This blog post is contributed by Michelle Williams, a San Jose Animal Advocates volunteer.  

Every single day, things happen that affect the way we think, the way we behave, the way we feel… and most of the time, we are hardly aware. If you ask me when animal welfare became personal, I can tell you exactly when that happened.

The date was May 15, 2010 – this is the story of my “turning point”.

It was 10am on a Saturday morning and my husband came into the house muttering something about kittens in the backyard. This wasn’t your typical Saturday conversation over coffee. We have no pets, and there was certainly no reason why there should be newborn kittens behind our air conditioning unit.

I knew I had to do something and since the feral cat population is a sore subject for my husband, I also knew that would not include bringing them into our home. After placing an ad on Craigslist, I realized that I may be attracting the wrong kind of attention. So, I looked up information for a *local shelter, went and found a box and a soft fuzzy blanket. Let me just mention – for such little creatures, those little teeth were sharp!

Several days later, I called the shelter to enquire about trapping feral cats and asked how the kittens were doing. I was told they were euthanized… I was beyond heartbroken. The reality of the situation was that the kittens were unable to eat on their own and would have required around the clock care. At that weight, the kittens needed a foster “meowmie” to bottle feed and teach the kittens how to eliminate.

The weeks that followed continued to break my heart over and over as the momma cat repeatedly came into my back yard looking for her kittens. At one point, she brought another cat with her as if to say “I swear I left them here! Please help me find them!”

Once I let myself off the hook, I decided to try and make a difference.

Every shout begins with a voice. This is mine.

Adopt. Foster. Spay. Neuter.

* prewean kittens that are brought to our area shelters are typically euthanized.  If the mother is still around, the best thing you can do is leave the kittens with their mother until they are old enough to eat on their own.  There are wonderful resources such as Itty Bitty Orphan Kitty (IBOK Rescue's) Prewean packet (free at all Bay area shelters and Pet Food Express stores) and video.  These resources can help you care for the prewean kittens until they are old enough to eat on their own, and then able to be adopted into a permanent home.  Monthly classes on how to care for prewean kittens will be given at Humane Society Silicon Valley, and they are always looking for kitten foster parents.  Read about their foster program, and save a kitten, save the world!

With our society's preoccupation with reality television, perhaps the next new show should be "Kitten Season: San Jose"?   Unfortunately most people would be shocked and horrified at the realities of how our area shelters, humane societies and cat rescue groups struggle to save these tiny lives during kitten season in the greater San Jose area.

Every year between April and October area stray, feral and domesticated cats give birth to many kittens.  Statistic:   Did you know that left unaltered a cat and her offspring can produce over 420,000 kittens in 7 years?

Sadly six months into kitten season, pre-wean kittens (kittens under 8-weeks-old) are still pouring into our local shelter, San Jose Animal Care Center.  The shelter reaches out on a daily basis to area rescue groups with a list of cats and kittens who need rescue.  Many of these are underweight kittens.  If the *rescue groups can't take these kittens which are typically under 8-weeks-old and weighing less than 2 pounds, they are sadly euthanized because  they are not "adoptable" until they are old enough--and big enough--to be spayed or neutered. Statistic:  More than 3500 pre-wean kittens are euthanized in Santa Clara County shelters every year.
*rescue groups rely on having foster homes to allow them to save more animals

So the logical question you might have is, what should you do if You find homeless kittens? According to Laurie Melo, founder of Itty Bitty Orphan Kitty Rescue "If people would only foster these kittens until they are big enough to be spayed or neutered, they could be placed for adoption through a shelter or rescue group and have a chance at life."  This community involvement is critical due to lack of resources and staff at our local shelter to care for these kittens.

