Hope on the Hill

09/28/2026

While we do intake pregnant cats, it is almost always the plan to do a spay abort. We don't spay abort term pregnancies, but many rescues do, and we completely understand why.

We have had people DEMAND we take cats/cats with litters. Then they turn around and DEMAND the entire litter BACK, or just the "pretty" kittens.

No. That's not how this works. I put food, water, dewormer, bedding, litter, vaccinations and spay or neuter into every cat or kitten here. That's just the bare minimum expenses.

I often respond with the total it took to care for that litter, including veterinary exams, ill kitten or cat exams and medications, the TON of formula, baby food, wet kitten food, supplements and more that it took to keep that litter alive! The totals can be ASTOUNDING. Adoption fees don't come close to covering expenses.

If you chose to NOT spay your cat or kitten, choices have consequences. As this rescue does, we will provide support and resources. We won't "save you" from a decision that you made. *If* we have room, we take in weaned kittens. Part of that deal is YOU getting Mama spayed, and proving it. We won't save you twice.

Our policy on intaking pregnant cats: WE DO NOT INTAKE PREGNANT CATS.

Kitten season 2025 has never gone away, as it never has gone away from 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021... there used to be a "down time" or "break" in kitten rescue where us in rescue could "catch our breath" as we prepare for the next wave of kittens. That was a thing of the past. The overpopulation crisis of kittens/cats within the entire country has reached a critical level. Rescues everywhere are overwhelmed. Fosters are difficult to obtain. Everybody "needs" to be helped. Donations are at an all time low so funding is extremely difficult for rescues and truthfully, without funding, small rescues everywhere struggle to survive.

Rescues are trying our best to help as many kittens as possible, but must focus our efforts on the ones who need our help the most. Rescues desperately need our communities support and understanding as we prepare to take on more.

This will be a long post, and may trigger some, but is of utmost importance.

All rescues receive numerous calls daily from people who find pregnant cats, whose pet "becomes" pregnant, whose cat they just "adopted" off facebook or from rescues who do not spay/neuter prior to adoption "turning up pregnant." They ask me for help, they ask me to take these cats in so they are "safe" to give birth.

There is no "Safe" birth when it comes to cats. There are more problems surrounding births, more complications experienced, than not. The only "safe" birth for that mom cat is NO birth.

I run a neonatal rescue, obviously. I have seen thousands of orphaned newborn kittens come through my rescue program. Many of these orphans became orphans due to birthing complications, kittens stuck, bleed outs, mom fades, infections, deceased kitten left inside, placentas not delivered, and many more complications could be. Each complication could cost $3-4-5,000 for vet care to save that mom cats life. Rescues do not have that funding. A spay costs $75-100 depending on the clinic.

If you contact us regarding help with a pregnant cat, we will refer you to spay abort immediately, we will try our best to get that spay appointment scheduled ASAP at an area clinic. This is our policy, we will not budge on this policy. We also will not tolerate backlash from people not agreeing with this policy. If you choose to allow the birth, we will not provide assistance if/when complications occur during birth or afterwards with the neonates. We will refer you to a list of veterinarians, we will provide educational materials, coaching, and supplies to bottle feed. This policy also applies to other rescues who allow births as part of their program. This may sound harsh, but with the current crisis state of overpopulation, this is a policy that needs to be in place.

Fast forward past the option of spay abort, the kittens are here. No birth complications, so it is assumed mom will do all the work right? Wrong. Sometimes kittens must be removed from their mom due to the moms inability to care for the litter. The mom might not have milk to nurse the litter. Mom might be a kitten herself and have no idea how to care for a litter. Mom might be sick or injured or not physically capable of caring for the litter. Mom might be stressed and begin killing the kittens, yes this happens. Cats can turn to cannibalism when stressed and it is an extremely disturbing thing to witness. Sometimes mom just plain and simple wants nothing to do with the litter without explanation or warning. In these scenarios, since the kittens are born you need to do what is best for those kittens, as well as mom. In the scenario of the mom cat being a stray and the finder truthfully had no option of spaying her prior to delivery, we will absolutely assist that finder with the kittens. This is the heart of what we do and why we are in existence. We will follow up and ensure mom is spayed. In the scenario the finder harbored the pregnant cat, allowed her to give birth, then ran into issues, we will not intervene and intake the kittens. That is the responsibility of the finder. The time and expense will fall on whoever allowed the birth to occur. Whoever allows the birth is responsible for the welfare of those newborns AND the mom.

