I found a kitten, now what?

NEWBORN KITTEN RESCUE DOES NOT INTAKE KITTENS FROM THE PUBLIC. Instead, we accept them from our partner shelters, including Arizona Humane Society, Arizona Animal Welfare League and SPCA, Heidi’s Village, The Barnhouse AZ, and SOUL, among others.

In most cases, the best thing we can do is leave the kittens alone. Mom will likely return shortly, and it’s critical that the kittens remain in her care as she offers the best chance for survival. Many shelters are not equipped to care for neonatal kittens. Don't Kit-Nap Kittens

If you find a kitten, have followed the steps on the visual above, and you feel that the kitten is in an unsafe situation we have several partner rescues you can contact:

  • Arizona Humane Society: 602-997-7585.   9226 N 13th Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85021.

  • Heidi’s Village: 602-241-4640. 600 N 40th Street, Phoenix 85008.

  • Arizona Animal Welfare League: 602-273-6852. 25 N 40th Street, Phoenix 85034.

Found kittens still with mom:

If mom is around and seems to be caring for the kittens well, it is important that they stay together. You can keep monitoring the entire family as the kittens grow so they can all be trapped once the kittens are around 8 weeks of age. 

If mom seems to be struggling to care for the kittens, you can routinely offer her food, water, and shelter in an accessible area that is not too close to the nest to prevent possible predators from finding the kittens. 

Be sure to maintain a safe distance between yourself and the family to prevent spooking mom as she might abandon the kittens if she considers you a threat. Not all outdoor cats appreciate close interactions with humans, and it is crucial to keep the babies with mom to increase their survival rate. 

If Mom ends up abandoning the kittens, reach out to local shelters (including the above) to see if they have availability or can give you a care-in-place kit to help care for the litter.

I found a kitten and can care for it, but need some help:

There are some excellent videos out there that we have utilized, especially from The Kitten Lady on YouTube. She has 1.45 million followers and 337 videos on a variety of topics but many of them are about the littlest kittens and taking care of them. There is also information on her website https://www.kittenlady.org.

The National Kitten Coalition is also a great resource, with webinars that are free: https://kittencoalition.org

Both the Arizona Humane Society and The Arizona Animal Welfare League have care-in-place kits that you can request and include everything you need to get started. 

If you find that the kitten is not gaining weight or thriving, please contact the Arizona Humane Society at 602-997-7585 for support.

Low-cost clinics:

Click here for an info-graphic from the Arizona Humane Society with low-cost veterinary services including spay/neuter and vaccinations.

TNR services:

Click here for a link to Altered Tails for assistance with TNR (trap-spay/neuter-return) services.