From early spring through late fall, feral and abandoned cats are having litters of kittens anywhere they can find a little shelter, or if not, outside in the barely survivable Arizona elements. Many of these kittens are found and relinquished to high kill shelters.

During this time, neonatal kittens top the euthanasia list. The care that is needed to bring these little ones to an adoptable age is beyond the means of the shelters. They require frequent bottle feeding and often have medical issues.

Cool Cats Rescue, here in Fountain Hills, is dedicated to the rescue of kittens. Founder Sandra Schiavone recruited a small network of volunteer foster moms that take the babies into their homes.

“This is grass roots, without a rescue center I had to do whatever it took to save these kittens and there are some wonderful, caring people that stepped up to help,” Schiavone said.

Completely volunteer staffed means every penny donated goes directly to the feeding and medical care of the kittens. In addition to all kittens being spayed/neutered, vaccinated and tested for disease, medical expenses are high. Many babies come in compromised.

The J2 babies, called this because they are the second litter to hit the alphabet letter J (the group is now on N2, the 40th litter this year) are an example of this high cost.

Rescued the day before they were to be euthanized, these six little three-week-old kittens were undernourished and had upper respiratory problems. One had a serious issue with her eye being closed. For two weeks they have been on three different prescription eye drops and two different antibiotics.

Junebug, the little girl with the eye issue, has seen the vet three times and had to undergo a procedure to cut through her eyelid, which had fused together. It is likely she will lose that eye and have to go through more serious treatment.

Fountain Hills residents can help save these little ones. To find out more about how to become a foster or to donate life-saving funds, visit coolcatsrescue-az.org.