Moms
Mamacats help us keep our tiniest kittens alive! Kittens who have a mother -- or who can be added to one -- are more likely to survive and thrive. And mamacats are such great mothers that most will let us give them orphans to nurse; they take excellent care of the little add-ons we give them, loving them as if they were their own. This also helps us to keep our bottle-baby fosters free for kittens who cannot be added to nursing cats for one of a few reasons, such as illness. Fosters who take in pregnant and nursing cats are therefore helping us to save not one life, but many!
Xilef and Erie
Moms typically require less care than orphans since they take care of feeding the kittens every so often, potty-ing them, and teaching them how to eat on their own. Additionally, young kittens with moms tend to have a better chance of survival than orphans. We will do our best to place bottle babies 0-3 weeks of age with moms if they have any available spots with kittens around their age (usually up to a total of 8 kittens – one kitten per nipple). This was the case of Xilef, a little orphan kitten, who was added to Eerie, a mom who unfortunately lost all of her kittens.
Eerie bonded with little Xilef and would do everything with him. She would feed and take care of him every waking moment of every single day. He was hers now, after all! Despite her unfortunate start to motherhood, she was full of maternal instincts. These two became so bonded, an adopter couldn't help but fall in love with them both. They were adopted together and they get to spend the rest of their life healthy in a home!
Due to the benefits of having a mom cat, we will do our best to place healthy orphaned bottle babies with nursing moms. We ask that if you have a healthy mom with room for orphans, please be flexible with us when we try to add bottle babies. Most placements require urgent same day pick-up for the kittens to thrive.