SPCA needs foster parents to bottle feed newborn kittens

The Wellington SPCA is calling for foster parents who can bottle feed kittens for them.

Kitten season has begun and many of the animals turning up to the SPCA are orphans, central region general manager Ros Alsford said.

They need people to care for the kittens, and in return the SPCA will provide any food, cages, bedding, toys, and medicine they might night, as well as training for anyone who hasn't bottle fed kittens before.

"We certainly need people that are prepared to open their homes to our very young and vulnerable animals," Alsford said.

"These people ideally would be people that stay at home, that have got time to feed the animals on a four-hourly basis."

They need feeding during the night as well, she said.

"It's like having a newborn baby in the house."

While the occasional puppy does need a foster, it is mainly kittens that need foster homes at the moment.

"We provide absolutely everything," Alsford said.

"Our foster families literally just provide a nice, warm, loving environment."

People who fostered for the SPCA "provide a huge benefit".

Alsford said it was a "big ask" to get fosterers to wake every four hours to feed the kittens, but said the amount of support it provided to the SPCA was "just absolutely huge".

"We seriously can't survive without our fosterers."

Anyone who decided to foster would be able to gain insight into what it takes to care for such a young animal, would get an appreciation for what the SPCA does, and would be able to watch a kitten grow up into a loving pet which could then go off to a new home.

"That in itself is such a reward to see."

People interested in fostering can contact their local SPCA to apply.