitten ailments

Finally...

Saying goodbye

It is difficult to say goodbye, particularly to your first foster kittens; but remember, you can not keep them all.  You are passing them on to another family that, hopefully, will be their home for a very long time. Kittens almost always are adopted within days, if not hours of arriving at their adoption location.

Where the foster kittens go

• pet stores, where they are usually snapped up quickly

• online foster pet adoption, developed and implemented in 2020

• shelter adoption

• failed foster - A failed foster is a success; when the foster becomes the permanent home. It happens and it is celebrated.

A final note: As a foster, you will be placed on our eNews mailing list. Watch this document for training and updates on the foster and other programs.

Please choose the best answer for each of the following questions.

Kitten Lady Orphan Kitten booklet download

Survey - please take a moment to answer the following question.