Kitten and Puppy Season at Our Local Shelters - How Can We Help?

Spring is here, love is in the air, and that means tons of unwanted kittens and puppies are born and flood our local shelters. You may think there is not much you can do to help so many little babies, but that couldn't be farther from the truth! There are so many ways we can help our brand new fluffy friends, to provide them care, brighten their lives, and help find their forever homes!

One of the sweet kittens we met during our visit to HSMO! So many little kittens would love for you to spend some time and teach them how to play!

We headed down to our local shelter, the Humane Society of Missouri, to play and socialize with some adorable little kittens, and donate a selection of our own super cute cat toys, so they have something to entertain them while they are stuck in their kennels waiting for their forever home. It was such a fun time, we will definitely be repeating the trip to meet more fuzzy friends and donate more toys!

The trip was so inspiring, I wanted to write a post about all the ways YOU can also get in on the fun, meet some adorable animals and other caring, fun people, and change the lives of countless dogs, cats, puppies, kitties (even rabbits!), who are all so unique, deserve love, care, and a chance at finding a forever home:

Volunteer!

Have a couple hours of free time and want to change things up from binging that true crime show for the third time or just scrolling social media? There are so many ways to volunteer and help support shelters in their effort to rescue, heal, socialize, and find homes for the huge amount of animals in need of help.

Wherever you are located, your local shelter likely has a webpage like this one at HSMO, where you can apply to volunteer to help in a number of different areas!

Depending on YOUR interests and desired level of involvement, you can do a myriad things!

Help educate children about our furry friends, act as a sales person for the non-profit shelter giftshop, do the less glamorous but VERY necessary task of cleaning cages or sorting donations, do some administrative work and add it to your resume, or the most fun part, walk and play with the animals to help socialize them and make it easier for them to transition into a loving home! There are tons of opportunities, and the more help the shelters get, the more they can improve the quality of life for their resident animals!

Sweden and Norway, the two little kittens, were so shy at first! They had no idea how to play, and didn't feel very comfortable. That didn't last long, however!

We went for a socialization visit, and met Norway and Sweden, two little tabby kittens who were so new to the world, at first they hardly knew how to play or interact with people! They warmed up and were soon getting head pats, purring, and batting at the toys like they didn't have a care in the world!

We also had a little chat with a regular volunteer, who was in to play with the cats too, and we shared toys and swapped stories about the resident kitties. She was so kind and knowledgeable! It's truly admirable to spend your free time caring for the animals that have no families of their own yet! Not to mention looks great on college applications or resumes!

Even helping a young kitten or puppy learn how to play or go on a walk is a step toward building normal habits for them, building their confidence and getting them used to interacting with people and new objects! At that age, they really need those skills, and it's very hard for them to get it in a kennel, but they soak it up whenever they have a chance! Just look at these kitties getting the hang of our Cutest Ball Tower Cat Toy with a bit of introduction!

All they needed was for us to show them how to roll the ball once or twice, and this toy kept them fascinated for a couple hours!

Donate! (toys or funds)

We also left and donated the toys we took to play, so they could be put into the resident cats' kennels, while they wait to be adopted. While a lot of cute baby kittens and puppies get adopted quickly, some animals have to wait a long, long time before someone takes them in, meanwhile these toys give them something to do and provide as small taste of a home.

Even having a couple toys to add to their kennels can help them keep busy as they spend their time waiting for their new family!

Anything you can donate helps! Toys, towels and blankets, or just plain funds, all go a long way to help shelter, feed, provide medical care, entertain, and facilitate adoptions for these animals in need!

Shop!

Believe it or not, even shopping at your local shelter's gift and supply shop helps! While it's easy to place online orders from major corporations like Amazon, if you purchase your toys, treats, litter, etc. at the local shelter, all the money goes directly back to the non-profit shelter, and in turn, to helping more animals!

While it is more profitable for us if you purchase directly from our site, we urge you to visit HSMO, where all your purchases will go toward helping the shelter and the animals!

We are proud to have our own products available at HSMO, so if you are a St. Louis local, and have your eye on some of our products, you can head on down to any of their three locations, and find some to purchase directly from them!

Whether you are purchasing toys or supplies for your pet, a cute keychain for a friend's birthday, or an abstract painting by a rescued horse named Twister, you know the profit will go towards a good cause! There are few better places to spend your money!

Foster!

Fostering is very important to us here at Ballistic Pets! Most of the pup models you see on our site and blog posts have spent time at our family home, playing in our yard, cuddling on our couch, learning from our resident dogs. This is key for them to decompress from their often traumatic experiences or long stay in kennels, and learn how to be the best little puppies or kitties in their new home.

