Latest news with #Meatball
The Star
a day ago
- General
- The Star
During kitten season, animal shelters in the US need all the help they can get
Strawberry, Blueberry, JoJo and Mazzy were about six weeks old when animal rescuers coaxed them out of long metal pipes in the parking lot of a storage unit company. Meatball was a single kitten living in a cold garage with a group of semi-feral adult cats. Spaghetti, Macaroni and Rigatoni, meanwhile, were just two weeks old when the good folks of LIC Feral Feeders, a cat rescue in Queens, took them in and bottle-fed them until they were strong enough to survive. Consider these cuties the face of kitten season 2025. Kitten season, typically landing during warmer months, is the time of year when most cats give birth. That produces a surge of kittens, often fragile neonates. Shelters get overwhelmed, especially when it comes to the 24-hour care and feeding of extremely young kittens. During warmer months, shelters get overwhelmed, especially when it comes to the 24-hour care and feeding of extremely young kittens. That, as a result, triggers a need for more foster homes because many of the 4,000 or so shelters in the United States don't have the time or resources for around-the-clock care, said Hannah Shaw, an animal welfare advocate known as the Kitten Lady with more than a million followers on Instagram. "We see about 1.5 million kittens entering shelters every year. And most of them will come into shelters during May and June,' she said. "Shelters need all hands on deck to help out through fostering.' Familiarity with fostering animals is high, Shaw said. The act of doing it is a different story. There's a false perception, she said, that the expense of fostering animals falls on the people who step up to do it. These days, many shelters and rescues cover the food, supplies and medical costs of fostering. "A lot of people don't foster because they think it's going to be this huge cost, but fostering actually only costs you time and love,' she said. Taking pairs Lisa Restine, a Hill's Pet Nutrition veterinarian, said people looking to adopt kittens should take pairs since cats often bond early in life. And how many cats is too many cats per household? "This is nothing serious or medical but my general rule of thumb is the number of adults in the house, like a two-to-one ratio, because you can carry one cat in each hand, so if there are two adults you can have four cats and still be sane,' she said. Square footage to avoid territory disputes is a good rule of thumb when planning for cats, Restine said. Two cats per 800 square feet (74.3sq m) then 200 square feet (15.6sq m) more for each addition should help, she said. Typically, kittens stay in their foster homes from a few weeks to a few months. Littermates, like Macaroni and Rigatoni, are much more likely to bond, Restine said. Kittens not biologically related but raised together often bond as well – like Meatball and Spaghetti. But adopters hoping to bond an adult cat with a new kitten arrival may be disappointed. "Once they're over that three- or four- month mark, it's hard to get that true bonding,' Restine said. Typically, kittens stay in their foster homes from a few weeks to a few months. While statistics are not kept on the number of kitten fosters that "fail' – when foster families decided to keep their charges – some shelters report rates as high as 90%. That's a win, despite use of the word "fail,' advocates note. Shaw sees another barrier holding people back from fostering: the notion that it requires special training or skills. That's why she has dedicated her life to educating the public, offering videos, books and research on how it works at her site Kitten rescuer and advocate Shaw says shelters need all hands on deck to help out through fostering. — Photos: MARY CONLON/AP Companies are coming on board, too. Hill's, a pet food company, runs the Hill's Food, Shelter & Love programme. It has provided more than US$300mil (RM1.27bil) in food support to over 1,000 animal shelters that support fostering in North America. "About a quarter of a million kittens, unfortunately, don't survive in our shelters every year,' Shaw said. "The shelter's going to be there to mentor and support you. So I think a lot of the fear that people have about fostering, they might find that actually it is something you totally can do. It's just scary because you haven't done it yet.' – By LEANNE ITALIE/AP
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Everything you need to know to prepare for your first ‘deployment spiral'
Maybe it's week three. Maybe it's hour seven. But at some point during deployment, something in your brain just… snaps. You've been 'holding it together' on the outside. But inside? Inside, you're slowly unraveling to the soundtrack of a dripping faucet, a barking dog, and the echo of your own over-functioning mind that just will not quit. And then suddenly you're whispering, 'I'll feel better if the hallway is sage' in the middle of the Home Depot. And you will. For a minute. But then reality will sink right back in (because it always does), and you'll remember that you're on your own for however long. And that however long is, well, a long time. Especially if this is your first deployment spiral. Let's talk about the chaos. And why it makes total sense. It starts with something small. A late-night Amazon order. A sudden need to clean the baseboards. The unshakeable feeling that you