The RIGHT rescue centre
Bringing home a rescue kitten is a wonderful thing. Not only are you giving a homeless kitten a new home, but you’re also freeing up space in the rehoming centre for another cat in need.
But while there are plenty of wellmeaning charities and rescue centres out there, you need to be careful that you’re rehoming a kitten from a reputable source, where the cats’ welfare and well-being are top priority.
Laura Peppercorn, animal welfare assistant at Blue Cross’ Cambridge animal rehoming centre, says:“If you are looking to rehome a kitten or a cat from a cattery, please be aware of some things to look out for. Are the cats and kittens healthy? Is the environment clean? Do the staff know the cats and kittens, and can they answer your questions?”
As well as ensuring that the kittens in their care are well cared for and protected from various diseases, one of the staff’s most important jobs is ensuring that the kittens are properly socialised.
This doesn’t just involve getting them used to the normal sights, smells, and sounds of the average home, but also to being handled by lots of different people during their all-important socialisation period, and, all the while, ensuring the kittens are protected from infections.
Nicky Trevorrow, Cats Protection’s veterinary behaviour manager, says: “Here at Cats Protection, a structured kitten socialisation programme, developed by top behaviourist Dr Rachel Casey, is followed to ensure they are introduced to a number of different experiences during the socialisation period.
“Before embarking on this, it is also vital to understand how to avoid the spread
The f irst two months of a kitten’s life are the most important.
of feline infectious diseases through strict hygiene measures, as kittens are particularly vulnerable.
“These include consistently washing hands before and after handling sessions with an appropriate antibacterial skin disinfectant, wearing disposable gloves, aprons, and shoe covers, and only interacting with one litter per handling session to prevent infectious disease spreading between litters.”
It’s important to make sure you choose a charity that ensures its kittens experience as many sights and sounds of a normal home as possible, which the staff should be able to discuss with you.
Many charities place young kittens and their mothers into foster care so that the kittens will be exposed to the sights and sounds of a family home, and the fosterer will be able to tell you how the kitten is progressing and how much socialisation has been done.
Laura says:“In an ideal world, we want all our mums and kittens in foster homes where they can be socialised with everyday items, such as washing machines,TVs, and big spaces where they can have fun running around, but sometimes this isn’t possible and they have to stay in the cattery until they find their forever homes.
“We know that what the kittens experience at a young age will shape how confident they will become in the future.The first two months of a kitten’s life are the most important period in which to expose them to all the things that we will expect them to consider normal and safe when they grow up.
“We are limited to what we can expose them to in the cattery, so we have to use our imaginations. We have a socialisation CD with many different sounds on, such as a thunderstorm, children playing, babies crying, and dogs barking.
“We have a great team of socialisers who love playing and cuddling the kittens, which is good news for the kittens, as this will help them be more confident with strangers.”