Taylors Rehoming Centre, RSPCA West Dorset Branch is an animal rehoming charity based in Dorset, England. The charity takes in, treats and cares for local animals in need, and finds them new forever homes. The majority of animals at the centre comprises of cats and every year the centre is filled with an influx of kittens needing our help – some requiring hand rearing.
The Brinsea TLC-40 Eco incubators have been a real lifeline to kittens at Taylors, helping many orphaned newborns thrive and grow into healthy cats. Neonatal kittens are unable to regulate their body temperature and lack body fat to keep them warm. They are also very fragile and unstable in the first few weeks of life. Having access to an incubator in the first 3-4 weeks of life is extremely beneficial in increasing their likelihood of survival.
For neonatal kittens without a mum and littermates to snuggle up to, they can become hypothermic fast, so an effective, stable heat source is needed to keep them warm. The ability to gradually increase or decrease the temperature of incubators has also been indispensable in kittens with a low body temperature that required a gradual increase in temperature. Alternatively, being able to gradually decrease temperatures down to 23/4 °C from 30 °C has been useful when adjusting kittens to temperatures outside of the incubator before they move into their kitten cage.
Keeping warm is so vital for kittens. A chilled kitten cannot digest milk, will not feed and if hypothermic will experience a decreased respiration and heart rate and impaired immune function. Over the past 5 years we have hand reared 37 kittens, with a survival rate of 84%. The Brinsea incubator gives neonatal kittens the best shot at survival, keeping them warm so they can feed well and gain weight. The incubator has a transparent front so kittens can easily be observed and checked on without needing to open the incubator. Staff often comment on how cosy and comfortable kittens look in the incubator, snuggled up in soft blankets. Many of our orphaned kittens are here today thanks to the Brinsea TLC-40 incubator and we wouldn’t be without it!
Hannah Burt
Taylors Rehoming Centre, RPSCA West Dorset Branch
