Poppy was a late Christmas “gift” to Long Beach Animal Care Services this past December. Her nose was swollen and painful, and her human couldn’t take care of her, so they sadly surrendered her. But the shelter vets knew what to do! After ruling out cancer, the cause of the swollen nose was determined to be a bug bite, so Poppy got her treatment and a spay procedure, too. She’s now a healthy 4-year-old girl who needs a real home. Poppy has some kennel stress, so she lives in the screened cattery where volunteer Janet says she enjoys the sunshine and breezes. How about making it Christmas in June for Poppy? To adopt or foster Poppy, email PetAdopt@longbeach.gov to speed the process, or call (562) 570-7387. Better yet, meet her in person at Long Beach Animal Care Services, 7700 E. Spring St., Long Beach, at entrance to El Dorado Park (no parking fee for shelter visitors). Visiting hours are Wednesday–Friday, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m., and Saturday–Sunday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. 

Have we seen Theodore before? As one of the several versions of Pete the Pup on the Our Gang series? Nah, he’s way too young, but if they did another revival, Theodore would have saved the studio some money—that circle around his eye is natural and not enhanced with a makeup brush! Besides, Theodore has his own star quality. Volunteers find him easy to walk—he comes out of the kennel “like a gentleman,” as volunteer Gusti said, and follows the walker’s guidance well. Theodore takes treats gently and also loves a good chill-out. Volunteer Stefanie often sees him lounging on his back in his kennel or playing with his empty food bowls “like a giant puppy.” In a forever home, Theodore is certain to steal every scene, just like Pete the Pup did! Adopt or foster Theodore by emailing PetAdopt@longbeach.gov or petfoster@longbeach.gov. You can also call (562) 570-4925. Shelter hours are Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 7700 E. Spring St. at the entrance to El Dorado Park (no parking fee for shelter visitors). Ask for ID#A753409.

You’ve probably heard about the hot girl walk.  The aesthetic, the playlist, the ritualized 45-minute loop around the neighborhood that somehow became the whole personality of a whole group of people on tiktok. And listen, the walk is great. Cardio is great. As is romanticizing the unglamorous routine of scooping dog poop and turning it into something fun. But if you’re looking for your next low-commitment, high-reward way to actually do something meaningful this spring, kitten fostering might be calling to you.

Kitten season runs roughly from April through November across Southern California. That’s when unaltered outdoor and community cats give birth to litters that shelters absorb at a rate their staffing and space genuinely cannot keep up with. The smallest arrivals, like neonatal kittens who aren’t yet eating solid food, are the most vulnerable. Without someone willing to take them home and bottle-feed them, their odds in a public shelter are not good.

Foster volunteers are what stand between those kittens and a very different outcome. If you’ve been on the fence about whether this is something you could actually do, here’s the real picture.

What Kitten Fostering Actually Looks Like

Most people imagine fostering is going to completely change their lives. But in reality, it usually looks like a cardboard box in your bathroom with a tiny creature inside it, sleeping 20 hours a day and waking up to eat. You feed them. You weigh them. You watch their little bellies rise and fall. But mostly, you annoy the living hell out of your relatives with pictures.

Neonatal kittens need bottle feeding every two to three hours in their earliest weeks. That sounds intense, and the first night or two, it is, but by the second week, you will have a rhythm and by the third, the kitten will have a name you swore you weren’t going to give it.

The Commitment Is More Flexible Than You Think

A lot of people hold back on fostering because they believe its going to be this lifetime commitment that demands a lot of space, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. One of the most common types of fostering is to take a single litter for three weeks and then come back for another. It’s also not unheard of for people to do it once out of curiosity and become long-term volunteers. Some keep their foster cat, which gets called a foster fail, though nobody actually thinks it’s a failure.

And it’s not just kittens, adult cats recovering from illness or injury, waiting for permanent homes, or who just need somewhere quiet to decompress after shelter life need a home too. Placement lengths vary, and good rescue organizations are upfront about what each situation involves before you say yes.

There’s also a harder side of fostering, which is hospice care for cats whose lives would otherwise end in a public shelter, a specific kind of commitment that not everyone is ready for. For those who are, it’s the kind of thing that’s difficult to put into words.

