I couldn’t find an exact number, but it appears that there’s still some wide-eyed, hopeful kittehs, down at Kitty Harbor, just waiting for some wide-eyed, hopeful humans, to give them a loving, safe, forever home!

Mike

As a kitten/cat foster parent, fellow cat lover, and former humane society employee, I really am interested in learning where this steady supply of kittens comes from and where the mother cats are. I politely asked before but got no reply, either here or on the fb page. I’m not looking for anything but information. If someone could please respond in kind, that’d be much appreciated. Are these strays? Ferals that have been trapped and socialized? Owner surrenders? Are they taken from ferals and bottle fed? A little info Please? Just info.

Respectfully,

Robin

Hi Robin,

Thank you for the opportunity to provide the information you seek. The short answer is ‘all of the above, and more’.

The long answer, approximately:

• 1/3 come from King, Peirce and Snohomish Shelters (off of death row)

• 1/3 come from Kitty Harbor’s own rescue work in our local area

• 1/3 come from Eastern Washington where the Kill Rate is 70% – 90%, depending on the area/County.

Here are some recent examples of how rescued cats and kittens found their way to Kitty Harbor:

1. So far this season, Kitty Harbor has taken in 6 – 7 mothers with litters from people that did not want them any longer OR found the domestic mother in their yard with babies. All mothers stay (generally in foster), with their kittens until they are 8-ish weeks old. Once the moms and kittens are neutered/vaccinated/tested/etc., they are available for adoption through Kitty Harbor.

2. Delyn, Founder of Kitty Harbor, is partnering with a municipal shelter that has a very, very high kill rate of cats and kittens. This shelter has no money or resources. In just four weeks she has taken 22 cats and kittens from them that were slated to be killed.

3. Kitty Harbor has accepted 24 cats and kittens from another shelter that has no money or resources. Some of them had URI, which Kitty Harbor nursed them through.

4. There is a store in an Eastern Washington town that has a big cage for people to drop off cats and kittens in. These felines are altogether in this cage; don’t know each other; fight; are often sick. There is a rescue group that pulls as many of the cats and kittens from cage as they can every Sunday. When Kitty Harbor has room, they accept the overflow.

5. Kitty Harbor is currently working with a Couple that have 20+ cats and kittens on their property (adults were dumped on their property and had kittens). The Couple is bringing the cats and kittens to Kitty Harbor for spaying/neutering; testing; vaccines; etc. What is especially refreshing about this is that the Couple wants all the adults back.

6. Yesterday morning a woman brought in a litter of bottle babies from her backyard. The stray mother had been missing for a couple of days so she contacted Kitty Harbor. The bottle babies are now in foster care and the woman knows what to do if the mother comes back (bring her to Kitty Harbor for spaying).

Lastly, all cats and kittens are spayed and neutered at either FCSNP or South Seattle Vet prior to adoption (except on the rare occasion they have a health issue. Then the spay/neuter occurs at a later date). They also receive a healthy pet check, vaccines, FeLV test, worming, de-fleaing and any other health care they may need. When people contact Kitty Harbor to take kittens, Kitty Harbor says yes–if the owner agrees to let them spay/neuter the mother and all other intact cats in the home.

Hope this answers your questions. Thank you for being a foster parent and for caring.

GHO, I’m just on Kitty Harbor’s payroll of love! ;-).

Kitty Harbor was very helpful to Nickelsville, during the first round of S/N that was performed on NV residents’ pets.

They also kept one cat a week or so longer, until her upper respiratory condition cleared.

I have no doubt that that cat would have died, if it had gone straight back to Camp, without some kind of treatment.

It was also comforting to know that the other pets had a safe, warm, dry place to stay for a night after the procedure, and a relaxing night indoors, the night before.

Mike

GenHillOne & RobinDiane.

Kitty Harbor has offerred to give both of you a private tour of Kitty Harbor so you can see how their licensed, King County Public Health approved shelter is run and ask questions. Please call 935-1919 to set up an appt. They are there today until 6 pm, adopting out cats and kittens. If you call right away you can probably set something up for this week.

Okay, whoa…While it’s a kind offer, 1) I’ve already seen what I need to of the facilities and 2) I don’t think anyone mentioned being concerned about them being unlicensed or a risk to public health. Where’s that coming from? I simply answered you, that my calls to KH were both in June and I wondered what number someone would use if they wanted to make a tax deductible donation. As I mentioned before, it is not the number linked above, but the one attached to their 501(c)3 status shown on their website. You seemed to have a lot of information as the OP on several threads, so I asked. I’m not sure how that broke the rules, but I apologize. If I need to go to them, that’s fine. Certainly it is information that I can get over the phone, so I will do that, though it seems like you’re telling me that wasn’t accurate for me the other times. I think I’m losing interest now :(

So cute, Harmonic! Relish the dander-free house while you can! :)