must go back to the Home Depot, right now, because the hallway color is 'off.' You tell yourself it's normal. You're adjusting. You're just 'keeping busy' while your partner is away, doing things they can't really talk about. (And maybe you don't really want to know.) Then, suddenly, it's 2 in the morning and you're alphabetizing the spice rack while texting someone about fostering a one-eyed kitten named Meatball. You say yes. Obviously. Who doesn't need a one-eyed kitty named Meatball? Here to tell you this is not a breakdown. This is deployment. And honestly? It tracks. Here's why. Deployments break your routines, and your body tries to build new ones, fast. The rhythm of dinners together, shared childcare, weekend plans, someone else taking out the trash—gone. Just poof. Replaced with the weird half-life of 'guess I'm doing this alone' and meals that may or may not count as dinner (was that cereal? Again?). Your brain doesn't like that. So it fills the space with something. Projects. Purchases. Paint samples. You start meal prepping like a CrossFit influencer or decide your baseboards are a personal insult. Anything to reestablish a sense of control in a world that now runs on uncertainty and phone calls with bad reception. And the kicker? The military gives your partner a mission, but you don't get one. So you start inventing your own. Alphabetize the pantry. Redesign the hallway. Adopt a cat you found on Facebook Marketplace. Apply to grad school at midnight because… why not? Doesn't matter what it is. All that matters is that it anchors you. (Even if that anchor is shaped like a giant Target haul and emotionally fraught power tools). Every day brings new uncertainty: Missed calls. Delayed updates. Conversations where you both pretend everything's fine, even when it's not. So your body starts compensating. You can't fix the silence, but you can clean the grout. You can't control whether they're safe, but you can learn to tile a backsplash at midnight. It's not dramatic, it's biological. Your cortisol doesn't care that it's 'just deployment.' It's still stressful. And you're still human. Also, the dog just threw up and the toddler won't nap and your neighbor keeps parking too close to your mailbox. You are a goddess of restraint for not screaming into the void daily. It's not like you lost them. But you did lose a shared reality. Your rhythm. Your intimacy. Your teammate. So yes, there's grief. And like any grief, it shows up in weird ways. You cry over a missing sock. You get overly attached to a plant. You spend two hours researching dog beds for the pet you do not yet have. You buy a silk pillowcase because a TikTok said it would fix your skin and your soul. Grief isn't linear. It doesn't look like movie sadness. Sometimes it looks like repainting the bathroom at midnight because something—anything—needs to feel new. The house. The kids. The dog. The dishes. The schedule. The mail. The holidays. The meltdowns. The logistics. The text threads. The questions you don't know how to answer. The feelings you don't get to share. It's all on you. So if you rage-clean the fridge at 1 am or suddenly develop a deep emotional bond with your Dyson—yes. Of course you did. That is the sound of you surviving. If no one's told you lately: you're doing a damn good job holding it all together. Even when that holding looks like chaos. Even when it involves a one-eyed kitten named Meatball. Especially then. Eventually, the chaos settles. Sort of. Promise you'll eventually stop rage-cleaning the fridge. You start using actual plates again. You might even forget what shade the hallway was before it became 'sage,' like some kind of haunted interior design decision. But also: You now own six different types of storage bins. Your dog has a weighted blanket. Your child thinks Meatball has always lived here. And you might be enrolled in an online grad program you don't fully remember applying to. So, sure, maybe you spiraled a little. But you spiraled productively. With commitment. With vision. And when they finally walk back through that door and say, 'Wait… when did we get a third cat?'You won't even blink. We Are The Mighty is a celebration of military service, with a mission to entertain, inform, and inspire those who serve and those who support them. We are made by and for current service members, veterans, spouses, family members, and civilians who want to be part of this community. Keep up with the best in military culture and entertainment: subscribe to the We Are The Mighty newsletter. How to budget when everything is temporary How to explain commissary etiquette to your civvie bestie 4 Ways to fake it til you make it at your first change of command ceremony
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Himalayan Mama and Kittens Make the Cutest Cuddle Puddle on Bench They've Outgrown
