How many times does this scene play out in your community, especially during kitten season? A finder stumbles on a litter of kittens in the neighborhood: cue sad violin music. The fluff, the paws, the mews—these kittens have been abandoned and need help, the finder thinks, and I must get them to the shelter ASAP!
What we want the finder to think: A kitten’s best chance for survival is with her mother; I should look for signs that mom is around.
How do we turn all-too-common scenario A into scenario B? First, we can and should recognize and validate finders’ desire to help—it’s an admirable impulse. But we can do this while also reminding them (and maybe sometimes even ourselves) that in most cases, kittens aren’t orphans. They’re not abandoned: mom’s got it covered. There are better ways to help your local litters and, unless the kittens are visibly sick, injured, or malnourished, they don’t involve a trip to the shelter before it’s time to be spayed/neutered.
Ensure that well-meaning kitten crusaders don’t turn into kitnappers by offering crystal clear, consistent messaging on your website and social media channels, so that they know what to do before they settle the kittens into the car and show up at your door. You might distribute flyers where kittens tend to turn up or send a stack with field officers. Download the editable PDFs below and customize them with your own logo and contact information, or reach out to us; we’re happy to help! Print them, post them, share them on repeat.
We know the best way to help the most vulnerable animals is to empower the people in our community to be heroes too—we just need to guide them along the way.
The kittens are coming! Are you ready? Depending on where you are, kitten season is here or fast-approaching. It’s a challenging time of the year for young cats and shelters, but the five-part kitten management webinar series from Million Cat Challenge and Royal Canin is here to help you—and the most vulnerable animals in your community—survive and thrive.
From rethinking kitten intake to recruiting foster volunteers and exploring innovative adoption technology, every webinar is packed with tips and tools from experts in animal sheltering and kitten rescue to guide you step-by-step through providing the best kitten care and maximizing your shelter’s resources. Don’t stress—follow these steps!
Step 1: Make a plan.
The best time to plan potential kitten pathways is before that litter of very cute kittens arrives at the shelter. In “Kitten Intake Decisions in Animal Shelters,” KSMP Director Dr. Kate Hurley lays out what kittens really do need from us and identifies the most successful kitten management strategies, and “Kitten Lady” Hannah Shaw explains her CASA method for deciding when to intervene. Reduce decision fatigue and set the stage for positive outcomes with an internal kitten flowchart, so that everyone in your organization is on the same page, and post a community-facing flowchart like Shaw’s on your website. Watch the webinar.
Step 2: Empower your community to support kittens where they are.
The best place for young kittens, unless they are sick or injured, is not the shelter: we know kittens have the best chance of survival with Mama Cat as their caretaker. “Support for Kittens in the Field” outlines innovative ways to convey this message to your community and engage well-meaning finders in caring for kittens outside the shelter. Million Cat Challenge Co-founder Dr. Julie Levy talks with Dr. Heather Kennedy (KC Pet Project), Kristen Hassen-Auerbach (Pima Animal Care Center), and Nick Lippincott (Orange County Animal Services) to find out what field officers, volunteers and fosters are doing to give kittens the best chance of survival. Orange County’sWait ‘Til 8 Program is a great example of how to divert intake and recruit finders through your organization’s website. Watch the webinar.
Step 3: Build and nurture your foster network.
Kittens who are on a path to adoption are healthiest and happiest in foster homes. For “Foster Greatness” Team Shelter USA’s Dr. Sara Pizano joins Doobert founder Chris Roy, Foster Programs Manager Sarah Aguilar, Community Engagement Coordinator Sarah Cano and others for a rundown of how to recruit, train and onboard volunteers quicker, better and faster. Watch the webinar.
Step 4: Assess kitten care in your shelter.
What about when the right place for a kitten is the shelter—how can you provide the best care to the best outcome? In “Kitten Care in the Shelter,” former shelter and emergency veterinarian and KSMP Online Education Coordinator Dr. Cindi Delany delves into pathway planning, wellness, pediatric spay/neuter, and discusses which shelter protocols are impacting flow-through and length-of-stay, which kittens should stay in the shelter and for how long, what you should consider when modernizing your sterilization protocols, and how technology is advancing our shelters by maximizing our efficiency. Watch the webinar.
