NEW YORK (AP) — Strawberry, Blueberry, JoJo, and Mazzy were rescued at around six weeks old from long metal pipes in a storage unit parking lot. Meanwhile, Meatball was a solitary kitten living in a cold garage with semi-feral adult cats. Spaghetti, Macaroni, and Rigatoni were only two weeks old when they were taken in by LIC Feral Feeders, a cat rescue in Queens. The rescue group provided them with round-the-clock bottle feeding until they became strong enough to thrive.
These adorable kittens represent the face of kitten season 2025, which typically occurs during the warmer months when many cats give birth, leading to a significant increase in the population of fragile neonate kittens. Animal shelters often find themselves overwhelmed during this period, especially due to the high demands of 24-hour care and feeding of extremely young kittens. Hannah Shaw, an animal welfare advocate known as the Kitten Lady, highlighted that approximately 1.5 million kittens enter U.S. shelters yearly, with a substantial influx occurring during May and June.
As shelters face this seasonal surge, the demand for foster homes rises dramatically. Many of the 4,000 shelters in the United States lack the resources to provide continuous care for such young animals. According to Shaw, fostering is essential to alleviate the strain on shelters during this chaotic season. While public awareness of animal fostering is growing, Shaw notes that many individuals hesitate to foster due to misconceptions about costs. Fortunately, most shelters and rescues now cover food, supplies, and medical expenses, meaning that fostering primarily requires "time and love." This is a message she aims to promote through her outreach efforts.
Lisa Restine, a veterinarian at Hill’s Pet Nutrition, advises potential kitten adopters to consider adopting in pairs, as kittens often form strong bonds with their siblings or companions. She provides guidelines on the optimal number of cats per household, suggesting a maximum of two cats for each adult in the home, alongside recommendations for adequate square footage to prevent territorial disputes among pets. Restine emphasizes that littermates, like Macaroni and Rigatoni, are particularly likely to bond well, while introducing adult cats to new kittens can often be challenging.
Kittens typically remain in foster homes for several weeks to a few months, and while statistics on "foster failures" (instances where families decide to keep the fostered kittens) are not systematically collected, some shelters report rates as high as 90%. Though labeled as "failures," advocates view these adoptions as positive outcomes. Shaw points out that fears surrounding fostering — such as the belief that special training is necessary — can be addressed through education and community support. Her website, kittenlady.org, serves as a resource for those interested in learning more about the fostering process.
Corporate efforts align with this cause, as exemplified by Hill’s Pet Nutrition’s Food, Shelter & Love program, which has contributed over $300 million worth of food support to animal shelters that facilitate fostering across North America. Despite the unfortunate reality that approximately a quarter of a million kittens do not survive in shelters each year, Shaw remains hopeful that community involvement in fostering will help to change these outcomes. She encourages potential foster parents to embrace the opportunity, stating that while the experience may seem daunting initially, adequate training and mentorship provided by shelters can make it both manageable and rewarding.
