Gemma Smith of the ASPCA and Churro the cat offer tips for caring for newborn kittens.

<div class="block">Gemma Smith of the ASPCA and Churro the cat offer tips for caring for newborn kittens.</div>

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Caring For Kittens: Advice from the ASPCA

This morning, we're joined by an organization that I love A S PC. A's Gemma Smith will give us some pointers on how to care for a newborn kitten and why you should consider fostering Gemma first. Welcome. Introduce us to our little friend here. Thank you for having us today. I have little chiro with me. He is 10 weeks old and he came to the A S PC A kit nursery about four weeks ago and has been in the home of a temporary foster caregiver. And you know, we're coming up on the third annual A S PC A National Animal Foster Appreciation Week. So right now is the time to celebrate the benefits of fostering and encourage others to get involved. And newborn kittens require around the clock care. You often depend on foster families to step in and help with that. How important are foster families? Foster families are crucial right now because we're in the middle of feline breeding season, that's also known as kitten season. The time of year during these warmer months when shelters nationwide are overwhelmed with vulnerable newborn kittens. And at the A S PC A kitten nursery, we care for kittens under eight weeks of age. So, Churro is one of our bigger kittens. We care for little teeny tiny and we really rely on the support of our foster care givers during this time. Now, what role do foster families play during those first few weeks of a kitten's life? Sure. So those fostering, um, our newborn kittens, they play a really crucial role because they find themselves frequently bottle feeding the kittens every 3 to 5 hours. They also help keep the kittens warm, help them use the restroom, they weigh them daily to ensure they're growing and monitor them closely. What do newborn kittens eat? Gemma? Well, when with their mother, newborn kittens would drink their mother's milk, which provides complete nutrition for the first four weeks of their life. But when they're found without their mom, they require a commercial feline milk replacer like kitten formula. Like we have baby formula, same thing for kittens and then their bottle fed as they grow and transition to eat solid foods on their own. Are there any foods that we should avoid kittens? Well, with kittens, you should really only be giving them if they're um neonates the feline milk replacer or transitioning them then to a solid kitten food. So we should be avoiding human foods. You shouldn't be feeding them other anything other than food specifically designed for kittens and leaving out fresh water at all times as well. And uh foster mom is actually here, Julie. And you said that he has great temperament. He's a great cat. If people are interested in fostering or, or adopting Churro or other newborn kittens, what can they do? Well, if they're interested in fostering, we do have two foster programs, one here in New York City and one in Los Angeles. And together we've helped more than 20,000 kittens. They can go to a S PC A dot org slash foster and to learn more about adopting, they can visit a S PC dot org slash adopt. And what about preparing your home for a kitten? What we do want our fosters or adopters to kitten proof their home. So you should look at your apartment and get, make sure there's nothing in sight that a kitten could get into such as toxic plants, human food, sometimes hair ties, rubber bands, cords and wires, but kittens don't take up a lot of space. So we really do recommend if you're interested in fostering, they do very well in a small space like a bathroom or we provide all the supplies such as a, a playpen and it's very doable here in New York City. And very quickly, what about if you have other animals and you want to bring a kitten home? Well, it's great to talk to the foster team to understand the specific needs of the foster animal to make sure it's ok with your resident pets. And we do recommend keeping your resident pets separate for the first two weeks of your foster period has been very calm. His foster mom says he has a great temperament. Thank you so much to a S PC, A's Gemma Smith and of course, Chiro.