Call for foster parents as SPCA prepares for a busy kitten season

The first litter of kittens arrived at the Invercargill Centre in late August, followed by Dunedin and Auckland’s Mangere Centre.

Invercargill Centre Manager, Felicity Williams said a queen (mother cat), Buttercup arrived on 29 August via Inspectorate surrender. Her babies were born at the Centre early in the morning on 1 September.

“They were still being born when staff arrived for work that day. She had six healthy babies: two boys and four girls, Mojo, Jojo, Bubbles, Blossom, Sparkle, and Sprinkle.

“Before coming into our care, Buttercup had previously had two litters that sadly passed away. We wanted to make sure she had a safe, calm, and stress-free environment this time for her babies.”

SPCA later collected three kittens from a vet clinic in Gore who no longer had a mum and placed them with Buttercup and her litter, who accepted them beautifully.

With this only being the beginning of the season, SPCA CEO Todd Westwood is urgently calling for fosters to help support the animal Centres as much as possible.

“With so many kittens expected over the next six months, it’s critical that we have space in our Centres to be able to take in more animals. We really rely on our foster network to provide short-term care.”

SPCA provides everything that foster carers need, including food, bedding, toys, and medicine if required – all costs are covered by SPCA. All the fosterer needs is time and the ability to transport animals to and from the Centre for appointments.

“Fostering is vital to a kitten’s growth and well-being, as it helps their confidence levels grow, and gives them the opportunity to socialise, play and learn, all while in a safe, caring, nurturing environment.”

When it comes to how long an animal spends in foster, Todd says SPCA Centre teams are flexible.

“It can be anywhere from a weekend, up to a few months – whatever works for the foster parent. It’s always good for them to spend a decent amount of time in foster care as it really helps to build confidence and trust, but we know that kiwis have busy lives too, and we appreciate any foster time is valuable time.”

“And it is not just kittens needing fostering – we have lots of dogs, small animals and farm animals looking for foster homes too.”

You can view foster opportunities and sign up via our site.