Please Read the Below Resources Before Acting
If you have found kittens, please review the resources above and determine what options are available in your area. Whenever possible, we strongly encourage community members to have the mother cat spayed, even if they are unable to keep the kittens.
Before making plans for the kittens, research your local municipal animal shelter to learn under what circumstances they will accept kittens and whether they offer foster or rescue placement programs. Policies vary significantly between jurisdictions.
You may also reach out to local rescues, cat groups, and community organizations to inquire about foster placement or intake opportunities. However, most rescues are volunteer-run, operate with limited foster space and funding, and cannot guarantee intake simply because a request is submitted.
Community members who are willing to foster, transport, socialize, or otherwise assist with the kittens are often more successful in obtaining support from shelters and rescues. The more help you are able to provide, the more options may be available for the cats.
Please remember that rescue organizations receive far more requests for help than they have available space. While it never hurts to ask, it is important to have a backup plan and realistic expectations while exploring your options.
If the kittens are older, unsocialized, or no longer of an age where placement into foster care is realistic, Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) may be the most appropriate outcome. In these situations, ensuring that both the mother cat and kittens are spayed or neutered can prevent future litters while allowing the cats to continue living safely in their familiar environment.
What Else Can you do
There are hundreds of groups on Facebook dedicated to cat and kitten rescue. Join them ALL and post photos and details of what you need. There are large rescue groups in these groups who may see your plea and have the bandwidth to help. There are thousands of people in these groups. We have done this ourselves with relatively good luck. To find all the froups, use generic search terms in different combinations… South Bay kitten rescue, San Francisco cat rescue, Cat rehoming San Jose, Bay Area kitten rescue, California kitten rehoming, etc.
This is a link to one of the groups you should join: FB Cat Connect SF Bay Area
If you are able to foster the cat yourself that will help make it easier for a rescue to hlep you.
Thank you for caring for the kittens or cat that you have found. We wish we could do more!