Himalayan Mama and Kittens Make the Cutest Cuddle Puddle on Bench They've Outgrown originally appeared on Parade Pets. As a cat mama of three beautiful fur babies, one of my favorite feline quirks is that they can sleep almost anywhere. On top of bookcases, on the backs of sofas, underneath furniture (where you have no idea how they fit there), and in any cardboard box you leave out. The phrase, "If I fits, I sits," was invented by cats. Well, one beautiful Himalayan mama and her equally adorable kittens decided to make the most adorable cuddle puddle on a cat bench they can all barely fit on, and they are just as cozy as can be. Just check out how this precious family couldn't care less that they are fixing to all fall down! Awww, how adorable are they? One person commented, "No such thing as outgrowing! If it fits, it sits!" Facts. Another person added, "That's a whole lotta floof right there!"Someone else added, "I think they need a bigger bed, but to be honest, I doubt it would matter. Cats are gonna curl up anywhere they want, regardless of how big they are or how uncomfortable they look! Cats will always curl up in the one spot you would never expect a cat to sleep in." That is so true! My gigantic Maine Coon cat, named Meatball, has no idea how large he is. He's just over 1 year old, so he's still technically a kitten (Maine Coon cats don't stop growing until they are about 5 years old. Normal cats stop growing at about a year), and he sleeps in the weirdest spots. The issue is Meatball is so large that he sleeps on the edge of things, like tables, and will fall off them when he's still asleep! That's just typical feline behavior, though! Like I said above, if they fits, they sits, er... sleeps! 🐶SIGN UP to get 'pawsitivity' delivered right to your inbox with inspiring & entertaining stories about our furry & feathered friends🐾🐾 Himalayan Mama and Kittens Make the Cutest Cuddle Puddle on Bench They've Outgrown first appeared on Parade Pets on Jul 3, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade Pets on Jul 3, 2025, where it first appeared.
NBC News
06-06-2025
- General
- NBC News
Welcome to kitten season, when animal shelters need all the help they can get
NEW YORK — Strawberry, Blueberry, JoJo and Mazzy were about 6 weeks old when animal rescuers coaxed them out of long metal pipes in the parking lot of a storage unit company. Meatball was a single kitten living in a cold garage with a group of semi-feral adult cats. Spaghetti, Macaroni and Rigatoni, meanwhile, were just 2 weeks old when the good folks of LIC Feral Feeders, a cat rescue in Queens, took them in and bottle-fed them until they were strong enough to survive. Consider these cuties the face of kitten season 2025. Kitten season, typically landing during warmer months, is the time of year when most cats give birth. That produces a surge of kittens, often fragile neonates. Shelters get overwhelmed, especially when it comes to the 24-hour care and feeding of extremely young kittens. That, as a result, triggers a need for more foster homes because many of the 4,000 or so shelters in the U.S. don't have the time or resources for around-the-clock care, said Hannah Shaw, an animal welfare advocate known as the Kitten Lady with more than a million followers on Instagram. "We see about 1.5 million kittens entering shelters every year. And most of them will come into shelters during May and June," she said. "Shelters need all hands on deck to help out through fostering." Familiarity with fostering animals is high, Shaw said. The act of doing it is a different story. There's a false perception, she said, that the expense of fostering animals falls on the people who step up to do it. These days, many shelters and rescues cover the food, supplies and medical costs of fostering. "A lot of people don't foster because they think it's going to be this huge cost, but fostering actually only costs you time and love," she said. Lisa Restine, a Hill's Pet Nutrition veterinarian, said people looking to adopt kittens should take pairs since cats often bond early in life. And how many cats is too many cats per household? "This is nothing serious or medical but my general rule of thumb is the number of adults in the house, like a 2-to-1 ratio, because you can carry one cat in each hand, so if there are two adults you can have four cats and still be sane," she said. Square footage to avoid territory disputes is a good rule of thumb when planning for cats, Restine said. Two cats per 800 square feet then 200 square feet more for each addition should help, she said. Littermates, like Macaroni and Rigatoni, are much more likely to bond, Restine said. Kittens not biologically related but raised together often bond as well — like Meatball and Spaghetti. But adopters hoping to bond an adult cat with a new kitten arrival may be disappointed. "Once they're over that 3- or 4-month mark, it's hard to get that true bonding," Restine said. Typically, kittens stay in their foster homes from a few weeks to a few months. While statistics are not kept on the number of kitten fosters that "fail" — when foster families decided to keep their charges — some shelters report rates as high as 90%. That's a win, despite use of the word "fail," advocates note. Shaw sees another barrier holding people back from fostering: the notion that it requires special training or skills. That's why she has dedicated her life to educating the public, offering videos, books and research on how it works at her site Companies are coming on board, too. Hill's, a pet food company, runs the Hill's Food, Shelter & Love program. It has provided more than $300 million in food support to over 1,000 animal shelters that support fostering in North America. "About a quarter of a million kittens, unfortunately, don't survive in our shelters every year," Shaw said. "The shelter's going to be there to mentor and support you. So I think a lot of the fear that people have about fostering, they might find that actually it is something you totally can do. It's just scary because you haven't done it yet."