The reality is the instant a kitten loses its' mom, their survival chance plummets to around 30%. We try our best to give every kitten the best survival chance, but nature is cruel. Newborns NEED the antibodies from their mothers to survive. IF they had a chance to nurse, those antibodies only remain in their bodies for up to 14 days. As their caretakers, we try to determine this timeline to determine that 14 day marker and take appropriate measures to ensure protection as their immune system depletes at that point. Orphans often succumb to infections as they have no immune system, dehydration, sugar issues, parasites, birth defects from inbreeding, flea anemia, maggots, predatory injuries, environmental hazards, extreme heat, extreme cold, the list goes on and on as to what causes neonatal deaths. Our team tries our best. Even if the mom cat is allowed to give birth, the last statistic I saw said kittens born have an 80% mortality rate. 80% of kittens born will die! That is a horrifying reality. So why not spay mom and prevent the majority of kittens from that suffering and pain?

Our rescue sees the kittens who have literally been torn to shreds, eaten alive by maggots, abused by cruel humans, preyed on by dogs or other predators, exposed to the elements and therefore fighting hypo/hyperthermia, intestinal parasites taking over their GI tract and killing them, grotesque and awful what we see come through our rescue program. These are the little ones more often than not, forgotten about, unseen, unheard of, they are the ones who land in our rescue and fight for their little lives. Many perish despite their (and our) best efforts. The extreme suffering they endure because of simply being born, is horrifying to say the least.

Our team is here to provide care for that small group of kittens who were lucky enough to have been found. They still suffer on their road to recovery. How about the many, many more little ones born outside allowed to perish because they were never found? It breaks my heart to think about the level of suffering those forgotten kittens endure through no fault of their own.

Yes, I run a neonatal kitten rescue.
Yes, my team provides exceptional care for each little one who enters our program.
Yes, my team loses kittens despite our best efforts and each loss is heartbreaking.
Yes, we advocate for spay abort.

The spay abort discussion needs to be had. It is not a nice topic. No veterinarian WANTS to do it, but they understand the NEED to do it. It is a topic most rescues do not bring up because it can cause a decrease in donations from otherwise supporters who disagree with this position.

Spaying the cat is the only way to prevent newborn suffering. Period. This is the reason why we advocate for spay abort. Each pregnancy allowed to occur is a HUGE risk to the health of the mother, the health of the litter.

Did I mention the overpopulation crisis we are facing within our country pertaining to cats? Every kitten allowed to be born takes away a potential home from an already born kitten waiting in a shelter. Every kitten allowed to be born is a slap in the face to every trapper out there who donate their time, money, effort, to perform TNR to prevent kittens. A team of 10 trappers could be working an area and all it takes is 1 harbored pregnant mom and suddenly you are dealing with a new litter of reproducers, cats do not discriminate between mating with littermates, parents, etc. All of a sudden that controlled colony explodes with kittens.

It is incredibly disappointing when I see other rescues encouraging births, glorifying births, because while they are making the birth look beautiful, I see every intake through our rescue of those babies behind the scenes, the babies nobody else gets to know about, those babies were the ultimate victims and subjected to suffering, those babies that never asked to be put through that painful short life.

Lets talk pyometra, that cat you think is pregnant may be dying from a deadly uterine infection. If you allow her to "give birth" and she has Pyometra, you are allowing her to die a very painful death.

Our goal at the nursery is to prevent newborn suffering. To achieve this goal, we must start with the moms. Our job here is to provide the care to the little ones who are facing the consequences of irresponsible humans. It is our job to provide education to our community in hopes to create more RESPONSIBLE humans. Spay abort is in the best interest of the cat population and the cats health to all involved. There is nothing more heartbreaking to witness than a newborn kitten fighting for its' life. This is why we advocate for spay abort. If more people witnessed first hand the suffering that happens, I'm willing to bet that many more people would agree. Nature is cruel. Nobody wants do a spay abort, but nobody wants to acknowledge the extreme suffering the little ones experience either. This is why I wrote this post.

Thank you for your support and for trying to understand our reason for turning away a pregnant mom and suggesting immediate spay abort. Our team is trying our best working alongside of partner rescues trying to fight the cat overpopulation crisis. We will NOT be a part of the problem by allowing a birth.

Thank you for your compassion for the little ones and for respecting our perspective. We have held far too many dying kittens to feel otherwise.

Please share this post, advocate for spay abort, educate. Stand up for the newborns who have no voice. Stand up for the mom cats who did not ask to be pregnant.

--Kandice--
Founder, Foxy's Cradle

09/25/2026

Our super team is branching out.

