Kitten shower a shelter success

Kitten shower a shelter success - Baby "gifts" stockpiled for future litters.

WORCESTER - The babies aren't due for another few weeks, so what better way to prepare for their arrival than with a baby shower? That was the reasoning behind the recent Worcester Animal Rescue League's Spring Kitten Shower, and guests responded generously.

"It?s going to be a good day," said Doreen M. Currier, shelter director, as she surveyed the crowded room Saturday, decorated with pastel-coloured balloons and streamers, and three tables overflowing with gifts. "We just started and people are coming in already. According to Ms. Currier, the shelter cares for 600 kittens from April to July each year, but this winter?s unseasonably warm weather brought an early warning of things to come.

"On Jan. 21, it was 60 degrees out, and we received our first pregnant cat," Ms. Currier said. "I thought; we are in trouble. We need to somehow prepare for this spring."

The shelter, at 139 Holden St, decided to host the kitten shower.

"Just like we prepare for a loved one?s birth, we thought people might bring items for an expected newborn," Ms. Currier said. "The only difference in this case is, it's a kitten." According to Ms. Currier, this is the first time the shelter has held a kitten shower and she is unaware of one being held at other shelters.

Like a baby shower, invitations were sent out to guests with a gift registry of needed items: jars of baby food, cans of kitten food, kitten milk substitute, feeding bottles and non-clumping kitty litter.

The Robinson family of Charlton received one of the invitations. Thomas Robinson, 7, attended with his brother, Jonathan, 9, and their mother, Rebecca H. Robinson. "My mom had a shower for me and I went to the shower for my little sister, so I knew what was happening and I like cats," he said.

Thomas and Jonathan said they are a foster family to one of the shelter's abandoned pregnant cats, which means they are caring for the mother through birth, and then for her and the litter for eight weeks.

"I think having a shower for a kitten is a good idea," Mrs. Robinson said, dropping off her gift: a litter box and scoop.

According to the shelter's director, the biggest challenges for the animal rescue league in the spring are pregnant cats, nursing kittens and orphaned litters. She said its main mission is to care for the homeless population of unwanted, stray or abandoned cats, and secondly to help reduce the number of homeless cats.

Ms. Currier said the foster cat program is one way for those who may not want to make a permanent commitment to a pet to help. Families are required to fill out an application, attend training and care for moms and kittens for eight weeks or care for orphaned kittens that are bottle-fed.

"There?s a big stray cat problem here," Ms. Currier says. "This morning the Animal Control Department popped in at 7:30 a.m. and said, "Cats are out of control." There is a big feral cat problem here, they are constantly roaming and there are cats everywhere just because one cat was not spayed."

It's common for showers to include a game for guests, and the kitten shower was no different. The trivia game question was, "How many offspring will one unspayed cat have in five years?"

The answer is 12,500.

"A very fertile family tree," she noted.

To help combat the population problem, the Animal Rescue League changed its neutering and spaying protocol. Prior to this year, adopted cats were returned after six months to be spayed or neutered but now every cat leaves the shelter spayed or neutered.

"Nothing leaves here without being spayed or neutered," Ms. Currier said.

When contacted after the shower, which finished at 4 p.m, Ms. Currier reported that the day was a success.

"It was absolutely awesome, just fabulous," she said. Shower gifts included 600 pounds of cat litter, 500 pounds of kitten food, approximately 350 pounds of baby food, $895 in cash and "tons of miscellaneous medical supplies, like nursing bottles."

In addition, the 30 cats that were in the shelter had all been adopted by the end of the day.

Reference: www.telegram.com

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