Saturday, June 14, 2014

Meanwhile, over in the Kitten Nursery . . .

Regular readers of my blog know that my daughter Clara and I have been volunteering at the local humane society for about a year, mainly walking and socializing dogs. And that, over the last several weeks, we started volunteering in the kitten nursery.
We take care of teeny, tiny kittens 3-6 weeks old who don't have a mom and who need help being fed and learning to eat. We also socialize them and tend to their general care.
Once they leave the nursery, they usually go to foster care for a few weeks and get "fixed" before returning to the Humane society to be put up for adoption.
I would never have started to volunteer at the Humane Society, if it weren't for Clara's need to do "community service" for high school, her insistence that she do her hours there, and the need for under-16 year olds to have a parent partner. And, it makes me wonder whether others do volunteer work and what your experience has been. When we first moved to our current community, I did volunteer work in the "well baby" clinic for the public health department. I weighed and measured babies and did some light translation. Once we had children, I devoted my volunteer hours to working in the schools, first in the classroom and then helping to support their sports teams. 
And now I find myself helping motherless kittens get strong enough to find a loving home. We recently got an email that over 100 kittens have come through the nursery, and we're starting to see our first graduates going up for adoption. That's 100 little souls that have been saved through the good work of volunteers. I feel privileged to be one of them.

17 comments:

Lesley G said...

I'm not a cat person but these little ones are so cute and you both do a grand job!

Amy said...

Oh for the love of cute! They are such adorable little creatures.

We volunteer in the kids' school in the classrooms, on the working bee/maintenance committee and in the scout movement - TE is our local group leader. We're very child focused at the moment but I suppose that's an age thing.

helena said...

I'm so impressed that community service is part of the school curriculum. At the moment I'm volunteering at events but looking for a more regular volunteer role

scrappyjacky said...

I did a lot of classroom volunteering when the kids were little.
Am loving your kitten nursery posts....they really are so cute when little...sadly in southern Europe there are a lot of feral cats roaming free....and they definately aren't cute.

Susanne said...

Oh they are the sweetest kittens ever!

Janet Ghio said...

These kittens are absolutely adorable. What wonderful work you are doing helping these little babies.

Jimjams said...

It's a good job that there's no kitten nursery near me - I'd be bringing them ALL home!

Linda said...

Gorgeous phtos of cute kittens! I have done a lot of volunteering over the years. At the moment I am volunteering for Citizens Advice Bureau. I do quite fancy volunteering for the Dogs TRust at some time in the future.

Jo Murray said...

So cute! I guess it's rewarding, and heartbreaking. It would be hard to see some of these kittens not find a home.

Lou said...

aren't they the cutest x

Lou said...

aren't they the cutest x

Karen said...

I love cats, but I'm the only one here who feels that way. I would have a very hard time not taking one of these cuties home.

Kokopelli said...

I think volunteering is absolutely neccessary in every society. And yes, I do, being an archery instructor for kids and adults. BTW, how are your chickens? I thought of you at once when I saw the hen lace. Thanks for your kind comment!

Miriam said...

Oh I would be hopeless at a Kitten rescue place I would rescue them all to my house. Yes I've done lots of volunteering over the years.

Deb @ PaperTurtle said...

It's so sweet that you and Clara do that, Rinda! That little calico in the last photo gets me every time!

Melissa said...

Cute photos! I think it's wonderful that the two of you are volunteering together. I've done lots of volunteering over the years & was just thinking the other day that it's time to get back to it now that I'm feeling healthier (than last year)!

sheila 77 said...

I want to rush over to whereever you live and rescue one of these kittens right now. Maybe the ginger one or the last one, they are mega-adorable. That's a great job you are doing.