Step 5: Move kittens into their forever homes.
This is what makes kitten season sweet—matching kittens with adopters who can’t wait to take them home! “Going Home” is all about how to use technology to make adoptions faster and easier for shelters of all sizes, while making better matches between pets and adopters. Hear from innovators like AdoptaPet.com’s April Harris, Adoptimize creator Jessica Schleder, Adopets founder Artur Sousa, Pensacola Humane’s Darra Flanagan and Aly Martinez, and Oregon’s Cat Adoption Team Executive Director Karen Green. Watch the webinar.
Join us this Thursday, September 3rd to dive deep into getting kittens into their new homes in our new normal (and the future)!
Date: Thursday, September 3, 2020, 12 PM Pacific/3 PM Eastern
Presenter: Dr. Sara Pizano, DVM, MA
In this webinar, the fifth and final of a five-part series presented in partnership with Royal Canin and hosted by Maddie’s Fund, we’ll learn how to take our matchmaking game from the adoption floor to the worldwide web.
Our industry is changing fast; early-adopting shelters are already reaping the benefits of modernizing their adoption programs. Online meetups, adoption appointments, automated scheduling, Facetiming cats and virtual paloozas: It’s a whole new matchmaking world out there!
Still have questions? Stay for the Q&A!
Join us on Thursday, September, 3, 2020 at 12 PM Pacific / 3 PM Eastern
The webinar is 90 minutes long with about 60 minutes dedicated to presentations and panel interviews and an additional 30 minutes reserved for Q&A. This webinar will be recorded.
What will I learn? This is the third webinar in a five part series covering all things kitten management. In this episode we’ll:
Learning objectives
Learn about national adoption trends in the COVID age
Promote to different audiences and grow your pool of adopters
2020 your adoption process – payments, document storage, signatures and appointments- oh my!
When money is tight: Squeezing the biggest bang out of your adoptathon buck
In this webinar, the fourth of a five-part series presented in partnership with Royal Canin and hosted by Maddie’s Fund, we’ll go inside the shelter to find out what’s new in the world of kitten care, pathway planning, wellness, and pediatric spay/neuter. We’ll discuss which shelter protocols are impacting flow-through and length-of-stay, which kittens should stay in the shelter and for how long, what you should consider when modernizing your sterilization protocols, and how technology is advancing our shelters by maximizing our efficiency. Still have questions? Stay for the Q&A!
Join us on Thursday, August 27 at 12n Pacific / 3pm Eastern
The webinar is 90 minutes long with about 60 minutes dedicated to presentations and panel interviews and an additional 30 minutes reserved for Q&A. This webinar will be recorded.
What will I learn? This is the third webinar in a five part series covering all things kitten management. In this episode we’ll:
Review kitten medical care in the shelter – intake care and wellness care protocols and intervals.
Understand the goals for kitten flow through the sheltering system and how our policies and protocols impact length of stay and lifesaving capacity.
Which kittens should stay in the shelter and for how long.
Using technology and advances in sheltering to maximize efficiency of providing care to kittens in the shelter and in foster (protocols, templates, email lists, appointment scheduling software, telemedicine, automated reminders, website resources for fosters/staff, LMS use)
Take a deep dive into pediatric spay/neuter – what age/weight is the “right” age/weight and why
Understand special considerations for pediatric spay neuter to minimize morbidity/mortality
Communicating programs and protocols to stakeholders for understanding and support
Develop a clear picture of what each kittens pathway will look like through the shelter
We all know fosters make the world go round! This Thursday the Million Cat challenge is presenting the third webinar in the five-part kitten management webinar series: Foster Greatness. Join us as we dive in to the heart of community-centric sheltering: foster care.
Gone are the days of handwritten applications and in-person volunteer orientations. Foster programs are evolving at lightning speed, leveraging new technologies to give their program a digital makeover. If you’d like to recruit, train and onboard volunteers quicker, better, faster, then grab your foster coordinators and a seat in this action-packed webinar now.
Join us on Thursday, August 20 at 12n Pacific / 3pm Eastern for a 60-minute presentation and plenty of time for Q&A with Dr. Sara Pizano.
