Like the cats it literally spawns, kitten season springs out at us unawares instead of waiting patiently around the corner, like birthdays or the last day of school, when we used to have school. It’s here now, in fact—hundreds and thousands of kittens will soon be born everywhere unaltered dams drop them—parks, trash bins, under your house, and if you have an unspayed female at home and she’s accessible to an equally equipped male, in your socks drawer or laundry basket.

Lifeboats to the ready! Very little that’s jolly about kitten season

Litters of kittens are brought to shelters frequently, sometimes nursing on their mother and other times scooped up by well-meaning humans who erroneously think the mother has abandoned them. Those motherless kittens are fragile and would die without care.

We’re lucky in Long Beach to have a number of rescue groups and single fosters willing and eager to bottle-feed the kittens and get them doctored, spayed or neutered, and finally adopted when the time comes. One group in particular just received a grant from Best Friends Animal Society, a Utah-based organization that has grown far above its grassroots to become nationally recognized by its effort to save the lives of every animal who would otherwise be euthanized in shelters. Their sponsored Rachael Ray Save Them All grant will help The Little Lion Foundation extend its pawprint outside its area of operation—Long Beach and its shelter—to about 14 other cities in Los Angeles and Orange counties. “As if we didn’t have enough to do” is not in Little Lions’ vocabulary.

Little Lion was established in 2016 as an all-volunteer team. In that relatively short period, the organization has saved over 3,000 tiny lives in Long Beach by pulling newborns from the shelter at Long Beach Animal Care Services, no matter their condition, and sacrificing sleep to bottle-feed, medicate and make vet appointments for them. Most of the kittens they pull grow up to be healthy, happy cats and go to furever homes. Kittens afflicted by blindness, trauma, physical deformities and physical disabilities also grow up to be otherwise healthy, happy cats and go to furever homes or fosters. The grant will enable the group to pull kittens from Southeast Area Animal Control and Authority (SEACCA) in Downey. SEACCA, like Long Beach Animal Care Services, serves multiple cities—14 to Long Beach’s five. Whatever may be the comparable square footage of both sets of cities or the number of stray felines per square, this area represents another heck of a lot of kittens brought to that shelter. Now, Little Lion can save many of them, too.

“This grant allows us to add SEAACA to our work,” said Claudia Otis, founder of The Little Lion Foundation. “Our goal will be to save approximately 600 neonatal kittens from euthanasia during 2021. We appreciate the support of Best Friends Animal Society in making this SEAACA partnership possible.”

tiny kitten with black maske and body and white face with big black diamond on nose sits wedged between a white blanket and an orange sofa cushion, staring at camera.
Penguin was the first neonatal kitten that Little Lion pulled from SEAACA this year through the Rachel Ray grant. “As with most SoCal shelters, SEAACA is only taking in sick, injured and unweaned kittens at this time,” Otis said. “This grant will help us to provide every kitten with what they need, like little Penguin, who came to us with a pretty bad URI but is all healed up now. He’s currently in a foster home and is thriving. He will be available for adoption once he gets a little bigger and is fixed.” Photo courtesy of The LIttle LIon Foundation.

 

As with efforts in Long Beach, 100% of the grant money augmented by donations to Little Lion (which you can make here) will fund medical care, vaccines, dewormer, flea meds, newborn formula, food and everything else that fragile little lives need so that, as Little Lions say, they’ll be able to roar. The main need, love, is priceless, and the volunteers provide that for free until they go home and get it from their forever hoomins.

Become a Little Lion Warrior through bottle-feeding, fostering, tending to the Little Paws Nursery or otherwise volunteering. Inquire at this link.

Oh, got cats already or know someone who does? Please be sure to spay or neuter them, too. That’s a huge help.

Virtually pets

Want to share your den with a Little Lion alumnus or alumna? Here are a few of them. Read about the adoption process here. Then, make your appointment!

Sealpoint Siamese cat sits tall in front of a green curtain
Balloon, 9 months old, is a curious, curvaceous queen. She is always first to investigate the newest thing and will observe cautiously if she’s nervous. After naps, she runs to her human friend to demand pets, making cute little chirping sounds. She loves getting vigorous exercise twice a day; it helps her keep her squishy tummy from growing bigger! She isn’t the biggest fan of doggies. Balloon is vaccinated and spayed.

 

tabby-patch cat with white chest and legs stares seriously into camera. She has a feather toy clutched in her paws.
Thelma has a serious face but a playful nature! She’s obsessed with cuddles, love and pets! All human attention needs to be hers. She will chase after you, carrying her plastic toy spring in her mouth to play fetch, and then jump onto your lap to get chin scratches. Thelma is a very high-energy 8-month-old kitten who needs an equally energetic feline playmate as much as she needs loving humans!

 

fuzzy little gray-striped cat looks longingly in camera. She sits on a gray floor.
Kirby came to Little Lion as a tiny kitten with head trauma that resulted in her going blind. Despite this, she is a curious, playful and cuddly girl! Kirby loves to jump around with her feline friends and spends her days exploring new things. She loves climbing her cat tree, and you will often find her tiptoeing around the house. Kirby is a silly girl that will keep you smiling forever and will definitely brighten any home. She’s 10 months old and ready to go home!