These pups are just a few of our previous house guests. They were so loved during their time with us!

The first year is so important to young animals! They are supposed to be learning, experiencing new things, sniffing, chewing, watching, getting cuddles, building their muscles running around outside. A lot of the shelter animals stay in kennels most of the day, day after day, and only get short walks to relieve themselves. By fostering, you can provide all that much needed experience to these animals and not only help them get adopted easier, but STAY in their new homes, by setting them up for success and teaching them good habits.

But even if you can't spend a ton of time training or playing, simply providing a space in your home with a large crate or playpen and letting an animal stay with you, can help free up more space at the shelter, which means saving more animals! Believe me, the puppies and kitties would be so happy just to get out of their kennels into a different calm, soft, warm space, where they can get some love and playtime occasionally!

Find your local shelter's foster information and change a life today!

Adopt!

Adoption is by far the best thing you can do for any animal! Opening your home and bringing a new family member to stay forever, providing them safety, food, health care, and lots of love and play, is as rewarding as it can get!

Some people worry about adopting, considering that occasionally the animals have traumatic experiences, which can make them a bit more shy or difficult than buying an expensive purebred from a reputable and registered breeder. It is a valid thing to consider, because you should not sign up for anything you and your family can't handle....always remember, the goal is to provide FOREVER homes, and having the capacity to care for the animal you choose, meeting their needs for mental and physical stimulation, providing health care, training, and plenty of love!

The truth is, MOST animals at shelters and rescues are perfectly friendly, sweet, and starved for love, and easily integrated into your home with a bit of research! You can always find the right one for your family! And if you are in doubt, start with fostering! It's a great way to find the right fit for your household and help at the same time!

This little senior pup was my first dog after a lifetime of cats. He took a while to warm up to me after experiencing some abuse in his previous family, but soon became my best friend. It is no overstatement that he drastically changed the course of my life forever!

Our family at Ballistic Pets has had plenty of adopted animals throughout our whole lives, and each brightened our days, taught us something unique, and changed our lives. Even the pups and kitties that provided a bit of challenge, needed a bit of extra patience to earn their trust, ended up beloved members of our family.

Visit PetFinder to search for local pets near you that need a home TODAY, and find your new forever family member!

Spay and Neuter!

I'm sure you have heard this a lot before! But this is really the most important, practical and HUMANE thing you could possibly do. If you have a pet, please spay or neuter them.

Accidents easily happen. Sometimes you might even think breeding your animal could bring you a few extra bucks, or be a good experience for them. Or that spaying and neutering is taking away some vital part of them that they need.

But the plain truth is that there are MILLIONS of unwanted cats and dogs already, and new litters of puppies and kittens almost always end up at shelters eventually. Not to mention that giving birth is usually terribly hard on their bodies...and nobody usually thinks of the medical toll this takes on their pets, and the extra expenses it can add to your household!

If your friend says they would take a kitten from you if you only bred your cats, tell them there are plenty looking for homes in a shelter! If you think your dog's balls are an integral part of them, just imagine the many litters of unwanted and homeless puppies they could accidentally bring into the world with a single escape or during unsupervised play, who will likely suffer or be put to sleep.

You don't need to bring more cute kitties or puppies into the world! There are already countless cuties like this ready for your home, waiting in shelters and rescue organizations!

Be responsible. Spay and neuter your pets. There are free and discounted programs like this, all over the country to make this as easy and safe as possible!

Don't forget about the older cats and dogs!

Lastly, don't forget that it's not all about puppies and kittens! Those animals get older, they get less "cute", and become less "adoptable", but they are in need of homes more than ever. Often teenage animals are even brought back to shelters, because they grow and become less "cute", or because the buyers or adopters weren't ready for the task, and didn't provide the needed training, and they became a handful, and so even expensive purchased animals, as well as adopted animals, can end up back to the shelter.

Fostering, adopting, volunteering to socialize or walk these animals is so, so important. They deserve a home like any kitten or puppy, and are usually much easier to integrate into your life, if you select the right one for your family!

A big THANK YOU you to HSMO for facilitating our play session, and to the kitties, Norway and Sweden, for inspiring these thoughts!

Truly, absolutely anything you can do is a huge help. The ultimate goal is to free up space in the kennels, provide healthcare, food, love, experiences, and homes to more animals, while preventing more from ending up in this situation. I hope this list of ways you can help gave you some new ideas, and inspired you to go out and change some lives forever! I know we will keep doing what we can as well!