National Foster a Pet Month Brings Dozens of Newborn Kittens in Need of Temporary Homes
SAN LUIS OBISPO — June is National Foster a Pet Month and Woods Humane Society says it needs more foster homes in order to help the many homeless kittens in our community that are too young or too under-socialized to come to the shelter yet.
“We need as many foster homes as possible right now,” says Woods Intake and Foster Coordinator Kelsey U’Ren, explaining that June is historically the height of kitten season on the Central Coast, and this year is proving to be no different. She says Woods has 104 kittens in foster homes right now, with more requests coming to them daily. Over the course of the month of May, the organization provided foster care for 147 kittens.
Woods North County Customer Service and Volunteer Coordinator Hannah Lowe explains that kittens must be at least two pounds (usually around 8-10 weeks old) in order to be spayed or neutered and made available for adoption. Until then, they require the around-the-clock care of a foster family. Lowe says Woods’ greatest need in the North County location is for fosters willing to bottle-feed. Kittens under the age of four weeks require regular bottle-feeding until their teeth have grown in and they are able to eat solid food.
Meanwhile, at the SLO location, U’Ren says, “We are specifically looking for fosters who want to help socialize ‘spicy’ kittens and get them more comfortable around people and sounds.” Woods has 8 such kittens currently in need of a calm foster home to help them gain comfort with the world.
In both cases, Woods Humane Society provides all foster supplies, training and support to its foster families. Potential kitten fosters simply need a safe, confined area such as a crate, closet or separate room for the kittens, and the time and energy to feed them, play with them, handle them, and clean up after them.
To help local community members determine whether fostering is right for them, Woods has created a foster page on its website, WoodsHumane.org/Foster, which includes links to the foster application forms for both the SLO and Atascadero shelter locations, an infographic about what to do if you find kittens, as well as its recent kitten season webinar, featuring a bottle-feeding demonstration and answers to frequently asked questions.
For information about the foster program, visit woodshumanesociety.org/foster. For more information about Woods, visit WoodsHumane.org or call (805) 543-9316. Woods Humane Society is located at 875 Oklahoma Ave., San Luis Obispo, and at 2300 Ramona Rd., Atascadero.
