NYC Eartips: Summer 2010

PetSmart Charities Sponsors NYC Kitten Palooza! Workshops

by Valerie Sicignano, NYC Feral Cat Initiative

PetSmart Charities sponsored four Kitten Palooza! workshops in New York City this spring. The NYC Feral Cat Initiative (NYCFCI) presented the events, which included two sessions of "Bottle-Feeding & Care of Orphaned Kittens," instructed by Valerie Sicignano of the NYCFCI, and Dr. Tina Waltke of Manhattan Cat Specialists. Iris Lugo, volunteer at Animal Care & Control of NYC (AC&C), demonstrated bottle-feeding techniques at the first workshop. Another workshop, "Socializing Feral Kittens," was also offered twice, with instruction provided by Mike Phillips of Urban Cat League, and Valerie Sicignano.

Both workshops were held at the ASPCA and included film footage that showed examples of the workshop topics. The workshops featured techniques for beginners as well as experienced rescuers, and included everything a foster caretaker would need to know, ranging from information about parasites to good adoption screening procedures.

Several local Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) organizations, including For Animals, Inc., sent their new volunteers to the Kitten Palooza! workshops to be trained before they begin working with foster felines. In addition, a few in attendance were repeat participants who returned to learn the new information and tips that had been added to the workshops since the previous one. Many of the attendees went on to foster and socialize (tame) kittens.

Susan Richard, star and producer of All for Animals, attended one of the bottle-feeding workshops after hearing about it from a friend who attended a previous workshop before fostering a litter of newborn kittens for AC&C. Susan's coverage of the workshop and interview with the NYCFCI's Valerie Sicignano is included in All for Animals Episode 14: "Spring Into Action For Animals" (4:04).