UPCOMING EVENTS
Our APPlications
Read more about our processes and apply for one of our adoptable pets!
Get Involved
We cant do what we do without our selfless community! Learn more about how you can make a difference too!
About us
Learn more about who we are and what we do!
TIPS and tricks
Educate yourself and the whole family before adding another furry family member!
ANNOUNCEMENTS
IT IS KITTEN SEASON
If you have questions about kittens you have found, a stray cat you need help trapping and other TNR related situations, please do not hesitate to email us at TNR@aarflove.org. We will do our best to help or point you in the right direction.
If you find kittens without a mother cat present, don't immediately assume the kittens are orphans or have been abandoned! If the kittens are in a safe spot, observe quietly from a distance; at least 35 feet or more away. If the kittens are clean and content, chances are that their mom is just out hunting for her own food and will be back within a few hours. She may also be in the process of moving them and is often the case when people find small, single kittens outside. Mom may even be watching you from a distance waiting to safely return to her nest. Another way to see if mom is still around is to sprinkle flour around the nest of kittens. You can then check back in a few hours to see if there are paw prints detected.
Do not leave food for mom near her kittens. She purposely hides her kittens away from food sources as she knows that food attracts other cats and predators.
Do NOT take pre-weaned kittens from their nests. Pre-weaned kittens (under 4 weeks of age) are difficult to care for and have a higher mortality rate. They often fail to thrive without their mother and they really have a much better chance of survival staying with their mom until they are old enough to be weaned. Please don’t steal kittens from nests. You may think you are doing a good deed but how heartbreaking for the mom cat to return to find her babies gone. Please let her care for them. Healthy babies can usually wait 4-6 hours for mom to return.
If mom doesn’t come back after several hours or if the kittens look sickly or are in immediate danger, please reach out for assistance. Please reach out to us for advice before extracting kittens. You can reach us at info@aarflove.org or by private message from our Facebook page. We have experienced volunteers ready to advise and assist.
If you decide to take them in and care for them yourself, please note what is required:
WARMTH AND FIRST AID FIRST! Never feed a chilled kitten as they cannot digest food when they are cold and can go into shock and die! Warm them up slowly using body heat, if possible (place them inside your shirt, next to your warm skin). Check for illness or injury and if covered in fleas, use a flea comb to remove them. Please note that neonatal kittens are much more at risk of hypothermia than they are of starvation so please keep kittens warm (not hot) at all times.
FEEDING: Never feed a kitten cow’s milk! Kittens younger than 6 weeks old must have kitten formula (kitten milk replacer) and kitten food! Kittens younger than 4 weeks old will need to be bottle fed warm formula 4-6 times in a 24 hour period!
LITTERBOX: Kittens younger than 4 weeks old need help urinating and cannot do it by themselves! Stimulate their bottoms to make them urinate by gently rubbing their bottoms with a damp tissue or cotton ball before and after each feeding. A full bladder is painful and your kitten could die without this step!
Later in the season, you may find kittens with their eyes opened and playing around outside of the nest and active or running around. Those kittens are likely old enough to extract but before doing so, you should reach out to AARF or another cat rescue organization so the mom cat can be trapped and spayed so she doesn’t continue to have more litters. When we help babies, it’s important to help their mother as well. Her health and well being matter too and TNR is the only way to stop additional unwanted litters.
Thank you to everyone that cares about our community’s cats and looks out for them. We are here to help so please reach out to us if needed.
~ the AARF Team
Want more info on how to care for kittens if you do take them in? There are great instructional videos available on kittenlady.org. In addition, all the local rescue groups and shelters are always looking for foster families to add to their kitten care team and they can help you learn. Considering becoming a foster to help save precious lives here in our community.
Our Mission:
Healing Hearts, Fresh Starts.
We are a 501(c)3 non-profit all volunteer rescue organization focused on physically rescuing and reuniting lost/found animals within our community. We provide medical assistance and care to the injured, abused, neglected, abandoned and underaged animals. We also rescue at-risk animals from local shelters. For the animals that come into our rescue, they are placed in safe, nurturing foster homes to prepare them for adoption. We are dedicated to match each and every animal with the very best forever home.
Join Our Community
Foster
Becoming a foster family is one of the most rewarding ways that you can make a difference in a pet’s life. In order to keep rescuing, we need foster homes to provide safe and loving environments until a forever home is found for our animals. Since we do not have a facility, the number of animals we have at any given time is a direct reflection of how many foster families are available. Having our animals in foster homes, gives them the love and attention they deserve as well as gives them the care they may need physically and/or emotionally. We love our animals and want them to be as happy as possible before their destined owner finds them.
Volunteer
We are constantly looking for volunteers for various tasks.
Transporting animals from one foster parent to another, driving pets to vet visits, or picking up supplies
Help clean and maintain crates and traps
Assist with special events
Community Outreach
Administrative help such as records and social media
To apply to be a volunteer please fill out the form below and let us know what you’d like to help with and your availability.
Additional Ways to Help
Our organization assists all animals in our community. Without support this would not be possible.
Give a monetary charitable donation through our website - many donation platforms such as PayPal, Venmo, Zeffy and Zelle are available.
Purchase an item from our Amazon Foster Wishlist here to help our fostered animals
Purchase an item from our Amazon Kitten Playroom Wishlist here to help make our adoption center comfortable and fun for our adoptable kittens.
Donate new or gently used and cleaned blankets or pet beds to keep our fostered pets warm and cozy.
Spread the word, and let us know if you ever see an animal in our community in need
Join our Facebook community and participate in helping the animals
