The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Animal Care & Control (AC&C) has been running a foster program for many years. During kitten season, they relied solely on foster homes to take the little orphan neonatal kittens. Neonatal kittens with no mom must be fed every two to three hours. The pool of foster homes that have the ability to feed and care for a litter of kittens around the clock is very limited. The idea of creating a nursery was born while creating viable solutions to save more kittens.

AC&C calls for volunteers to bottle-feed and care for the tiniest of kittens in shifts starting as early as 6:30 a.m. On average, volunteers come in for one-or-two-hours at a time. There is an application process, an orientation and some training shifts. It’s definitely something that individuals don’t sign up for unless they plan to be a regular “mom” or “dad” in the nursery.

Just in the first year, many people thought that they could just show up and feed a kitten as a fun, one-time activity, but as cute as it looks, there are a lot of protocols in place for important reasons because these itty-bitty kittens are very fragile. The volunteers are participating in a very important role that is truly lifesaving.

The biggest needs of the AC&C are people to come and adopt; and foster homes for the in-between kittens called “tweeners”. They have graduated the nursery and are learning to eat kitten wet food and kibble, but they still need some socialization and to gain some more weight. These kittens need fostering. It’s a great assignment; all supplies are provided, including medical needs.

Other priorities include donations of supplies.

The kitten nursery grand opening was in April of 2017. The initial cost for start-up of the nursery was provided from a $13,000 grant from the ASPCA. When the nursery was announced and the plea for volunteers was pushed out, the Charlotte community responded, over 2,000 applications were received.

It takes a substantial budget to run the nursery, and donations are vital. In 2017, 600 kittens were saved, thanks to the nursery. In 2018, the program received a $10,000 grant from the George D. Patterson Fund to support the kitten nursery and feline adoption campaign.

 

 

CMPD Animal Care & Control is located at 8315 Byrum Dr., in Charlotte, call 311 or visit Animals.CMPD.org. For more information, visit Tinyurl.com/Charlotte-MecklenburgACC.

 

 

Because kittens tend to be more likely to be adopted than cats, AC&C provided a few cats in search of homes. All are spayed/neutered, have all required vaccinations and are microchipped.

 

Name:Gigi

ID:A1136920

Age:1 year

Sex:Female

Date of Arrival:4/12/18 (Stray)

Price: $10 plus donation

 

Gigi came in with a litter of kittens. All found new homes, but Gigi is still waiting for hers.

 

 

 

Name:Chocolate

ID:A1140351

Breed Mix:Shorthair

Age:1 year

Sex:Female

Date of Arrival:6/20/18 (Surrendered)

Price: $10 plus donation

 

Chocolate likes to be where you are. Watch TV and Chocolate is sure to plop in your lap to be pet.

 

 

 

 

Name:Kiki

ID:A1070661

Breed Mix:Shorthair

Age:4 years

Sex:Female

Date of Arrival:6/19/18 (Surrendered)

Price: $10 plus donation

 

Kiki is a busy cat that likes to look out the window and see what is going on outside. She also enjoys her catnaps.

 

 

 

 

 

Name:Clyde

ID: A1138898

Breed Mix:Long Hair

Age:3 years

Sex:Male

Date of Arrival:5/23/18 (Surrendered)

Price: $10 plus donation

 

Clyde likes to be where you are, and will help you type when you’re working on the computer.