For the Foster Program!

The foster room is a busy, busy place these days! During the spring and summer months, hundreds of kittens come through these doors. Most need only a few weeks in a foster home, but some need intensive care. The most fragile are the ‘neonates’ – nursing kittens who are orphaned or otherwise separated from their mom.

They need round-the-clock care in a quiet environment where they can stay warm and be fed every few hours while a foster home is arranged. In past years, these teeny neonates had to be housed with older kittens, in the same banks of cages that were difficult to keep warm and quiet. Neonate kittens needed careful monitoring, hourly bottle feeding, and some needed fluids and medication. It was stressful for the kittens and difficult for the staff and volunteers to house all the kittens in the same room.

The neonates needed their own quiet area with special equipment. And now, thanks to your generous donations that flooded in during our last fundraiser, we have the Itty Bitty Kitty Head-Start room!

It is next door to the foster room, with a communicating door and large window. It contains a row of elevated hospital cages that keep the kittens at a steady temperature and hold in the warmth and moisture. The desks, phones and file cabinets were moved in, too, because that is where the staff spends most of their time. It has become ‘command central’ for the foster department!

Here are the special climate-controlled neonate cubbies.

And here's one of the hungry neonates, demanding a meal.

 Here's Ruth, one of the heads of the foster department, feeding one of the neonates.

As soon as possible, the little ones are moved to a foster home, but while they are with us, we know we can give them the special care they need to not just survive, but thrive!

It's so exciting to see our donations put to such good use.  I love going into the foster room(s) and seeing the amazing changes that have happened - there have been so many improvements in that department and WE have provided resources to make so many of them happen.  It makes me proud.  I wish you could see the rooms with your own eyes because I know you would feel the same. 

To keep things up and running and improving, today all of our donations will be designated for the foster program. Every single penny we raise between now and 8:00 AM Pacific Time tomorrow will be earmarked for this program.

Our money will help purchase things like kitten formula, bottles and syringes, canned food, dry food, bedding and crates, vaccines, flea treatment, and kitty litter.  

Kittens are pretty vulnerable, especially the neonates, and often need additional medical care.  Our money will help provide money for treatment, testing, procedures and medicine.

As our foster family network continues to grow, we have more foster homes to supply with the kitten necessities.  The foster program needs to purchase more scales, heating pads and wire kennels so the foster families can provide the best care for their wards.

This program is nearest and dearest to my heart, and we hope you feel the same way and will choose to support it today.

Because our Awesome Anonymous Donor is a huge fan of the foster program and the good work it does, she's offering up a huge $5000 matching donation challenge.  For every dollar we give to support the foster program, she'll be giving a dollar too, until we reach her $5000 cap, or until 7:00 PM  Pacific Time, which ever comes first.

We hope you'll consider giving today because it is such a great day to give!

Thank you so much, Awesome Anonymous Donor, for providing with another generous match! And thank you to all who help meet it!  And thanks to EVERYONE for listening to my many pleas. We appreciate you sticking around!

The end is near, friends!  Our FUNdraiser wraps up this Saturday! We're doing great and have raised 58% of our goal, but it's going to take some pushing to get us all the way there.  It will be work, but it's going to be fun.



Stay tuned for MUCH, MUCH, more! Many posts to come and our Tea with the Bean auction will go "live" today!  If you weren't around this weekend, there were LOTS of posts. Be sure to scroll back and see what you missed!  Like all the kitten names and some sweet offers from a couple of my Tacoma pals.

Thank you!



To make a tax-deductible donation and support our foster program, please visit our Firstgiving Page.
Thank you for caring and giving!