This webinar will be recorded.
The webinar is 90 minutes long with about 60 minutes dedicated to presentations and panel interviews and an additional 30 minutes reserved for Q&A.
Here are the details: Dr. Sara Pizano will be hosting an interview-style webinar with three Million Cat Challenge shelters and the founder of FosterSpace, the newest suite of tools brought to you by Doobert.
What will I learn? This is the third webinar in a five part series covering all things kitten management. In this episode we’ll:
Turn your foster program into a trifecta (win for the kittens, win for your fosters, win for you)
Leverage the newest platforms and tools that deliver volunteers to your door – trained!
Modernize your application and training program. Foster/volunteer-centric.
Save time, money and hassle by upping your foster scheduling game.
Empower your volunteers to expand your lifesaving capacity by giving them the tools they need to do their own adoptions.
This week the Million Cat challenge is stepping up with some heavy hitters– Dr. Julie Levy, Fran Marino Professor of Shelter Medicine Education at the University of Florida, co-founder of the Million Cat Challenge and founder of Operation Catnip; Kristen Hassen-Auerbach, Director at Pima Animal Care Center, Board of Directors of the National Animal Care and Control Association, Executive Committee for American Pets Alive! and Human Animal Support Services; Nick Lippincott, Special Programs and Training Programs Coordinator, Orange County Animal Services (Orlando, Florida) Board member, National Animal Care & Control Association; Dr. Heather Kennedy, Director of Feline Operations at KC Project– to present the second webinar in the five-part kitten management webinar series: Supporting Kittens in the Field. The webinar is 90 minutes long with about 60 minutes dedicated to presentations and panel interviews and an additional 30 minutes reserved for Q&A.
Here are the details: Supporting kittens and their families starts before they show up on your intake counter. Find out what field officers, volunteers and fosters are doing to give kittens the best chance of survival while streamlining operations and expanding safety nets outside shelter walls.
What will I learn? This is the second webinar in a five part series covering all things kitten management. In this episode we’ll:
Identify ways you might be sabotaging your own goals by swimming upstream.
Access your shelter’s opportunity to leverage ACOs, Field Officers and/or volunteers to better serve kittens outside your walls and ensure resources for the ones inside your shelter.
Activate your community to achieve your kitten goals.
Increase your kitten LRR, decrease your kitten budget.
HYPER unify your messaging and alleviate the burden on your frontline staff.
Learn two software tools that allow you to “set it and forget it”
What did I miss? Each of these webinars is designed to be stand alone, but together they make up a series that starts at intake decisions and ends at positive outcomes and adoption. To catch what you missed last week, please visit: Million Cat Challenge: Kitten Intake in Animal Shelters
Join us on Thursday, August 13 at 12n Pacific / 3pm Eastern for a 60-minute presentation and plenty of time for Q&A with Million Cat Challenge co-founder Dr. Julie Levy.
We all know kittens are at risk during transitional periods. In fact, they remain the most vulnerable species to enter our sheltering systems. That’s why the Million Cat Challenge and Royal Canin have partnered up to bring shelters an all inclusive, tip-to-tail free webinar series that explores community-focused sheltering strategies that expand our kitten safety net.
Join experts as they dive into new and emerging kitten intake philosophies and discuss when kittens are best served outside shelters walls, streamlining your foster program, providing mom and kitten support, pediatric spay and neuter and successful adoption strategies that will send these tiny cats out the front door two by two.
Register now to save your spot and watch live every Thursday @ 12pm PST! Series runs from the first Thursday in August (8/6/20) through the first Thursday in September (9/3/20).
1. Kitten Intake in Animal Shelters – 8/6/20
Length: 90 minutes (60 presentation, 30 min Q+A)
Dr. Kate Hurley, together with Hannah Shaw, a.k.a. the Kitten Lady, we’ll discuss new intake philosophies and management models that prioritize kittens’ safety, community engagement and keeping feline families together. Plus! Find out about the industry powerhouses that are stepping up to support you in your next chapter of kitten lifesaving.
