Press release from Brother Wolf Animal Rescue:
Kitten season is in full swing, and shelters all around our region are filling up quickly with kittens in need of some extra TLC. Last year alone, Brother Wolf Animal Rescue cared for an incredible 1,127 kittens!
“We’re getting calls almost every day now from folks in our community who need help with kittens, or kittens are brought to our Adoption Center” says Audrey Lodato, Brother Wolf’s Director of Animal Care. “Many of the kittens who need our help have been found outdoors, likely born to community cats.”
The term ‘community cats’ refers to those who are unowned and live outdoors. Through Brother Wolf’s Community Cats program, they humanely trap, spay and neuter, vaccinate, and return cats to their outdoor homes. To use this service, contact Eric Phelps at (828) 301-3377 or eric@bwar.org.
Brother Wolf also cares for nearly 200 orphaned newborn kittens each year, who need specialized fosters to bottle feed them every 2-4 hours around the clock. “Newborn kittens are very fragile and can’t survive long without warmth and a consistent feeding schedule,” says Andee Bingham, Brother Wolf’s Grants Manager and high-volume bottle baby foster. “If you find very young orphaned kittens, they’ll have the best chance of survival if they’re taken to a rescue organization as quickly as possible.”
That’s how Brother Wolf came to care for Brenda, a chubby grey kitten who was brought to their Adoption Center after she was found alone in the parking lot of the mall at just 3 days old. “She was ice cold when she arrived,” Bingham says, “but with a lot of TLC she’s thriving and getting bigger (and cuter!) every day.”
Bingham, who has cared for more than 100 bottle babies, will be teaching an Orphaned Bottle Baby Kitten workshop on Saturday, May 18th from 3-5 p.m. at Lenoir Rhyne University (Room 315) in Asheville. During the workshop, Bingham will discuss everything you need to know to keep orphaned kittens safe and healthy from birth to weaning. The event is free and open to the public. Further event information can be found on the Brother Wolf Facebook event listing.
“Spaying and neutering both owned and unowned cats is the best way to make sure our local shelters are able to care for the large volume of kittens who need our help each year,” says Lodato. “Through our new mobile clinic, we’re excited to be offering low-cost spay and neuter services to the public.” Visit www.bwar.org/mobile-clinic to view the clinic’s service area and to schedule an appointment for your cat or dog.
It’s not just kittens that flood local shelters this time of year. Brother Wolf recently rescued a litter of puppies who had been born outside. Though the organization is facing challenging times with a million-dollar deficit this year, Brother Wolf says they’re working to use the resources they do have to impact the lives of as many animals as possible in western North Carolina.
“Whether you’re looking for a cat, dog, rabbit, or guinea pig, we’d love to help you find your next best friend,” says Lodato. Stop by the Adoption Center at 31 Glendale Avenue in Asheville Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. to meet adoptable animals and get involved in Brother Wolf’s No-Kill mission.
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