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  • 1.  Managing Intake of Lost Kittens (M.I.L.K.) upstart

    Posted 12-05-2022 09:18 AM
    Hi all!
    I am a CVT at a shelter in Tallahassee, FL. 
    Our team is starting a program called MILK (Managing Intake of Lost Kittens).
    The initiative with this program is to lower the intake of kittens in the shelter to maintain their health and wellbeing while also getting individualized care and socialization in the homes of those that have rescued them. There are a few programs like "Wait til 8" that have a similar motto, but the shelter is trying to reduce the amount of kittens we intake. Currently, we are very close to capacity with kittens and adult cats, and infection such as ringworm, upper respiratory infections, etc. are running through the shelter despite our best efforts to contain it. With kitten season coming soon, we hope to launch our program in March of 2023. I am leading the research and development of the program as well as developing the standard operating procedure. I was curious if anyone has a program set up similarly that would like to discuss and trade ideas as far as what our program should detail.
    The goal of this program is to set rescuers up with all of the supplies they need to take care of kittens from newborns-8 week old kittens. The idea is to never have the shelter intake these kittens, and to support the rescuer in finding homes. We have section of our website dedicated to foster adoptions/rehoming animals. I suggested to our team that is starting MILK to have a tab added to our website for people to visit to adopt a kitten directly from our MILK program.
    Any direction with help starting our program will be helpful and I appreciate your time with this matter.
    #AdmissionsandIntake(includingIntake-to-placement)
    #AdoptionsandAdoptionPrograms
    #FosterPrograms
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    Madison Willeford
    Certified Veterinary Technician
    Tallahassee Animal Services
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  • 2.  RE: Managing Intake of Lost Kittens (M.I.L.K.) upstart

    Posted 12-06-2022 07:57 AM




  • 3.  RE: Managing Intake of Lost Kittens (M.I.L.K.) upstart

    Posted 12-06-2022 10:30 AM
    Great idea Madison. I highly recommend checking in with @Melissa Jenkins about the www.operationcatnip.org Kitten Shelter Diversion program. The KSD program provides care for ~1000 kittens per year and compliments the TNR program that is more tailored to adult cats (about 6000 cats/year).

    ABOUT THE KITTEN SHELTER DIVERSION (KSD) PROGRAM

    The Kitten Shelter Diversion is a partnership between Operation Catnip and the caregivers of community cats working together to keep underage kittens out of our crowded shelters and rescues. Born from the mind of our executive director, she felt the desire to create this program after hearing several stories of caregivers who found and socialized community kittens, and who struggled to find affordable spay-neuter resources. These caregivers used Operation Catnip appropriately for the mother cat, but were giving away the kittens to friends and family unaltered. While many of the new owners had every intention of sterilizing their new kittens, it did not always happen, leaving many of these kittens to be turned outdoors, introducing a new breeding population into the area. The Kitten Shelter Diversion Program offers spay-neuter to these kittens, with the goal of empowering caregivers to adopt them out sterilized and age-appropriately vaccinated.


    How is it different from our regular spay-neuter program?
    - Kittens in this program may be altered at 8 weeks of age (and 2 lbs in weight), rather than the minimum 12 weeks of age (3 lbs in weight) required for our regular program. This means caregivers can place kittens in homes as soon as they're sterilized, and while they're extra cute! Kittens up to 4 months of age are eligible for this program.
    - Kittens will be age-appropriately vaccinated. This means they may not receive a Rabies vaccination if they are aged under 12 weeks of age. The adopters of these kittens should establish care with a veterinarian to complete the vaccination series.
    - Kittens in this program are not ear-tipped, provided they will be placed in indoor homes.
    - Kittens in this program are not required to come in humane, live traps. Caregivers may bring the kittens in a secure soft-sided or hard-sided carrier in good condition, and multiple kittens may be transported in one carrier.


    Caregivers in the Kitten Shelter Diversion Program agree to:
    - Bring the mother cat and any other unaltered cats from the area where the kittens were found in for spay-neuter services.
    - House and care for the kittens until they are of age for surgery and adoptive homes are found by the caregiver.
    - Not surrender them to a shelter or rescue organization. Caregivers who find partnership opportunities with local shelters or rescues should immediately discontinue participation in the KSD program and utilize the resources provided by the shelter or rescue organization for spay-neuter. This program is intended to ease the burden on shelters and rescues, and we ask caregivers to seek adoptive homes for kittens through word-of-mouth or other social networks.
    - Socialize the kittens, if needed. KSD kittens must be friendly and easily handled at the time of their spay-neuter graduation.
    - Wait to place the kittens into adoptive homes until they have been sterilized.


    Rescues and other Adoption Programs:
    - The KSD program is specifically meant to divert kittens FROM established shelter and rescue programs. The target audience for this program is individuals from the community who are the main caregivers of the cats in question, not rescues, shelters, or other adoption programs. We are happy to refer rescuers who provide public intake of cats and kittens to partner organizations who do provide low-cost spay-neuter opportunities to adoption programs.

    How to Sign up:

    ***KSD KITTENS CANNOT BE SCHEDULED THROUGH THE ONLINE PORTAL***

    Operation Catnip staff must pre-approve all KSD kittens and litters prior to scheduling. Even if you have brought KSD kittens to us in the past, we need to pre-approve each unique litter or single kitten. Our team will review your responses to some key questions, and will also need to see a recent photo of the kitten(s) in question. Fill out the form below, and our staff will contact you back with next steps and a request for photos via email or text! 
    SIGN UP TO BE A KSD PARTNER



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    Julie Levy
    Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida
    Maddie's Million Pet Challenge
    https://sheltermedicine.vetmed.ufl.edu
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  • 4.  RE: Managing Intake of Lost Kittens (M.I.L.K.) upstart

    Posted 12-06-2022 11:16 AM
    Hi Madison! As Dr. Levy says, we run a program nearly identical to this called Kitten Shelter Diversion (KSD). (I LOVE your acronym MILK and I'm jealous!!) We hit our 1,000th KSD kitten of 2022 early this fall, so it's a very robust program now (6 years in) and I'd be happy to trade ideas and maybe save you some headaches! Feel free to email me at Melissa.Jenkins@ocgainesville.org if you like!

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    Melissa Jenkins
    Operation Catnip
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  • 5.  RE: Managing Intake of Lost Kittens (M.I.L.K.) upstart

    Posted 12-07-2022 06:21 AM

    Hey Melissa!

    Thanks so much for your reply! I just emailed you with the outline for our program. Thanks so much for reaching out. I'm looking forward to hearing from you!



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    Madison Willeford
    Certified Veterinary Technician
    Tallahassee Animal Services
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