Neonatal Kitten Rescue Hobart
Neonatal Kitten Rescue Hobart is a small foster based kitten rescue in Tasmania, Australia. It was started by a group of foster carers who wanted to give neonatal kittens the same chance of survival as their older counterparts. Tasmania historically euthanised any kitten under 400g in cat management facilities.
‘We started with a Facebook page and basic equipment and some big-hearted people. We reached out to any experts who would answer our questions. One of those people was Ellen Carozza of ‘The Cat LVT’ fame on Instagram. Her four-word response to our first over-enthusiastic message was, ‘Y’all need an incubator.’
So, we got one. A Brinsea TLC-40 Advance with a humidity pump and we haven’t looked back. A generous donor bought us two more and a big donation from a soon to be director bought another. Further donations mean we now have six incubators, two TLC-50’s and four TLC-40’s and we have two TLC-30 travel incubators; one we use for rescue and the second to transport critical new-borns to and from the vet. We have found that humidity is vital, especially for preemies and in the first week. It’s great to be able to get humidity to 55% and that can be useful with kittens with flu and upper respiratory symptoms. All six of our incubators have Brinsea humidity pumps
Our results with incubators actually exceed a mother cat’s ability to raise kittens, with a 93% survival rate in our first year. Weight gains are off the chart, exceeding what is expected such that kittens usually make de-sex weight by the time they are 7 weeks old. They love the incubator, commonly sleeping on their back with their legs in the air. These hand-raised kittens are very relaxed, human oriented kittens that make great pets. We also use the incubators for sick older kittens. We have saved many a fading kitten as putting them back in the incubator to regulate their temperature saves a lot of effort and speeds up recovery.
All kittens receive two vaccinations and flea and worm treatment and are microchipped and de-sexed before adoption. We have rescued 80 neonatal kittens since we registered as a charity on 16.04.2019’
Tanya Monaghan, Gabrielle Peacock & Tanya Parker
Bronson, a tiny neonatal kitten
Follow them on Facebook @neonatalkittenrescuehobart or Instagram @NKRHTasmania
Visit their website: www.neonatalkittenrescue.com
