To manage kitten season with rescue software, set up your fosters, litters and care schedules before the rush, then let the software handle reminders, placements and adoptions as volume climbs. PawPlacer does this for free, with no per-adoption fees, so your busiest months never raise your software bill.
Every spring and summer, rescues take in more kittens than at any other time. Litters arrive needing bottle feeding, fosters fill up, vaccine schedules overlap and adoption applications pile up. The rescues that handle it best are the ones that prepared their systems before the first litter arrived.
This guide from the PawPlacer team walks through preparing for and running kitten season in PawPlacer.
At a Glance
- Before the rush: recruit and approve fosters, set capacity limits and fee rules.
- At intake: link littermates and log starting weights.
- During care: feeding schedules, dose schedules, weight logs and recurring reminders.
- At adoption: applications, AI matching and QR checkout.
- Cost: $0, with no per-adoption fees at any volume.
1. Recruit and Approve Fosters Early
Open foster applications through your public profile and website widget. Applicants arrive in a pending queue, where coordinators approve them, move them into training or decline them.
Set a capacity limit for each foster home so PawPlacer can show who has room and block assignments that would overfill a home.
2. Set Fee Rules Before Adoptions Start
Set adoption fee rules by species and age, so kitten fees apply automatically. Add discounts for pairs or health conditions, and use per-pet overrides or waivers for special cases.
3. Link Littermates at Intake
When a litter arrives, link the kittens on the family tab so they stay connected through foster placement and adoption. Bonded companions are included automatically when you select one for an assignment.
4. Log Weights From Day One
Record starting weights and keep logging them. Weight logs show steady gains or flag a kitten who is falling behind.
5. Put Care on a Schedule
Per-pet feeding schedules, food and supplement inventory with low-stock alerts and prescriptions with dose schedules keep care consistent across many foster homes. Recurring care, like dewormers and vaccines, creates reminders on the dashboard and calendar.
6. Keep Coordinators on Top of the Work
Kanban task boards and a unified calendar show medical care, meet and greets, transports and volunteer shifts in one place. A role-aware dashboard highlights what is due today.
7. Get Kittens Seen
Each kitten can have up to 24 photos and videos, and AI pet description writing helps draft bios quickly. Eligible kittens sync to Petfinder and Adopt-a-Pet, are shared with GetBuddy automatically and appear on your website through the adoptable pets widget.
8. Move Applications Quickly
Applications land in an applicant inbox that keeps each person's submissions and emails together. AI matching ranks compatible adopters, and QR checkout lets adopters sign, add a donation and pay on their phone.
9. Review the Season
After the rush, use the outcomes and length of stay dashboards to see how the season went, and export reports for your board and funders.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does PawPlacer charge more during busy months?
No. PawPlacer has no per-adoption fees, tiers or usage limits.
Can fosters see feeding and medication schedules?
Fosters and staff can see schedules based on their role and permissions, and doses can be marked as given.
Can we keep littermates together?
Yes. Littermates and bonded companions are linked on the family tab and included together in placements.
Get Started With PawPlacer
PawPlacer helps rescues handle kitten season with linked litters, care schedules, foster capacity and fast adoptions, all free.
Create your free PawPlacer account today, before the first litter arrives.