Shelter overwhelmed with kittens; foster homes needed

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Foster homes are needed for more than 100 kittens that have poured into the Charleston Animal Society (CAS) over the past month.

Aldwin Roman, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for CAS, said there are 195 kittens on site with 69 of them in critical neonatal stage after they were taken from their mother too soon. “We are in desperate need of foster parents,” he said.

The shelter is utilizing temporary pop-up kennels.

Volunteer foster families will keep the kittens until they are healthy enough to be spayed or neutered, and then placed for adoption. Charleston Animal Society will provide everything you need. “You supply the love,” they said.

Potential fosters can stop by the shelter’s location on Remount Road.

Animal advocates offered some advice for good Samaritans who hear the meows of a kitten they believe to be abandoned: “If you see, leave ‘em be!”

They said nearly all kitten litters are not far from their mother, who are often away to find food or maybe hiding from well-meaning humans approaching the kittens. “Please don’t catnap the baby kittens,” officials said.

Dr. Lucy Fuller, Chief Veterinary Officer for Charleston Animal Society, said the younger the kitten, the less likely it will survive without its mother. It is hard to replace a mother’s milk and natural nutrients.

“That’s why we should all think twice before removing a kitten from the outdoors,” the shelter said.

According to CAS, if the kittens are clean, plump, and sleeping quietly in a heap, odds are that they have an attentive mom and should be left alone. Abandoned kittens will be dirty and the nest will be soiled, and they will cry continuously because they’re hungry. 

They recommend watching from a distance for several hours before removing the kittens to be sure the mother is not returning.

It is recommended that kittens should not be taken from their mother until they are five to six weeks old and roughly the size of a normal square tissue box. Anything smaller should be left with its mother.