Pet organizations offer advice concerning kittens

The Jacksonville Humane Society (JHS), along with the City of Jacksonville’s Animal Care & Protective Service (ACPS) and First Coast No More Homeless Pets (FCNMHP), is seeking the community’s support to help save lives by sharing information on “what to do” when you find a litter of kittens.

Kitten season is the time of year when unaltered cats procreate and give birth to kittens. In 2023, JHS and ACPS combined took in 5,203 kittens under the age of 5 months, and JHS served an additional 903 kittens via its Kitten Krusaders program. Kitten Krusaders encourages community members who find kittens to foster, rather than bringing them to the shelter, by connecting finders with no-cost veterinary care.

When community members find a litter of kittens outside, it is often instinctual to jump right in and “rescue” these tiny cats. This notion has been given the moniker “kitnapping,” and all three agencies ask the public to not act on that instinct. Instead:

• Watch and wait: The mother cat is likely nearby. A kitten’s best chance at survival is to stay with its mother. It may take a few hours for her to return.
• If mom returns: Provide support (food, water, shelter) as needed and when the kittens are 8 weeks old, get mom and kittens spayed/neutered and find them homes.
• If mom does not return: A home is a better option than the shelter. JHS can provide coaching on care instructions and help support your efforts to find the kittens new homes once they are ready.
• If kittens are experiencing a true medical emergency, such as struggling to breathe, open wounds or are visibly underweight, ACPS can be reached via 904-630-2489, myjax.custhelp.com or the MyJax app.

Kitnapping is not the best option for kittens, mother cats or shelters. Underage kittens are the most fragile population in shelters and require extra time, labor and resources that are not always available. When underage kittens arrive at the shelter, they most often need to go into a foster home the very same day, putting an extra strain on staff and volunteers. Also, when no one looks for the mother cat, she is left alone to continue reproducing in the community.

“If we can share the ‘don’t kitnap kittens’ message throughout our community, we can collectively do what is best for these little ones and keep them with their mother cat,” said Denise Deisler, JHS CEO. “Together, we can save countless lives this kitten season in Jacksonville.”

Community members who want to help with the “don’t kitnap” initiative can share this messaging on social media via the JHS Don’t Kitnap Facebook post or downloading and sharing “don’t kitnap” flyers in their neighborhoods. Volunteers are also needed for all three organizations.

The flyers can be found at: jaxhumane.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Dont-Kitnap-Jax-2024-Sponsored-by-Jaguar-Moving.pdf.

For more information, go to jaxhumane.org/kittenhelp.

The Jacksonville Humane Society provides care, comfort and compassion to animals in need while engaging the hearts, hands and minds of the community to bring about an end to the killing of abandoned and orphaned shelter animals.  More information about the Jacksonville Humane Society is available at jaxhumane.org.