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| Contributed Photo Marmalade, an orphaned kitten taken in by HHPR, shown to the left when he first arrived at the rescue, weighing barely enough to survive, and now, after his foster family acted as a surrogate mother, bringing him to the normal size and weight for a kitten his age. |
Each year, several litters of abandoned, motherless kittens arrive at the Halfway Home Pet Rescue in Caribou. This situation requires a human to fulfill the mother role until the kittens can eat and use the litter box on their own, which starts at about four weeks of age.
Being a surrogate mother is rewarding work, but can be exhausting for one person alone. HHPR has trained volunteers who have saved dozens of kittens and is in need of more help.
Halfway Home Pet Rescue is piloting a new program called the Itty Bitty Orphan Kitty, with the purpose of training volunteers to provide orphan kitten care when babies start arriving for the 2013 kitten season. The training will be done in three Sunday-afternoon sessions from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at the Caribou Lions Community Center. Coffee with light refreshments will be served after each training, and parking will be in the back.
Session One will be held on April 7 and will feature Norma Milton and Anne Price of HHPR explaining the basic care of feline babies and what the role of the human surrogate mother involves. How to make kitten formula, bottle-feeding techniques and other necessary life-saving skills will also be taught.
Session Two will be held April 28 and will feature Dr. Andrea Pesut of the Presque Isle Animal Hospital. Dr. Pesut will focus on the stages of kitten development, the behavior of a healthy kitten and detecting signs of illness, among other kitten health topics.
Session Three will be held on May 5 and will feature the topic of how to prevent and manage compassion fatigue for volunteers who experience the loss of a kitten they devoted a lot of time and emotion to while trying to save the young animal’s life. The facilitator for this topic has yet to be determined.
Advance registration is required for each session. Attendees are not required to become HHPR volunteers, but all volunteers are required to attend these classes. There is no charge to attend.
The size of each class will be limited. To register or for more information, contact Mary at 999-1075.
