Today is National Kitten Day, a day that celebrates kittens while drawing attention to the many young cats still waiting for safety, care, and a home.

Nearly half of all cats entering U.S. shelters are kittens, with about 1.58 million admitted in a single year.



Earlier this year, a two-month-old kitten named Elmer was brought to a Texas shelter after he was found covered in glue and close to death.

Rescuers spent hours carefully removing the hardened adhesive and nursing him back to health.

A month later, Elmer was thriving and had found a permanent home with the foster volunteer who helped save his life.

His story is a reminder of how much kittens depend on people during the earliest and most vulnerable weeks of their lives.

Here are five ways to make a difference for kittens this National Kitten Day:

1. Support Neonatal Kitten Foster Programs

Many kittens arrive at shelters too young to survive without specialized care.

They need bottle feeding, warmth, formula, medication, and constant monitoring.



Foster programs give these fragile kittens a chance to grow strong enough for adoption.

2. Help Community Cat Caregivers

Across the country, dedicated volunteers feed and monitor outdoor cats every day.

Many pay for food, shelters, and basic medical care out of their own pockets. 

Supporting these caregivers helps protect entire colonies from hunger, disease, and neglect.

3. Strengthen Trap-Neuter-Return and Medical Outreach

Outdoor cats often reproduce faster than communities can help them.

Trap-Neuter-Return programs prevent future litters while reducing suffering caused by untreated injuries and illness. 

Every cat reached today can prevent generations of kittens from being born into hardship.

4. Foster Before You Adopt

Not everyone can commit to a lifetime adoption.

Fostering provides kittens with a safe environment during a critical stage of development while freeing valuable shelter space for other animals in need. 

Even a few weeks of fostering can save lives.

5. Help Stop the Next Litter From Being Born Homeless

Elmer survived because someone helped.

Countless kittens are not as fortunate. 

They are born outdoors and face disease, injury, predators, harsh weather, and uncertainty from their first days of life.



Many never experience the safety of a home, while those who survive often reproduce more litters that face the same struggles.

The world's 600 million stray dogs and 87 million stray cats give birth to over 1 billion homeless puppies and kittens every year.

Tragically, those who survive, also reproduce and give birth to another generation of homeless strays - thus repeating the cycle of suffering, every year.

This is why our mission is to end the #1 cause of suffering and death for dogs and cats — overpopulation — by developing a permanent-lasting birth control Cookie that will only need to be eaten one time, and it will in effect spay or neuter — without surgery.

With your help, we can stop this cycle before another generation is born into homelessness and suffering.

Thank you for caring and for helping animals.

Sources:

[1] CatGenie

[2] Awareness Days

[3] The Guardian

[4] Shelter Animals Count