 

white cat with black head mask and tail looks into camera, sitting on white surface.
Consider Elizabeth! She’s 1 year old and a little shy at first, but once she warms up, she’s your new best friend! She can go home as an only cat or into a home with other friendly cats.

 

Help wanted, help given

smiling woman in sunglasses, cap and a lot of tattoos holds her brown dog. Red pop-up and volunteer in background
One of Fix Long Beach’s grateful clients and his human at at a Fix Long Beach clinic held at the beach near Bixby Park and sponsored a couple of summers ago by councilwomen Suzie Price and Suja Lowenthal.

Fix Long Beach now open: Wednesday–Saturday, 1749 Magnolia Ave, Long Beach, services available by appointment at www.fixlongbeachpets.com.

Fix Long Beach has reopened in a permanent location and is taking appointments for low-cost spay/neuter, dental, vaccines and other vet needs for cats and dogs. Visit their webpage or Facebook page for details.

Feline Good Social Club needs willing subjects for its bewhiskered nobility

Feline Good Social Club has opened and is running and knocking things off shelves. The cat curators would love some volunteers for their furry residents. Want to be part of a kowtowing staff to cats, because cats expect it? Email [email protected].

DIY Kitten Care Kits available free at Long Beach Animal Care Services

Kitten season has begun, and soon, shelters and rescues will be scrambling to save their lives, get them fixed, get them adopted. It isn’t unusual to find nests of young, seemingly abandoned kittens during kitten season. If you are interested in obtaining a Kitten Care Kit made possible by Helen Sanders CatPAWS, please email [email protected].

Spay/neuter vouchers available at shelter

Long Beach Animal Care Services has spay/neuter vouchers available. They’ll take a healthy nip out of the cost of a procedure. Residents of any of the five cities served by the shelter can telephone the general number at 562-570–7387 to request a voucher.

 Spay/neuter appointments are available at SNP/LA

The Spay/Neuter Project of Los Angeles (SNP/LA) is back in business for free and low-cost spay/neuter services, and they’re extending the hours of their vaccination clinics. The San Pedro clinic, located at 957 N. Gaffey St., will give shots every third Thursday between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. Call 310-574–5555 to see if you qualify for services.

If you can see the bottom of the kibble bag

White bucket holding cat food and dog biscuits

Helen Sanders CatPAWS offers, through specific private donors, e-gift cards for people struggling during the crisis to buy food for their pets. The CatPAWS Spay/Neuter Fund, also privately funded, has vouchers available for anyone not able to go to the shelter for them. They also accept donations.

Pets of the Homeless‘ home page gives a self-description as the only organization focusing only on providing food and care for pets belonging to homeless people. Businesses and other organizations across the country receive in-kind donations of food and other needs that the dogs and cats’ human families can pick up at outreach locations. The following Long Beach businesses will accept your donations:

Trendi Pawz, 3726 E. Seventh St.

Belmont Heights Animal Hospital, 255 Redondo Ave.

Paw Shoppe Pet Center, Inc., 6416 E. Spring St.

Food and supplies are available at Beacon for Him Ministries, 1535 Gundry Ave. Long Beach, Mondays from 9 a.m. to noon and Saturdays from noon to 3 p.m.; and at Christian Outreach in Action, 515 E. Third St., Long Beach, Thursday from 9 to 11 a.m. Donations will be gratefully accepted at these locations as well.

Adopt, adopt, adopt

Calico cat poses near cat tree with smiling woman in brown bangs and blue V-neck looking at her.

Pet Food Express Cat Adoption Center: weekdays and Saturday 10 a.m.–8 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m.–7 p.m., Pet Food Express, 4220 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach, adoption fees apply

This adoption center is a much-needed satellite operation of Long Beach Animal Care Services. Julie and her team pull adoptable cats—”adoptable,” to these guys, means any cat in a shelter kennel! The team socializes the kitties until they’re adopted, which takes less time than you could imagine!

 Helen Sanders CatPAWS adoption center: viewable daily during store hours, PetSmart, 12341 Seal Beach Blvd., Seal Beach, adoption fees apply.

Window-shopping’s a neat pastime and likely has become more common during the pandemic. Helen Sanders CatPAWS has applied window-shopping to cat adoption; you can peer at several of the fine felines through the windows of the PetSmart adoption center in Seal Beach. Sadly, no ear scratching or chin rubs at this time, but volunteers can answer questions and provide you with adoption information! Be sure to wear a mask. You can find adoption applications and all the kitties here.

Links to loveables

The following pet-related businesses regularly feature cat, dog and rabbit adoptions, but as of now, adoptions are mainly by appointment. Click on the links for each rescue in case of updates or changes. These organizations operate through donations and grants, and anything you can give would be welcome. Please suggest any Long Beach-area rescues to add to the list.