Why Southern California Needs You Right Now

Shelters across Long Beach and North Orange County are already seeing the kitten season surge. The kittens coming in right now are transitioning from a projected problem to a very real one.

The difference between a kitten surviving and not surviving often comes down to what happens in the first few hours. Most people who stumble onto a litter in their yard or near a dumpster have no idea what to do next. Neonatal kittens without a mother need warmth, formula, and someone willing to feed them through the night. A rescue organization can walk you through all of it, but you have to make the call first.

Getting Started With Helen Sanders CatPAWS

Helen Sanders CatPAWS, a Seal Beach-based nonprofit serving LA and Orange County for 16 years, is one of the most accessible entry points for first-time fosters in Southern California. The organization covers food, formula, supplies, and medical care. Their nationally recognized DIY Kitten Kit Program also distributes kits directly through public shelters so community members who find litters can act immediately, with formula, bottles, probiotics, a hot water bottle, and instructions included.

The basic requirements to foster are straightforward. You need to be 18 or older, have reliable transportation, and be willing to bring fosters to veterinary appointments. You keep them separated from household pets for the first two weeks, monitor their health daily, and administer medications when needed. The socialization part, which mostly means playing with kittens, tends to take care of itself.

The learning curve is real. Most first-time fosters will say the first 48 hours are the hardest, and that by week two they couldn’t imagine not doing it again.

Kitten season doesn’t wait. Visit helensanderscatpaws.com to learn more and sign up.

Credit: Helen Sanders CatPAWS and Deborah Felin-Magaldi.

Mia is enjoying a yogurt cone to mark her official tenure as a Long-Stay Legend. We say “mark” instead of “celebrate” because Long-Stay Legends are the dogs who have been at Long Beach Animal Care Services for more than a year, and Mia is one of them. That’s no cause for joy, so the volunteers decided to add a little delight to her day. (Mia finished that cone in no time flat!) Mia is a 4-year-old husky mix with eyes like blue diamonds. Like most huskies, she loves to move, explore, and keep busy. She’s happiest when she’s around her favorite shelter people. Mia thrives with gentle guidance and would do well with someone who can help channel her energy with a balance of structure, adventure and snuggles when she winds down. Mia also requires some additional care — she recently began to have seizures, but they’ve been successfully controlled with meds. She’ll likely always need medication, but she’ll otherwise lead a long, happy life with someone who’ll just look at that as part of Mia’s normal day. Long Beach Animal Care Services is over capacity with dogs, so speed the process to adopt or foster Mia or any of our other pets by emailing PetAdopt@longbeach.gov or petfoster@longbeach.gov. You can also call (562) 570-4925. Our shelter hours are Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 7700 E. Spring St. at the entrance to El Dorado Park (no parking fee for shelter visitors). Ask for ID#A740567.

“Ooohhhh, take you ridin’ in the car, car!” Lucy doesn’t need to hear two notes from the beloved Woody Guthrie song before she leaps into the seat, tail a-wag and settles in to see the sights and smell the smells along the way. Lucy, a 3-year-old German shepherd, loves Fido Field Trips and doing zoomies in the grass at the park or in the play yard at Long Beach Animal Care Services. Volunteer Gusti said that Lucy loves spa days at the shelter best of all. “The tub is her absolute throne,” Gusti said. “She leans into the warm water and sudsy massage, considers towel time the main event, and happily snuggles in for simultaneous pets under the warm dryer.” Lucy didn’t always have such a gusto for life. When she came to the shelter, she had been clearly neglected in body and soul — she was terrified and in pain. She hid in her kennel, and Gusti said that the patient, whispered dog affirmations from volunteers Colleen and Gary finally coaxed her out and kept her out with love and play. The ideal home for Lucy would be a calm place, preferably without small kids and with a patient, kind human with a big bathtub! Lucy loves those baths, and she needs two a week to keep her skin healing. Speed the process to adopt Lucy or any of our other pets by emailing PetAdopt@longbeach.gov or petfoster@longbeach.gov. You can also call (562) 570-4925. Our shelter hours are Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 7700 E. Spring St. at the entrance to El Dorado Park (no parking fee for shelter visitors). Ask for ID#A717903.

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Self Disclosure: I received free samples to facilitate this post. Images were also provided.