Houston's tiniest residents are flooding the Houston SPCA nursery, and the shelter is tossing out its appointment rule to keep up. With more than a hundred bottle babies crowding the neonatal intensive-care room, staff are now letting qualified foster volunteers walk in, get a quick crash course, and head home with kittens the same day.
Walk-in fosters now welcome
According to Click2Houston, the Houston SPCA Foster Office is waiving its appointment requirement during business hours so nursery kittens can move out to foster homes as fast as possible. In the organization’s announcement, Chief Veterinarian Dr. Brandt Payne stressed just how critical that shift is for the animals.
"Every kitten that enters a foster home has a greater chance to grow, thrive, and eventually find a loving forever family," Dr. Payne said in the statement posted on the Houston SPCA site.
Where and when to foster
The Foster Office at 900 Portway Drive is open for walk-in fosters from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to Click2Houston. Staff there will send new volunteers out the door with food, bedding and medical support already lined up, and they guide people through a brief training session before any kittens leave the building.
KHOU has also aired a video report on the rule change and the wave of neonatal kittens arriving at the shelter, highlighting just how quickly the nursery is filling and how urgently the SPCA is trying to move animals into foster care.
Why kitten season strains shelters
Local coverage puts the current number of neonatal kittens in need of foster homes at 111 after recent "graduations" from the SPCA nursery, according to ABC13. It is all part of the annual "kitten season," when unplanned litters overwhelm shelters and rescue groups citywide.
That seasonal crush is exactly why local rescues rely so heavily on short-term foster homes to give young animals individualized care, as previously reported by the Houston Chronicle.
How to help
Anyone interested in stepping in as a foster or adopter can start the registration process online or head straight to the Foster Office. Full details on requirements and next steps are available through the Houston SPCA site.
The SPCA’s main campus is located at 7007 Old Katy Road and the foster office operates at 900 Portway Drive. Questions can be directed to 713-869-SPCA (7722). Volunteers say that with supplies and medical support covered, even first-time fosters can make a lifesaving difference for nursery kittens this week.
