Preparing Your Home For A Kitten
What You Need
Free kittens and those you purchase from a breeder or rescue do not differ in their basic needs.
Food
Kittens feed differently depending upon their age when they come home with you. Up to four weeks of age, your kitten will be nursing on a bottle every two to three hours. At four weeks of age, you can start offering a gruel several times a day. You will still be bottle feeding, but every four hours. Begin the weaning process gradually between five and seven weeks. Dry food should be always available, and you should feed a gruel, canned food, or baby food with water four times a day. Onions are highly toxic to cats, so make sure the baby food does not have onion powder. It should also be meat-based and is only ideal for exceptionally picky eaters. By seven or eight weeks, your kitten will be effectively weaned and weigh approximately two pounds. Growing kittens require 50 to 65 calories per pound per day. Many times, the best way to deliver a high concentration of calories is via canned food which is high in protein and fat. Kittens should eat enough to be full but not bloated or distended in the abdomen. Cats are kittens until about a year old. Try to get a sample of the same food your kitten has already been eating. Make food changes gradually.
Toys
Bedding
Litter Box
Scratching Post
Collars and Leashes
Treats
Kitten-Proof Your Home
How To Inspect Free Kittens For Health
You may have been approached numerous times about free kittens near me. Cats can be prolific breeders. A litter of baby kittens for free is not likely going to have health certificates or parental guarantees. There are still ways to enhance your chances of adopting a healthy kitten. You can win half the battle by visiting where the kittens are before taking one home. If the mother is there, see what kind of health she exhibits. Make sure she does not look too thin or have runny eyes. But especially look at the entire litter. Avoid specific qualities in free kittens.
- Lethargic or dull
Kittens for adoption from the neighbor or a family member and even a breeder can have parasites. These do not have to be deal-breakers unless they are suffering long-term effects or there appears to be an infestation. You can spot fleas by using a specialized comb. Flea combs have such fine teeth that they trap fleas. A flea comb is useful in dark animals or pets with only a few fleas.
Resources To Help Reunite Lost Or Found Pets
There are two animal shelters in Louisville that receive stray pets: Louisville Metro Animal Services at 3528 Newburg Road, and the Kentucky Humane Society at 241 Steedly Drive. LMAS is a municipal shelter, which means they are required by city ordinances to accept strays. LMAS takes the vast majority of stray animals in Jefferson County. KHS is a private nonprofit shelter and accepts strays by appointment as space allows. Per city ordinance, both agencies keep stray pets for five days to allow their owners time to find them. After that time, the pets can be made available for adoption.
- View stray animals currently at Louisville Metro Animal Services, or animals registered as missing
- View stray animals currently at the Kentucky Humane Society
In addition to checking online sources, we strongly recommend that you visit LMAS and KHS in person. It is very important that you check with both facilities as often as possible. A minimum of every two days is recommended. It is very difficult to help you identify your pet over the phone.
- Louisville Metro Animal Services, 3705 Manslick Rd, Louisville, KY 40215 363-6609
Report a Lost or Found Pet
Louisville Metro Animal Services is the government agency responsible for picking up stray pets in Louisville Metro. To report a lost or found pet or to search for pets at LMAS, please visit their website: LMAS Lost and Found
License Tags and Micro-chipping Are Your Pets Ticket Home
What Else Can I Do?
You May Like: How To Care For A New Kitten
What You Should Know About Baby Kittens For Free
There is always a flurry of activity surrounding bringing a new pet home. Especially if it is a puppy or kitten for adoption, preparations are like readying for a newborn infant. If you choose to adopt a kitten, you have decisions and choices you do not necessarily have with a human. However, a kitten will likely be walking about when you bring her home, so you will need to make your home safe. You may be able to pick from multiple free kittens in a litter, so how do you tell a healthy one? And how do you take care of your new addition?
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Since 1984, we have remained steadfast in our mission to provide a second chance for the voiceless animals in need. ACS truly believes the relationship between humans and animals has deep significance. Through our mission, we offer a better life for everyone! Animal Care Society continues to be a leader in animal welfare in the Louisville community. ACS has placed well over 17,000 animals into loving homes.
Also Check: Why You Should Neuter Your Cat
Why Should You Adopt
Dog adoption and cat adoption saves lives. Adopt a dog or adopt a cat and you’ll have a friend for life.
What is the difference between adopting a dog, adopting a cat, adopting a kitten or adopting a puppy versus getting dogs for sale, cats for sale, puppies for sale or kittens for sale from a dog breeder or a cat breeder?