05-06-2025
- General
Welcome to kitten season, when animal shelters need all the help they can get
NEW YORK -- Strawberry, Blueberry, JoJo and Mazzy were about 6 weeks old when animal rescuers coaxed them out of long metal pipes in the parking lot of a storage unit company. Meatball was a single kitten living in a cold garage with a group of semi-feral adult cats. Spaghetti, Macaroni and Rigatoni, meanwhile, were just 2 weeks old when the good folks of LIC Feral Feeders, a cat rescue in Queens, took them in and bottle-fed them until they were strong enough to survive. Consider these cuties the face of kitten season 2025. Kitten season, typically landing during warmer months, is the time of year when most cats give birth. That produces a surge of kittens, often fragile neonates. Shelters get overwhelmed, especially when it comes to the 24-hour care and feeding of extremely young kittens. That, as a result, triggers a need for more foster homes because many of the 4,000 or so shelters in the U.S. don't have the time or resources for around-the-clock care, said Hannah Shaw, an animal welfare advocate known as the Kitten Lady with more than a million followers on Instagram. 'We see about 1.5 million kittens entering shelters every year. And most of them will come into shelters during May and June,' she said. 'Shelters need all hands on deck to help out through fostering.' Familiarity with fostering animals is high, Shaw said. The act of doing it is a different story. There's a false perception, she said, that the expense of fostering animals falls on the people who step up to do it. These days, many shelters and rescues cover the food, supplies and medical costs of fostering. 'A lot of people don't foster because they think it's going to be this huge cost, but fostering actually only costs you time and love,' she said. Lisa Restine, a Hill's Pet Nutrition veterinarian, said people looking to adopt kittens should take pairs since cats often bond early in life. And how many cats is too many cats per household? 'This is nothing serious or medical but my general rule of thumb is the number of adults in the house, like a 2-to-1 ratio, because you can carry one cat in each hand, so if there are two adults you can have four cats and still be sane,' she said. Square footage to avoid territory disputes is a good rule of thumb when planning for cats, Restine said. Two cats per 800 square feet then 200 square feet more for each addition should help, she said. Littermates, like Macaroni and Rigatoni, are much more likely to bond, Restine said. Kittens not biologically related but raised together often bond as well — like Meatball and Spaghetti. But adopters hoping to bond an adult cat with a new kitten arrival may be disappointed. 'Once they're over that 3- or 4-month mark, it's hard to get that true bonding,' Restine said. Typically, kittens stay in their foster homes from a few weeks to a few months. While statistics are not kept on the number of kitten fosters that 'fail' — when foster families decided to keep their charges — some shelters report rates as high as 90%. That's a win, despite use of the word 'fail,' advocates note. Shaw sees another barrier holding people back from fostering: the notion that it requires special training or skills. That's why she has dedicated her life to educating the public, offering videos, books and research on how it works at her site Companies are coming on board, too. Hill's, a pet food company, runs the Hill's Food, Shelter & Love program. It has provided more than $300 million in food support to over 1,000 animal shelters that support fostering in North America. 'About a quarter of a million kittens, unfortunately, don't survive in our shelters every year,' Shaw said. 'The shelter's going to be there to mentor and support you. So I think a lot of the fear that people have about fostering, they might find that actually it is something you totally can do. It's just scary because you haven't done it yet.'