Join us on Thursday, August 6 at 12n Pacific / 3pm Eastern for a presentation and Q&A with Million Cat Challenge co-founder Dr. Kate Hurley and Hannah Shaw (the Kitten Lady).
Maddie’s Fund® has applied for advanced approval of Certified Animal Welfare Administrator continuing education credit.
Speakers – Kate Hurley, DVM, MPVM, Dip. ABVP (Shelter Medicine) and Hannah Shaw
2. Support for Kittens in the Field – 8/13/20
Length: 90 minutes (60 presentation, 30 min Q+A)
Description Supporting kittens and their families starts before they show up on your intake counter. Find out what field officers, volunteers and fosters are doing to give kittens the best chance of survival while streamlining operations and expanding safety nets outside shelter walls.
Join us on Thursday, August 13 at 12n Pacific / 3pm Eastern for a presentation and Q&A with Million Cat Challenge co-founder Dr. Julie Levy.
Maddie’s Fund® has applied for advanced approval of Certified Animal Welfare Administrator continuing education credit.
Speaker – Julie Levy, DVM, PhD, DACVIM, DABVP
3. Foster Greatness – 8/20/20
Length: 90 minutes (60 presentation, 30 min Q+A)
Description Gone are the days of handwritten applications and in-person volunteer orientations. Foster programs are evolving at lightning speed, leveraging new technologies to give their program a digital makeover. If you’d like to recruit, train and onboard volunteers quicker, better, faster, then grab your foster coordinators and a seat in this action-packed webinar now.
Join us on Thursday, August 20 at 12n Pacific / 3pm Eastern for a presentation and Q&A with Dr. Sara Pizano.
Maddie’s Fund® has applied for advanced approval of Certified Animal Welfare Administrator continuing education credit.
Speaker – Sara Pizano, DVM, MA, Founder and Animal Welfare Strategist, Team Shelter USA, LLC
4. Kitten Care in the Shelter – 8/27/20
Length: 90 minutes (60 presentation, 30 min Q+A)
Description In this hour-long webinar, we’ll go inside the shelter to find out what’s new in the world of kitten care, pathway planning, wellness, and pediatric spay/neuter. We’ll discuss which shelter protocols are impacting flow-through and length-of-stay, which kittens should stay in the shelter and for how long, what you should consider when modernizing your sterilization protocols, and how technology is advancing our shelters by maximizing our efficiency. Still have questions? Stay for the Q&A!
Join us on Thursday, August 27 at 12n Pacific / 3pm Eastern for a presentation and Q&A with Dr. Cynthia (Cindi) Delany.
Maddie’s Fund® has applied for advanced approval of Certified Animal Welfare Administrator continuing education credit.
Speaker – Cynthia (Cindi) Delany, DVM, Shelter Veterinarian/Manager, UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program; Executive Director, California Animal Shelter Friends, Inc.
5. Going Home – 9/3/20
Length: 90 minutes (60 presentation, 30 min Q+A)
Description Learn how to take your matchmaking game from the adoption floor to the worldwide web. Our industry is changing fast and early-adopting shelters are already reaping the benefits of modernizing their adoption programs. Online meetups, adoption appointments, automated scheduling, Facetiming cats and virtual paloozas: It’s a whole new matchmaking world out there!
Join us on Thursday, September 3 at 12n Pacific / 3pm Eastern for a presentation and Q&A with Dr. Sara Pizano.
Timely advice from Kitten Lady about “I Found a Kitten Outside! Should I Bring Her Into My CASA?” The CASA method helps Good Samaritans determine whether kittens are better off being left with their moms for the time being or should be taken in and cared for right away. And don’t forget . . . kittens are clues that there are adult cats around to followup with TNR as well.
Visit her website for other great materials to share with the public and your foster parents: https://www.kittenlady.org/
Download this great resource here thanks to the Kitten Lady.
View it below and/or use the “Download” button under it to download for your own use.
Kittens and Kitten Season bring special challenges this year.
Learn about some options and resources for how your facility should deal with these challenges and then transition to a “new normal” once we are through this crisis.
Kittens who are on a path to adoption are healthiest and happiest in foster homes. For 
This is what makes kitten season sweet—matching kittens with adopters who can’t wait to take them home! 
