Two kittens at the Dakin Humane Society’s kitten ICU look out from their kennel.
Reminder Publishing photo by Sarah Heinonen
SPRINGFIELD — Kennels line the walls of an L-shaped room at Dakin Humane Society. Peering into one of the kennels, two small, fuzzy, orange-and-white figures can be seen taking shaky steps toward the door. One kitten mewls while its roommate snacks on a bowl of wet food.
These were two of the 25 kittens in the intensive care unit at Dakin on July 10. It was National Kitten Day and Executive Director Meg Talbert took the opportunity to announce the reopening of the organization’s kitten ICU, the only such unit in New England.
Dakin began operating the unit in 2014, but when the coronavirus pandemic made it ill-advised to have numerous volunteers at Dakin’s 171 Union St. facility, the organization pivoted to foster families who had the training to care for the unwell kittens.
Dakin set a goal of $40,000 to prepare and operate the unit. Talbert said a “generous” donor in the community offered a match of $20,000. Some things have changed since the last time the unit was in operation. Talbert said, “It’s evolved. We’ve really stepped up and learned.”
With the unit open once more, kittens between the ages of 5 and 12 weeks are cared for by Dakin staff and an army of 50 trained volunteers, known as the Kitten Care Crew. Clad in disposable medical gowns, the workers take each kitten from their kennel one at a time and evaluate them in a sterile environment, taking note of their appearance and overall health. They then perform the arduous task of getting the felines to swallow their pills.
“It’s not always glamorous,” Talbert said.
The kittens in the ICU have a variety of health concerns, but the most common issues are trouble eating, upper respiratory infections and diarrhea, said veterinary nurse Meg Delaney.
The kittens come to the ICU in several ways. A “kitten street team” responds to feral cat colonies around the city. While the feral mother cats are often unable to be socialized for adoption, the kittens are brought in, nursed to a healthy condition and put up for adoption. Dakin also offers a “Moms Fixed Free” program for people whose cat has recently given birth. Pet owners can bring the mother and entire litter to Dakin, and it will provide spay surgery and vaccines for rabies and distemper for the mother free of charge. The kittens will be put up for adoption once they are healthy.
There is also a steady stream of stray cats and kittens that are found and brought to the humane society.
Director of Development and Marketing Stacey Price said there was a population explosion in 2023. During COVID-19, she said many veterinarian offices shut down or ended up with longer wait times for animals to be spayed or neutered, increasing the opportunity for accidental impregnation. The housing crisis in the state has also led to people being less likely to find pet-friendly living arrangements and more surrenders.
In 2020, Dakin took in 422 kittens. The number increased by 200 the next year and again by 260 the year after that. “Last summer, it was really intense,” Talbert said of the 45% jump in kitten intakes, from 881 in 2022 to 1,326 in 2023.
The kitten ICU will operate seasonally, from July to October. Marianne Gambaro has volunteered at Dakin for more than 15 years. She said that “kitten season,” the warm weather months when the most kittens are brought in, has been getting longer and cited climate change as the main reason.
Dakin expects to treat a minimum of 250 kittens this season.
“It’s terrific,” said Gambaro. “We’re able to take in these babies and get them ready for adoption. You know they’re on the road to recovery.”
To learn more about the kitten ICU at Dakin, visit dakinhumane.org/KICU.
