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Kitten influx at SPCA By Jaime Pitt-MacKay Jaime.p@theguardian.co.nz
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Ashburton SPCA Centre staff are continuing to see a large number of cats and kittens come through their doors this kitten season. So far this season 188 animals have come through the centre, with most being adopted out, including five in one day. “There was a family who took home three kittens at once which is pretty amazing,” centre manager Rebecca Dobson said. While adoption numbers have been good, Dobson said they are still in need of more foster parents to home the cats until they are ready for adoption. The centre had one cat handed in that
was so unwell it was unable to move, but luckily through vet treatment and a foster stay, he has now made a full recovery. Barnaby (above) arrived at the centre two weeks ago, virtually unresponsive, hypothermic, covered in lice and emaciated, only weighing 570 grams. “The team at Vetlife didn’t give up on him and did an incredible job over the next few days to get him to the point where he could go into foster,” Dobson said. “He was still unable to walk at this point, so it was a pretty intense job for our foster parent, but seeing how he was before and how he is now, two weeks later weighing 1kg, is just incredible. This is why fostering saves lives.”
The SPCA is still looking to expand its team of foster parents who look after the animals prior to them being made available for adoption. Foster parents are important as they allow the cats to learn life skills and what it is like to live in a home environment and be around people before they are adopted out. Sick cats will still generally be taken through to Christchurch to receive treatment, but most cats will find themselves in the quarantine centre before either being moved out to foster before being adopted out or will head straight to adoption. The adoption centre is based at the SPCA’s Range Street office, while the quarantine facility is located offsite.
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