Eren Undem and Zac Undem are available for in home pet and home sitting (anywhere), and drop by pet sitting in central and western Washington County AR.

They are contract pet sitters through Critter Sitter 4 U, a company that has been serving NWA for more than 18 years.

09/25/2026

Amen to ALL of this!!

I have had people scream at me, saying "It's only one kitten!"

Yes, one kitten that *must* have a 2 week quarantine. That cage is now full. It's full if it has an entire litter, or just one kitten. It's full.

Now, imagine the 4 cages we have here at Hope on the Hill as spaces. Once those spaces are full, we have to set up temporary kennels on top of other cages, in our living room, a bathroom, or one of my *adult* kids' rooms. 1 of them has a permanent foster in there already.

Stacking cages doesn't fix the issue. It stresses the cats and makes it MUCH more difficult to properly care for them, and socialize them.

It also means that, when illness happens, they ALL get it. Then come the unexpected vet bills, another intake freeze, because we can't bring healthy cats in and house them with sick cats.

Then the compassion fatigue sets in, when we have to say no, over, and over, and over. We KNOW animals will d i e. We WANT to help, but we have a finite level of resources, and every single rescue is running on fumes right now, space, financial, and emotional fumes.

"Kitten season" here hasn't ended for 2 YEARS. There aren't as many winter kittens, but they are more at risk and often more weak and sickly. We have not been without at least 2 kittens in foster for more than 2 years. 2 is very unusual, it is almost always 6-15 (or a lot more).

With the HUGE amount of low cost (or free) cat spay and neuter services in NWA, this shouldn't be such an overwhelming problem still. It just shouldn't.

If you adopt/buy/bring in an unaltered animal and allow it to breed, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY, period. I know that many people say, "but it's not my cat, just a stray I feed."

Wrong. You took responsibility for it when you started feeding it. Now, instead of having 1 healthy outside cat to feed, you have 7. Then 14, then 30. Now, all of a sudden, it's a problem and SOMEONE HAS TO DO SOMETHING.

That's YOU.
You are someone.
The resources are there, you just have to use them.

In NWA-
NWA Community Cat Project $25 spay/neuter and vaccinations
Friends of Prairie Grove Pound (dog vouchers too)
Spay Arkansas (dogs too)
I'm Your Huckleberry Rescue (dogs too)
Good Shepherd (Eureka Springs) (dogs too)

The River Valley-
Kitties and Canines (dogs too)

Here at Hope On The Hill LLC, we offer a live trap loan program. We have 12 cat appropriate live traps that can be checked out like a library book.

We also have kennels to loan, since every clinic requires that each cat must be in a safe, preferably plastic kennel for their own safety.

Now, this requires a little time and effort. We know that those are luxuries right now and that things are HARD.

We are doing our best to also continue our Senior Pet Foods Program. We are transitioning from our Petsense donations to the new Prairie Grove Tractor Supply Company store as our supplier. We will pick up foods from them, and distribute them to those in need. Right now we are only supplying one area Senior living community, but we hope to expand that program as soon as we can.

Again, it takes a village, and we have the best one.

WE NEED PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING TO RESCUE RIGHT NOW.

We are going to say something that may be difficult to hear.

The number of surrender requests coming into rescues has become absolutely overwhelming, while adoption rates have fallen to painfully low levels.

Every day, our inboxes are filled with requests for cats who need somewhere to go. Cats whose owners are moving. Cats whose owners are getting divorced. Cats whose family has a new baby. Cats who are urinating outside the litter box. Cats who don't get along with another cat. Cats who need expensive medical care. Cats who are elderly. Cats who are fearful. Cats who must be the only pet.

And the heartbreaking truth is:

There simply aren't enough homes.

Rescues cannot magically create foster homes, adopters, or space.

And we need people to understand something particularly important:

Not every cat has a place in rescue.

A cat who must be an only cat is extremely difficult for a foster-based rescue to place. Most foster homes already have resident cats. We cannot put a cat who cannot tolerate other animals into a home where it will be frightened or constantly stressed.

Likewise, there is not an endless supply of safe, appropriate places for sick, medically fragile, or very elderly cats.

Putting a 15- or 16-year-old cat with kidney disease, arthritis, or other age-related conditions into a shelter or rescue environment can be devastating. They lose their familiar home, their person, their routine and everything they know. Then they are surrounded by unfamiliar people, unfamiliar smells and, often, other cats.

What happens?

They become scared.

They stop eating.

Their medical problems worsen.

Their stress increases.

And sometimes they decline incredibly quickly.

Rescue is not always the better option.

