Subject: Spring - A Time of New Beginnings and...

Newsletter

Spring 2026

Our Newsletter is Best Viewed in Landscape Orientation on Mobile Devices

(Turn Your Phone Sideways!)

Spring - A Time of New Beginnings and... 

Uh Oh, I found a litter of kittens!

(Also - Didja get Mom something for Mother's Day yet?)


In This Edition:

  • Happy Meowhour - Come Join Us!

  • Kitten Season - What to do About that Found Litter

  • Ways You Can Help with the Flood of Kittens

  • Something for the Mom Who Has Everything

  • Special Adoption Events Continue

Kitten Season


Spring has sprung... and that means - kittens. More kittens are born from April to September than any other time of year, with the greatest concentration celebrating birthdays in early spring. It's a time of great wonder... and fear, if you're a rescue - fear of not having space, money or volunteer power enough to save them all.

But - there are some specific things you can do to help your favorite rescue stay afloat in the sea of kittens!

1.Know what to do - and what not to do - if you find a litter of kittens

2. Foster!

3. Donate

4. Drive

___

1. I found a litter of kittens!

It's not unusual to stumble across a litter of wild-born kittens... what do you do? Of course, your first instinct might be to scoop up the kittens and get them to safety, but that may actually not be the best option for the kitties who, as explained below, really need their mom!

To find out what to do, we consulted with Bernadette Kazmarski, a pet blogger and artist who has written an award-winning article on found kittens.

Bernadette writes a blog entitled The Creative Cat and sells her art through her website Portraits of Animals. Bernadette tells us, "The universal response to finding kittens is to presume they are abandoned and unable to care for themselves and to take them home, but not only is that rarely the right response, it’s not even the right presumption and can often be harmful to the kittens... The kitten decision game involves the approximate age of the kittens and the presence, or lack, of a mother cat, and the knowledge that kittens younger than eight weeks belong with their mother, even if she is feral."


Mother cats leave their kittens to go hunting for food, and sometimes to move them one by one to a safer place. The first thing to do when you find kittens in the wild is to observe from a distance to see if mom is coming back.  


It's also important to understand what is meant by "feral" in the rescue world - feral cats are not just strays, or cats born in the wild - true feral cats are ones that are undomesticated, not habituated to humans, and in general not able to adapt to living with people as a pet. Wild born kittens can be socialized if they are habituated to humans early enough, yet this is difficult if the mom is feral, since as Bernadette correctly points out, kittens are healthiest if they remain with mom for at least 8 weeks.  


If the time for socialization is past, and mom and kittens all seem feral, then TNR - trap, neuter, return to a managed colony - is their best option.

"Kittens old enough to be spayed or neutered [but] too old to be socialized can be trapped with their mother, neutered and returned, but younger kittens, with or without their mother, present a lot of options, most of which involve fostering and sometimes a great amount of care.

Kittens can be socialized and adopted, even if their mother is feral, so they aren’t necessarily returned on the basis of their mother’s behavior."

Of course, if the mother is friendly - and space available - the entire family can be rescued and fostered. The decision is difficult, Bernadette tells us, when the kittens are young enough to be socialized, but their mother is feral and not friendly toward humans. While kittens do best if with mom for at least 8 weeks, the best age to socialize kittens is 4 - 8 weeks which means handling a feral mother. In additon, leaving them with their mother where they were found risks missing the window when the kittens can be socialized and not have to live out their lives as ferals and, as Bernadette notes, "do you leave them there knowing the mother will likely move them, and hope to find them when they are eight weeks and ready for surgeries, or do you somehow foster a feral mother while socializing her kittens?"

At FFGW, when planning intake from shelters, we won't separate a mother from her kittens, even though we well know that the kittens will be adopted quickly, and the mom will likely linger. With found kittens and a feral mom, such a commitment is even 

greater and more difficult, as it takes an experienced foster to handle a mother cat who is not friendly. First - after you've determined if a mom is present - if you yourself cannot commit to fostering, check with local rescues to see if they would be able to accomodate mom if she is feral. Then, here's what Bernadette tells us to do:


Trapping kittens means that you need to be prepared for several circumstances:

• If the mother cat is trapped and is friendly you need to be prepared for fostering a mother cat with underage kittens in a quiet room that is closed off from the rest of your cats and other animals, and, depending on the age of the kittens, fostering could be two to three months, or more.

• If the mother cat is trapped and feral and shows no signs of interest in socialization, you need to accommodate her need to keep a distance from you while socializing her kittens.

• If the mother does not show up and the kittens are not weaned, then you need to be prepared to give them intensive neo-natal care and wean them along with socializing them.

• If the mother cat does not show up and the kittens are weaned and less than 16 weeks old, you can either TNR them or work on socializing them while keeping them confined. 


