Why the Eight-Week Mark is one of the Most Important Milestones in a Kitten's Life

In recognition of National Kitten Day, Best Friends Animal Society highlights the critical role fosters play in helping kittens reach adoption age
National Kitten Day
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During kitten season, animal shelters across the country see an influx of kittens in need, many of them too young to be adopted. As National Kitten Day approaches on July 10, Best Friends Animal Society, a national nonprofit working to make the country no-kill*, which means saving every healthy and treatable pet in shelters, is calling on cat lovers across the country to take on the cutest task imaginable — fostering neonatal kittens through their most vulnerable weeks.

Research from Best Friends Animal Society in collaboration with Dr. Julie Levy, director of the Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida, identified the "magic moment" in a kitten's journey: around eight weeks of age. While newborn kittens face their greatest challenges during their first weeks of life, those who reach eight weeks are suddenly healthier and more resilient, making them highly adoptable. Sadly, most kitten deaths occur before this milestone. Kittens younger than six weeks old account for 47.5% of cat deaths, making foster care during those first weeks of life critical.

Neonatal kittens require specialized care, including bottle feeding, warmth and frequent monitoring, making foster homes the best place for them to grow strong enough for loving homes of their own. Foster families give these kittens the individualized attention they need while also freeing shelter resources to care for more homeless pets.

"Foster volunteers are critical in saving the lives of pets in shelters," said Julie Castle, CEO, Best Friends Animal Society. "Whether you are caring for newborn kittens, helping a shy dog build confidence or giving a senior pet a quiet place to rest, foster families provide the love and stability adoptable pets need. Whether you foster or adopt, you are becoming part of the solution to bring about a time when no dog or cat unnecessarily dies in shelters.”

To learn more about fostering or to adopt a kitten, visit bestfriends.org.

*No-kill is defined by a 90% save rate or greater for pets entering a shelter and is a meaningful and common-sense benchmark for measuring lifesaving progress. Typically, the number of pets who are suffering from irreparable medical or behavioral issues that compromise their quality of life and prevent them from being rehomed is not more than 10% of all dogs and cats entering shelters. For any community to be no-kill, all stakeholders in that community must work together to achieve and sustain that common goal while prioritizing community safety and good quality of life for pets as guiding no-kill principles. This means cooperation among animal shelters, animal rescue groups, government agencies, community members and other stakeholders, all committed to best practices and protocols. 

About Best Friends Animal Society

Best Friends Animal Society is a leading animal welfare organization dedicated to saving the lives of dogs and cats in America's shelters and making the entire country no-kill. Founded in 1984, Best Friends runs lifesaving facilities and programs nationwide in partnership with more than 6,000 shelters and rescue organizations. From our headquarters in Kanab, Utah, we also operate the nation's largest no-kill animal sanctuary — a destination that brings our mission to life for thousands of visitors each year. We maintain the most comprehensive animal sheltering data in the country and make it accessible to the public — empowering communities with critical insights into the needs of their local shelters and how they can help. We believe every dog and cat deserves a home. And we believe that, by working together, we can Save Them All®.