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Photos by Kate Karp, unless indicated otherwise.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWell, we just learn by doing\u201d is something parents sometimes say, and it could also be a bumper sticker for animal rescuers. Particularly bottle-feeders for newborn kittens. Just ask Claudia Marie, founder of The Little Lion Foundation<\/a>, a nonprofit organization whose ultimate goal is to open a neonatal nursery for newborn kittens.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no specific rescue that makes bottle-feeding their function,\u201d Marie said.<\/p>\n Little Lion is a family affair that consists of Marie, her daughter Jessica and her niece Amanda. The family element no doubt feeds into the group\u2019s nurturing attitude toward bottle-feeding the little newborns, which they indeed learned by doing and also by taking clues from the experts at Stray Cat Alliance<\/a>, which has a strong community-cat presence in the area, and from those at Zoey\u2019s Place<\/a>, a small, local feline rescue. Marie volunteered for both organizations.<\/p>\n After trudging after the cats and bringing them all back home, Marie found that she quite enjoyed rescuing. She especially liked the Pygmalion effect on the neonatals who survived the period of uncertainty\u2014yes, it\u2019s not all cuteness and catnip mice\u2014 as they grew out of their fuzzballhood into sleek pets in waiting. So she lassoed her family and began The Little Lion Foundation in 2015, achieving nonprofit status in 2016, to further giving a chance for kittens with a tenuous hold on life to turn into contented cats. Because, as the organization\u2019s motto states, \u201cevery cat deserves to roar.\u201d So far, the organization has empowered 300 miniature kings and queens of the beasts.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reason we want to care for [newborns] is that there are so many thousands of them being killed,\u201d Marie said. \u201cIt\u2019s heartbreaking\u2014they\u2019re the highest-killed population of animals across America. People overlook cats, but they can give back so much.\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, Marie and her family so much enjoy waking up several times at night to feed their furry little charges and chewing off their fingernails through the tribulations of newborn feline development that they\u2019ve decided to invite us to join them. On Monday, August 14 from 6:00PM to 8:00PM at the Veterans Park Community Center (see graphic for address and details), The Little Lion Foundation, in partnership with Pet Food Express<\/a>, Long Beach Animal Care Services<\/a>, and Helen Sanders CatPAWS<\/a>\u00a0\u2013another cat-welfare organization that has saved countless lives of felines of all ages\u2014will host the \u201cSaving Kittens Workshop and Kitten Shower.\u201d Tickets are $10.<\/p>\n Attendees will learn about not only the sweat and tears involved in neonatal rescue but also the rewards and ultimate joys. And help is sorely needed, especially during the throes of kitten season when an increasing number of litters shows up at the shelter or behind bushes, in trash cans, in parking lots and other locations that are no place for kittens. The Little Lion and other rescues and rescuers are overextended and need help from us.<\/p>\n \u201cI think mostly it\u2019s the lack of community education and TNR programs,\u201d Marie said. \u201cLong Beach has a pretty good [TNR program\u2014trap, neuter and release], but there aren\u2019t enough people in the community to help. We\u2019re so underserved\u2014thousands of kittens are killed every year.\u201d<\/p>\n The workshop will educate everyone about all aspects of fostering orphan kittens. The agenda is as follows:<\/p>\n Attendees are requested but not obligated to bring \u201cshower gifts\u201d of items specifically for baby cats: KMR powdered formula<\/a>, Nulo chicken canned food, baby blankets and, of course, kitten toys\u2014what baby just wants food and blankies?<\/p>\n Sample of a kitten’s layette. Don’t forget the stuffed toy.<\/em><\/p>\n Kitten Lady, known otherwise as Hannah Shaw, will be the main attraction at the workshop. Shaw is a combination of moggie maven and inked-up 1940s pinup girl. Watching one of her videos is an experience, both entertainment- and education-wise (check the videos on her website<\/a>\u00a0\u2014they\u2019re like nothing you\u2019ve ever seen. Words alone don\u2019t do them justice).<\/p>\n Kitten Lady, aka Hannah Shaw. Photo courtesy of Kitten Lady.