The Patti Dale animal shelter has kittens.
Furry ones, funny ones, rough and tumble kinds, talkers, and lap lovers, purring machines a plenty — all ready to go to a loving and permanent home.
According to animal shelter manager Sean Baker, they have around 100 cats right now, and 70 of those are adorable kittens.
Meet Mavis, Squeaky (pictured), Ruby, Pixel and Kitten Potamus. The siblings, currently living at the PetsMart in Abbotsford — which has partnered to be an adoption centre— are ready for adoption.
All the kittens that come to the shelter are strays, most arriving at the doorstep of LAPS in a box.
“We have not as many bottle feeders this year so that’s good. That is the most challenging age group from zero to three weeks old,” said Baker.
“They have to be fed every couple hours by bottle. We are not here through the night so we rely on a good team of foster homes.
“When a microwave box arrives at our door and it doesn’t have a microwave inside, we know to give a foster parent a call.”
LAPS is able to fix kittens at 2.2 pounds or 10 weeks now, much earlier than in previous years. This allows the kittens to be adopted much earlier.
The exploding cat population problem hasn’t been solved, said Baker.
“We are continuing on with or spay and neuter program and we think that is helping,” he said.
Now they offer 20 free vouchers a month and those vouchers are gone by the first week.
“They are making use of them but I think it is an indication of the sheer number of cats out there,” Baker said.
Many kittens coming to the shelter are born to a feral mother.
“If we can get them in the early stage we can socialize them with a high degree of success.
But after 13 weeks and older they are hard to socialize.”
Most cat litters produce six to 12 kittens.
For feral adult cats, they are usually released back to where they came from after being fixed, he said.
They can never be socialized, sadly.
“We have a two per cent return to owner rate for cats and 87 per cent return to owner for dogs,” Baker pointed out.
If you are looking to add a kitten to your family or a more mature cat, visit LAPS to see the many kittens that are currently looking for homes.
All of their kittens have been spayed or neutered, have first vaccines, have been defleaed and dewormed, and come with a four pound bag of food and six weeks of pet insurance.
The cost for adoption is $200.
Baker said for some that may seem like a lot but a free kitten that hasn’t had a vet check or been fixed costs a lot more.
Every day we take a dozen reports of lost cats, usually because they don’t have ID.
To view the kittens visit the LAPS website at lapsbc.ca or in person at the Patti Dale Animal Shelter.
It is open seven days a week from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. If you have any questions call 604-857-5055.