A lot more information can be found in Bernadette's full article here:

___

2. Foster


The life you save will be a cat's - but the life you enrich - might be your child's! It can be a family experience that teaches responsiblity and benefits humans and felines alike.


For more information on FFGW's foster program, look at the link below:

https://ffgw.org/fostering/


___

3. Donate


Our spring letter is reaching mailboxes this week. In it, we tell the story of Ziggy, a special cat who still has the capacity to love humans - despite carrying in his head 5 BB pellets. We didn't hesitate to undertake the expensive surgery to give him the life he deserves, because you have always generously supported us. You can read our spring letter here:


Kitten season puts further strain on our finances, as the cost for getting even a healthy kitten ready for adoption - a thorough exam, vaccines, spaying or neutering, deworming, flea treatment, microchipping - can be $500 per kitten, and a few litters of 4 or 5 kittens can really add up.


Your donations make it possible for us to say "yes" to that found litter of kittens (and yes to the one after that).


And if you haven't figured out what to get your mom for mother's day...

she wants kittens!

 

Kidding. Mom does NOT want kittens for Mother's Day.


What she wants is an acknowledgement of all the hard work she put into ensuring that you did not turn out like a feral kitten - and we can help you with that! We have a special fund that honors a special cat mom, and helps us take care of more moms and babies - the Lucy Fund. Tell your mom that you donated in her name to honor an awesome mom just like her!

Click below to find out more.

___

4. Transport


An extremely important element of rescue is transport. Getting the cats from shelters to FFGW, from shelter transports to our vets, from the vets to fosters... it's just one of the very important roles that volunteers play in the path from at-risk in shelters to at-home with a loving family.

Some trips can be long, many are short - just a quick run from the vet to a foster, or or from a shelter transport ending locally to one of our vets.

If you can help with this crucial part of rescue, we would love to have you join our "Kitty Karavan" team - we'll put you on our email distribution list and whenever you're able to transport just respond to a request. You don't even have to be a Calico with a Purple Mustang!

___


Knowing what to do with found kittens, fostering, donating, and helping with transport - those 4 things will help FFGW stay afloat in the rising tide of kittens about to arrive!

Another VERY Special

Adoption Event!


The anonymous benefactors who have been sponsoring our adoption fees the past few months have found a way to help overlooked adult cats during kitten season!

Thanks to their generosity, adoption fees for cats over 1 year old adopted at one of our adoption events are waived!


You must adopt in the center, at the event, and your adoption fee will be $ZERO for cats 1 year old and up! As always, FFGW covers spaying/neutering, vaccines, vet exam, and microchip.


In addition, all adopters of any cat at an event will receive

a $50 PetSmart gift card!


We are extremely grateful for this fabulous opportunity

which we hope will help lots of cats find love!

Join us at Just Cats, 2 - 4 p.m., May 30 for this special event!

I Feel Like Something Chewy!

Actually, not that chewy, but "Chewy"!

www.chewy.com is a pet product company specializing in home delivery of all things pet-related.  

FFGW has a "wish list"  which you can find here:

Any products you select from our wish list will be delivered directly to us for use at our adoption center at Just Cats Boarding Center and by our fosters!

Thanks to everyone who has donated food, treats, litter, beds, toys...  Chewy's platform doesn't allow us to see the names of our generous donors, but please know that your support is very much appreciated!  And if you drop us a line and let us know when you donate something, we'll be more than happy to send our thanks!

This post contains affilliate links.  FFGW may be compensated if you buy something after clicking on these links.

Adoption Fairs

Just Cats Boarding Center

1601 North Washington Plaza 

(Lake Anne) Reston

           2 - 4 pm


Next Events: 

Saturday, May 30 

Saturday, June 20


Join the Caretaker Crew at Just Cats 

Help socialize FFGW kitties at the center!  


Fill out a volunteer questionaire HERE

  

  --Midweek Adoptions by Appointment for Cats at Just Cats --

and in Foster Homes Throughout the DC/VA Area

Looking for a new cat for your family? Get pre-approved for adoption by filling out an adoption form online today.)

We've Gone Home!

Adopted - March & April (42)

Chessie, Two Bit, Ms. Fancy, Arrow, Oreo, Saltine, Oyster, Oscar, Shelby, Odin, Meggie, Vanta, Andy, Ryan, Martha, Prudence, Cosette, Linda, Warrior, Donegal, Kilkenny, Simba, Jupiter, Snivy, Ninja, Jynxie, Jazz, Olive, Gimpy, Toastie, Salem, Ewok, Evan, Tux, Matilda Rose, Cupcake, Bacon, Poppy, Valentine, Witchy, Galway & Benito 

Check Us Meowt!

Follow us on Social Media for real-time updates and kitty pics!


Powered by:
GetResponse