In an effort to educate the public on what is involved in fostering kittens, Itty Bitty Orphan Kitty Rescue created the Pre-Wean Kitten Project.  As part of the Pre-Wean Project, IBOK Rescue provides Starter Packs available to more than 20 Bay Area shelters and to all 40 Pet Food Express stores.   In addition, IBOK produced a 30-minute instructional video on how to care for pre-weaned kittens.  The video shows you everything you need to know to hand-raise the kittens until they are old enough to be adopted and is available on DVD and online (watch it here).  I personally have used the pre-wean packet and attended IBOK's class at HSSV.  As a result, my current foster kittens are thriving.  Until you try bottle feeding these little ones, you have no idea how rewarding it is, not to mention life-saving for the kittens.

What else can you do to help? Spay/neuter ALL of your pet cats.  This act alone helps save thousands of lives!  In our area, the San Jose Animal Care Center has low cost/spay neuter clinics for cats on a weekly basis.  Make your appointments online and for $20 females, $15 males you can do the responsible thing for your cat/s.

Reality check:  As I was leaving HSSV with my foster kittens, someone had brought in a card board box full of kittens found in a dumpster.  Again, please save a life and spay/neuter all of your pets.  That's the least we all can do!

It’s important to note that I am not active in animal rescue, and I’m certainly not an expert on felines.   I was only helping out a friend in need, and as a result saved a life.  Ishmael, my foster kitten, is special and an amazing story.

Ishmael was trapped at about 16 weeks old.  He’d been fending for himself in a rough area where he was a target for the neighborhood kids and survival was a full time job.  He was sick, weak and hungry and most likely would have not lasted much longer. At 16 weeks old Ish was at the point where he was considered feral and by rescue standards at the point where he was an extremely iffy prospect for successful socialization.

My good friend took him into her already crowded group of survivors and nursed him back to health. Ishmael's medical care (complete blood panel, testing, neutering) was all very generously funded by Palo Alto Humane Society.   He quickly regained his strength and became one of 12 rescued kittens at various stages on their road to socialization.  Ishmael abdicated.  He sat on the sidelines and watched.  He didn’t bond with any of the other furry residents, and to say he was shy would be an understatement.  This is the time in Ish’s journey where he graced me by entering my world.

When I opened the carrier he hissed at me.  He pressed himself into a back corner as tightly as he could manage and when I took him out he hissed, growled and dug his claws into the blanket lining the bottom of the carrier.  He was frightened and angry, but never physically fought me.  I isolated Ish in the bathroom for a few days then moved his carrier (his safe place) into the bedroom slightly expanding his world.  For the first week or so when I took him from his safe place and held him, he just laid in my lap and growled then escaped to his carrier at the first opportunity.  We repeated this process every morning and two or three times in the evening.  As the days passed he moved closer to the carrier door each time I came to get him, but only left the carrier under his own power to eat and use the litter box when I wasn’t around. 

As it turned out “Ish” is extremely curious, playful and loving.  Ish is now my best friend and definitely has more personality than any of the five cats that have shared my home with over the years.  He greets me at the door when I come home from work and lies on my lap or beside me when I watch television or read.  On occasion he brings me one of his toys to share and always sits on the bathroom vanity while I prepare for the day.  At night he sleeps at the foot of the bed wrapped around my feet.

The true victory is demonstrated in the way Ish greets visitors.  When someone comes to visit he no longer retreats to the bedroom.  He knows this is his home too and most times he goes to the door with me to greet our visitors.  As soon as they sit down he moves close to inspect them and all that they carry and accepts attention as if he has known them forever.

The purpose of my humble efforts here is to give you a snapshot of a kitten that had not fate and very caring rescue folks intervened would have most certainly ended up dubbed unadoptable and slated for euthanasia at a local shelter.  In my limited experience Ish could be the poster kitten for the rescue community’s efforts. 

It will be extremely difficult to give Ish up when he finds the right family to adopt.  As painful as it will be for us to part ways when that time comes, I know there are many more kittens that need a helping paw to find their permanent home.  If my friend needs some assistance in the future I will be more than happy to lend a hand again in the future.  Ish has returned more to me in love and affection than I could have ever imagined.