When someone is breeding puppies or breeding kittens, they are creating new dogs and cats who need homes. Some people are interested in a very specific breed of dog, cat, puppy or kitten and they think the only way to find that specific breed is to buy a dog for sale or buy a cat for sale from a puppy breeder or a kitten breeder. Yet animal shelters are filled with dogs and cats who must find homes.
So rather than buying a dog or puppy for sale from a dog breeder or buying a cat or kitten for sale from a cat breeder, we encourage people to adopt a dog, adopt a cat, adopt a puppy or adopt a kitten at their local animal shelter, SPCA, humane society or pet rescue group.
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Age Of Kittens For Adoption
Cats do not seem particularly social, especially compared to dogs. This makes bonding with their mothers and littermates more important. You may not be able to fill social gaps as easily for a kitten as for a puppy. Ideally, kittens should stay with their siblings until they are 12 weeks old, although their mother will likely wean them between six and eight weeks of age. Kittens are usually still grabbing an occasional nursing session from mom up to ten weeks old. Beyond that, the queen continues teaching crucial skills to her kittens. Young cats learn a lot by watching. Moreover, cats emit pheromones that soothe the young and place them in a mental state conducive to education. Kittens who leave the nest too early, so to speak, can develop behavioral challenges. Some common issues are persistent suckling on inanimate objects, social miscues around other cats, the inability to groom adequately, or lack of knowledge about using a litter box or even burying waste at all. Kittens can grow up shy and may deal with their fear through aggression.
Read Also: Kitten Shots And Spaying Cost
Kentucky Humane Society Waives Adoption Fees For Adult Cats And Dogs
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Kentucky Humane Society is hosting an adoption event to find homes for animals and help more animals from the Eastern Kentucky floods.
From Sept. 7 through Sept. 14, KHS will be waiving adoption fees for adult dogs and cats six months old and over, the organization said.
The adoption event will help the organization find loving homes for animals in the shelter and free up space so more animals from Eastern Kentucky can be brought in.
So far, KHS has brought in more than 270 cats, dogs, puppies and kittens from Eastern Kentucky shelters that were affected or damaged in flooding.
Shelters assisted include the Kentucky River Regional Animal Shelter in Hazard, the Floyd County Animal Shelter in Prestonburg and Dumas Rescue in Garrett.
Eastern Kentucky continues to hurt, and the shelters there are desperate, Karen Koenig, Vice President of Animal Welfare at KHS said in a release. We can only transport in more animals if we have space at KHS. If you adopt now, youre helping our state in its time of need, as well as bringing home a loving new family member.
All KHS animals are spayed/neutered, as well as micro-chipped and up-to-date on vaccinations. Adopters within Jefferson County will only have to pay $10.50 for a licensing fee.
KHS said it is also accepting donations to assist in its efforts.
For more information and to see adoptable pets, click or tap here for dogs and here for cats.
Copyright 2022 WAVE. All rights reserved.
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Louisville Metro Animal Services Shelter At Max Capacity Waiving All Adoption Fees
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LOUISVILLE, Ky.
Louisville’s animal shelter needs people to adopt or foster an animal as they struggle to maintain their long-time status as a “no-kill shelter.”
Louisville Metro Animal Services says that it is at max capacity and expects to get more animals over the holiday weekend as fireworks lead to more runaway pets.
The shelter is now waiving all adoption fees for all cats and dogs. It is also waiving redemption fees for unclaimed pets.
“This is going to be a really long weekend for us at the animal shelter,” said LMAS Deputy Director Jerry Foley. “Typically, this is a weekend where we get a lot of animals turned into us because of fireworks or noise, and we’re asking for pet owners to help us out.”
LMAS has sheltered 850 more animals this year compared to last year.
Foley is warning that if it cannot reduce the population its “no-kill” status could be in jeopardy.
Also Check: Fancy Feast Salmon Dry Cat Food
Animal House Adoption Center
Welcome to Animal House, where homeless shelter pets from Louisville Metro Animal Services go to be adopted!
Address: 3516 Newburg Road, Louisville, KY 40218
Phone: 473-7387
- Monday – Noon to 6 p.m.
- Tuesday – Noon to 6 p.m.
- Wednesday – Noon to 6 p.m.
- Thursday – Noon to 6 p.m.
- Friday – Noon to 7 p.m.
- Saturday – Noon to 6 p.m.
- Sunday – Noon to 6 p.m.
Closed Holidays
Fill out our form here.
**Our Animal House facility is strictly for adoptions only. Please no animal surrenders here**
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