
04/22/2025
Text from Stray Cat TNR ...
It's kitten season! Good-hearted people around the country are discovering kittens in their neighborhoods.
This is your PSA for today 📣: DO NOT SCOOP UP KITTENS AND LEAVE THE MOM CAT BEHIND!
It can be tempting to gather up the kittens and bring them indoors to keep them safe and fed. However, it is important to know that this is not in a kitten’s best interest if they are too young and certainly not in the best interest of the mom.
🛑 Stop and think about how this affects the bigger picture of overpopulation. If you REALLY want to "rescue", try leaving the kittens where they are so you might catch a glimpse of the mother and be able to help them ALL, so you can stop the unending cycle of reproduction. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Do not assume that kittens are abandoned or orphaned just because you do not see their mother. A mother cat will temporarily leave her kittens for good reasons, like looking for food. She may even be hiding and waiting for YOU to leave. Those kittens you found? They are healthy for a reason, and that reason is because they have a mom caring for them. You can always reach out to a shelter or rescue for advice on how to proceed.
✨Remember, Mother knows best.✨ You can not replace a mother cats’ instinctive care. Plus, neonatal kittens (kittens 4 weeks old and younger) need specialized care to survive, which is challenging for humans to provide. Most shelters and rescues do not have the resources/fosters necessary to provide this kind of care round-the-clock care.
🚩If the kittens are sick, injured, cold, or dirty, it IS time to intervene, whether you see Mama Cat or not.
More detailed information about what to do when you see kittens: https://www.alleycat.org/community-cat-care/finding-kittens-outdoors/
If you scoop up kittens and leave the mom behind, you have left her to go through the same thing all over again in just a couple of months. 😭
STOP the cycle by spaying her AND rescuing the kittens.