What do their teeth look like? Deciduous (baby) teeth start to come in around 3 weeks of age in kittens, and their permanent adult teeth start to come in between 3 and 4 months of age. The middle incisors are the first to come in around 14 weeks of age, with the second and third incisors following shortly after at approximately 15 weeks and 16 weeks respectively. This is a particularly helpful guideline, as you can use body weight –which you will learn about in Part II—and the presence of these adult teeth to know that a kitten is old enough to receive his or her rabies vaccination!

Photo: Stephanie Janeczko, DVM, MS, Dipl. ABVP (Canine/Feline)

Kitten teeth are tiny, and it can be tricky to tell if the incisors are baby teeth or the permanent adult teeth. It’s easiest when you have some of both to serve as a comparison, like in this picture. Remember that the baby teeth are a little smaller with pointed tips (think of how sharp puppy teeth can be!), while the permanent teeth are a little wider with flat edges. Because the first two incisors in this kitten are permanent teeth and the third incisors are still baby teeth, we would estimate his age at approximately 15 weeks – and expect him to weigh just under 4 pounds!

Meet you back here next week for Part II—it’ll be worth the, er, weight!
Related links:
“Tip of the Week: Kitten Season Prep Starts Now”
“Tip of the Week: Testing for FeLV/FIV? Don’t Take Your Pick of the Litter”

Check out our new video to see what the game is all about:

Visit the new Play the Length of Stay Game section on our website for a bonanza of tools and resources to help you decrease LOS—from complete instructions for playing the game to a Daily Population workbook.

He was a chatty guy and he proceeded to tell me about his experience – it was quite eye-opening, and I suspect there may be some nuggets for you if your organization handles strays.

He first noted that he went to the animal services website, which has an extensive lost and found section, and he clicked on the “Lost Pets” section to search the pictures of dogs. He said it took him awhile in his panicked state to realize these were not pets that the shelter had in their care, but instead other folks like him who had lost their pet and were posting pictures in hopes finders would make a match.  It was so interesting to hear his perspective of what that “lost” label would mean.

He then found the page that showed the photos of the animals who were strays at animal services.  He saw a dog on the site late in the afternoon yesterday that looked a little bit like his dog, but, he said, the picture was tiny and blurry so it was very hard to see.  So he read the description, which listed the dog as an unspayed female shepherd mix and his heart fell–his dog was a spayed hound mix.  He continued his search.

When he came to the house to do the work for us, he had just received the call from the shelter telling him they had his dog – as she had a chip and they could track her back to him.  That “unspayed shepherd mix” he saw on the site yesterday was in fact his spayed hound mix!

I thought there were a few opportunities to share from this story –

1. Try some usability testing on your lost and found pages – is it intuitive? Can folks navigate it easily? Do they understand the labels?
2. Check those photos – is each photo clear enough so that someone can see if that dog or cat is their dog or cat?
3. Avoid definitive identification for breed mixes – while he may look like a shepherd mix, that owner may not see him as such and dismiss that dog as potentially his. Instead, think about focusing on identifying features – e.g., a black spot on the top of his head or scar on his cheek – as opposed to using breed mix ID
4. If it is not clear if the dog or cat is spayed, it is better to use a label of unknown than to guess.
5. Make sure microchip scans are conducted at intake and that the wand is passed low and slow and more than once to best assure quick reunites
6. Think about doing some follow up interviews with those who found their pets through you – what could have been improved?

Have you made improvements to your lost and found section? Has it made a difference on your RTO?

Related links:
“Old and New Ways to Find Lost Animals”
Webinar recording: “How to Boost Return-to-Owner Rates”

P.S. Got a guess? Please share in the comment box!

Here are some of the clever counters we’ve, well, encountered:

A fun take on lifesaving from Virginia Beach SPCA! The play on words along with the visual sends a powerful message—and lets adopters know how important they are to the homeless animals in the community.

On display in sequential order over at Houston Humane Society: A paw print with the name of every animal adopted and his new pet parent. Each of these is featured on HHS’ Facebook page, too. Setting a numeric goal and sharing regular updates gets your supporters excited to check back and see how you’re doing, motivates staff and keeps everyone accountable and invested in keeping those numbers growing.

Case in point: Looks like Mobile County Animal Shelter is turning up the heat with their counter…”We LOVE to see these numbers GROW!” the AL agency told their Facebook fans. “So far we have had 39 lives saved during the $100K Challenge…only 38 more to go to reach our weekly goal!”

Not only does each new adopter at Pasco County Animal Services Adoption Partners get a photo op in front of this sign, but they get their 15 minutes on Facebook in this photo album, 100K Challenge Lives Saved. What a wonderful way to make adopting an animal a never-forget experience!

And it’s important to share those numbers everywhere—in your enewsletters, in communications to adopters and supporters…Regional Animal Services of King County also posted their tally on their website.

Each adopter at Unicoi County Animal Services gets a photo op with this sign – and “We saved a life” versions are available for couples and families!

Great idea from Washington Rescue Animal League to use a chalkboard – looks awesome, and makes it super simple to swap out the numbers:

P.S. We have a counter, too! Click over to the 2013 ASPCA Rachael Ray $100K Challenge website to catch the latest number representing the lives saved as reported by the contestants to date.

Check back here next week for the next installment of our “Keeping Up With the Contestants” series!

Related Links:

2013 ASPCA Rachael Ray $100K Challenge website
2013 $100K Kick-Off: Records Broken, Hearts Melted