<\/em><\/p>\n Marie has used several of the videos at all of the kitten-bottle-feeding workshops that she holds free of charge about once a month in different Long Beach locations, in tandem with Helen Sanders CatPAWS. She\u2019s tickled as pink as a cat\u2019s paw pads to have Kitten Lady partnering at the workshop.<\/p>\n \u201cKitten Lady is our model\u2014she\u2019s our go-to gal,\u201d Marie said. \u201cShe speaks our language.\u201d<\/p>\n Education is one of the best ways to reach people, along with social media, Marie said. She feels that there are a lot of people who\u2019d help if they knew what to do, and her classes and workshops lay it out and make it as convenient as possible. A lot of good fosters and feeders have come out of the classes, and people already fostering cats are coming to find out how to bottle-feed. The DIY Kitten Care Kits, developed by Helen Sanders CatPAWS in 2006 in an effort to increase the number of bottle feeders and surviving kittens, add a high level of convenience. Each kit contains a SnuggleSafe warming disk (critical because tiny kittens cannot regulate body temp); a can of powdered formula to reconstitute into liquid and bottles to put it in, a small fleece blanket, and a kitten-care guide to explain the whole process. It\u2019s all contained in a sturdy plastic container that can serve double duty as a kitten bathtub. Yes, they\u2019ll need baths, too!<\/p>\n The kit also includes information on how to obtain a free spay\/neuter voucher when the kitten\u2019s old enough for the procedure. Marie stresses that fixing the cats is obligatory to stop the cycle. Kittens can go into heat as young as 6 months and can have on average five kittens themselves. Do the math\u2014there aren\u2019t enough Kitten Kits to serve that population.<\/p>\n DYI Kitten Kit provided by Helen Sanders CatPAWS. Definitely a starter kit, if the spirit’s there.<\/em><\/p>\n If rescues like The Little Lion were paid in coin for their work, Marie could retire tomorrow, but she probably wouldn\u2019t. She loves her profession as a substance abuse counselor, and Marie works cats into therapy. The cats aren\u2019t adopted out of her business\u2014just held to provide relaxation and stress relief for her clients.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s so much fun to have men cuddle kittens,\u201d Marie said.<\/p>\n Marie would like to start her neonatal nursery at the shelter, but she said that it\u2019s been next to impossible to make it happen\u2014\u201clike talking to a brick wall,\u201d with all the red tape involved.<\/p>\n \u201cA kitten nursery is our end goal, whether it\u2019s in shelter or not,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n And all shelters, she added, should have an adequate foster program.<\/p>\n Marie and her family caution that bottle-feeding, fostering and adoption shouldn\u2019t be looked at as a fun hobby or a noble thing to. It takes heart, and there\u2019s always heartbreak involved.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople think, these little kittens are so cute\u2014they\u2019re going to be adopted right away,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd they\u2019re not\u2014it\u2019s a harsh reality.\u201d<\/p>\n And not all the kittens live. Rescuers mourn over kittens who, even with all the love and care given to them, don\u2019t make it. Jessica once took in a litter of three blind kittens. Two of them died, and it broke her heart.<\/p>\n \u201cBut one survived\u2014Daenerys,\u201d she said. \u201cShe got an amazing home. It\u2019s wonderful knowing that we save the ones who need us the most. My most memorable experiences aren\u2019t the sad ones\u2014they\u2019re watching the ones who would have gotten killed go to wonderful families and make them whole. I never thought that rescue would be so rewarding. There\u2019s a lot of bad in rescue, but I find myself tearing up at the good.\u201d<\/p>\n Marie sees a brighter future for newborns. Many local and national organizations are bringing projects like hers and CatPAWS\u2019 to light: ASPCA<\/a>, Stray Cat Alliance<\/a>, and Best Friends<\/a>. And hopefully, a growing caring community.<\/p>\n As my niece Amanda frankly put it, \u201cTell everyone to take care of the cats and not count on us to do it!\u201d<\/p>\n Please join us and become part of the community in one way or another. Tickets are only $10 and are available here<\/a><\/strong>. <\/strong><\/p>\n Kitten Lady will also be speaking at CatCon this weekend, August 12 and 13. Information is available here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Kitten](\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Kitten_workshop.jpg\")
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