We hold the tent open for the litters too small to save on their own.
In Florida, whole litters of newborn kittens are still put down — not because no one would adopt them, but because shelters can't hold them long enough to survive. We do that work: nursing, bottle-feeding and fostering mother-and-kitten sets until they're ready to go home, keeping families together when we can.
Open Tent Rescue kittens, safe together in foster care.
The problem
Kitten season is a triage machine.
Every spring, South Florida floods with newborn litters. A kitten under about eight weeks can't be safely fixed, and an orphaned one can't leave the bottle. Shelters at capacity have no room for that long, fragile window — so the most vulnerable animals are the first to be lost.
8 wks
Minimum age before a kitten can be safely spayed or neutered.
Whole
Litters — not strays — are the ones most often put down.
0
Kittens we have euthanized. That is the whole point.
Our answer
We fill the gap with foster families who keep mother and kittens together, or hand-feed orphans bottle to ready-to-go.
The journey
From bottle to backyard, week by week.
Week 0
Intake & nursing
Set arrives in a foster home. Mother cats are checked, fed and settled so the litter can nurse.
Week 1–3
Bottle & bond
Orphans get round-the-clock formula. We weight-check twice a day and keep siblings close.
Week 4–8
Grow & fix
First vaccines, gentle socializing, then the spay/neuter that makes them safe to place.
Week 8+
Adoption day
Fixed, healthy and home-ready, they move to their forever families. The cycle begins again.
Ways to help
Four hands make a shelter.
Foster a set
Open your home for a mother and litter, or an orphaned handful, for a few weeks. We supply the formula, supplies and medical plan.
Apply to foster →Volunteer
Drive, socialize kittens, help at intake, or run the morning bottle shift. No experience needed — just steady, kind hands.
Find a role →Donate
Give monthly or once, fund a specific litter, or cover spay/neuter fees. Every dollar stays in the SWFL.
Give to the fund →Supplies
Kitten formula, nursing bottles, heating pads, litter and soft blankets are always in short supply.
See what we need →Reach out
No gatekeepers here. Just tell us how you'd like to help.
Whatever you can offer — a room, a few hours, a bottle of formula, a monthly gift — a real person reads every message and replies within a day or two.
- Where we work
- Collier & Lee Counties, SWFL