Sometimes the kindest thing you can do for an elderly or anxious cat is to keep them in a quiet room in your home, away from other pets, and give them a safe, predictable environment. A cat does not need an entire house to be happy. A quiet room filled with their bed, litter box, food, water, familiar smells and, most importantly, their person can be a wonderful quality-of-life solution.

We also need to talk about responsibility.

We understand that life happens.

We understand that circumstances change.

We understand that people can find themselves overwhelmed.

But when you take an animal into your family, you also take on the responsibility of helping that animal through life's difficult moments.

Before surrendering a cat because of a behavioral or medical issue, please:

1 Talk to your veterinarian. A sudden behavior change may have an underlying medical cause.

2 Research the problem. Litter box issues, aggression, anxiety, inappropriate scratching, introductions between cats and many other issues often have solutions.

3 Give your cat time. Cats do not adjust to major changes overnight.

4 Look at your environment. Sometimes a simple change in routine, separation, enrichment, litter box placement or creating a safe room can make an enormous difference.

5 Ask for help before reaching the crisis point. Your veterinarian, reputable behavior resources and experienced cat people can often provide solutions that don't involve surrender.

And please understand this:

Calling a rescue does not guarantee that we have somewhere for your cat to go.

We can love cats tremendously and still be unable to take them.

We can want to help and still have to say no.

We can understand your circumstances and still not have a safe placement.

This isn't because rescues don't care.

It's because we are full.

Our foster homes are full.
Our adopters are scarce.
Our veterinary expenses are enormous.
Our existing cats still need us.
And every empty spot we have is already needed by another cat.

Meanwhile, there are wonderful, highly adoptable cats sitting in foster homes waiting months for someone to choose them.

That is the part people don't always see.

When adoption rates fall, cats don't simply disappear from the system. They remain in foster care. And as those cats remain, there are fewer spaces available for the next cat who needs help.

The entire system backs up.

We desperately need people to ADOPT.

We need people to FOSTER.

We need people to SPAY AND NEUTER.

And we need people to understand that responsible pet ownership doesn't end when things become difficult.

If you are struggling with your cat, please don't wait until you are desperate. Reach out to your veterinarian. Do your research. Ask questions. Look for solutions.

Because right now, the rescue community is drowning.

And the only way we are going to change this is if we stop treating rescue as the automatic solution to every difficult pet situation and start recognizing that keeping animals in loving homes whenever it is safe and possible is one of the most important forms of rescue there is.

Rescue. Rehabilitate. Rehome. Repeat.

But we cannot do it without the community.

Please adopt. Please foster. Please spay and neuter. And please—when things get difficult—fight for your animals before asking a rescue to take them.

— Richardsons Rescue

09/23/2026

This is why microchipping is critical, even for inside only cats.

09/23/2026

This rumor is ridiculous!

09/23/2026

And so it ends.

THANK YOU for (almost) 3 AMAZING years. We have saved 330 cats in 34 months at Petsense.

This wasn't an "us" effort. It was 100% a "WE" effort.

We have made so many friends, helped so many families find their forever kitty, and (hopefully) made sure that every cat or kitten from us moves forward to love, happiness, and the best possible, a family.

For now, we are taking a breath.

We were offered a new adoption center today. It was so very appreciated, but Laura and Eren's health is taking priority right now. We respectfully declined.

We are going to close for intakes for a while. We will make some decisions, reassess, and figure out how we move forward. We haven't made any firm decisions, except to breathe for a bit.

We still have 3 fosters here at the rescue (also our home). The 2 baby kittens (Betty Lou and Lula Mae) will be available after they are old enough to Vet. Ceres (long term foster, special case) is safe and loved, in Eren's room and her heart.

Thank you for trusting us.
Thank you for believing in us.
Thank you for giving us a chance to learn, grow, and serve.

We couldn't have done it without ALL of you ❤️

09/19/2026

We did it it!!! EVERY adoptable cat available at Petsense by Tractor Supply was adopted today!!! Way to make it happen people!! 5 adoptions!

We will spend the next few days packing up all of our supplies and equipment in, and for, the adoption center. If you see us, stop and say hi.

Remember that Petsense will be open daily through Thursday with HUGE discounts!! Everything is at least 60% off, many items are 70%-80% off. It's a great time to stock up. By Thursday everything will be 90% off!

Eren Undem and I are going to take a break from intakes for a little while. We still have Eren's long term foster Ceres here. We also have adorable babies Lula Mae and Betty Lou. They will just stay here, grow, and get even sweeter, until they are ready for vetting and adoption