As kitten season continues through summer, here are a few self-paced courses and webcasts, designed to make your life easier, all available on Maddie’s^® University.

Self-paced courses

Building Foster Programs for Cats and Kittens
Your community’s capacity to care for cats and kittens depends heavily on your organization’s foster programs. The cat program at Austin Pets Alive! started using only foster caregivers; there was no brick and mortar facility for cats. Now APA! has between 400 and 1,200 cats and kittens in foster care at any given time, with 1,100 cat foster homes active annually.

Caring for Orphaned Kittens
This course is designed to give caregivers the essential information they need to help orphaned kittens thrive. It should be useful to both seasoned foster parents and those just getting started saving lives.  Videos and other materials cover the initial examination, bottle feeding, stimulating the kitten to defecate, bathing, transitioning to solid foods, and administering probiotics.

Webcasts

Recruit, Re-engage, Renew: How to place more pets into foster homes right now!
In this webcast, you’ll learn how to create a culture of fostering in your community and discover several strategies for placing more pets in foster (hint: recruitment is just one of them!). You’ll learn what the latest market research says about messaging and techniques that can turn potential fosters into applicants, how short-term foster programs can help you find the fosters and adopters you need, and how organizations with the most robust foster programs are building their foster base.

HASS: It’s Raining Cats and Kittens: How to Save More Feline Lives This Kitten Season
Our Q&A-style panel includes Peter Wolf, Senior Strategist for Shelter and Community Research at Best Friends Animal Society; Monica Tarant, Chief Innovation Officer: Feline Lifesaving at Cincinnati Animal CARE with the Give Them Ten Movement; Danielle Bays, Senior Analyst for Cat Protection and Policy, the Humane Society of the United States; Marnie Russ, National Kitten College Program Administrator at the Animal Welfare League of Arlington and Co-Founder of the National Kitten Coalition; and Neil Hay, Senior Director of Operations at Austin Pets Alive!. Vincent Medley, Director of Human Animal Support Services, moderated.

Kitten Intake Decisions in Animal Shelters
Dr. Kate Hurley and Hannah Shaw, a.k.a. the Kitten Lady, discuss new intake philosophies and management models that prioritize kittens’ safety, community engagement and keeping feline families together. Plus! Find out about the industry powerhouses that are stepping up to support you in your next chapter of kitten lifesaving.

Source: Chew On This