It was about 17 years ago that Hannah Shaw found a black kitten stuck in a tree in a Philadelphia park.
She didn’t know how to care for the little cat, which had one of its eyes sealed shut with an infection — but her friend advised her not to bring it to a local animal shelter, where it could be euthanized for its young age. So she adopted it and named it Coconut, or Coco for short.
It’s the classic story — a kitten rescued after getting stuck in a tree — and it could have ended there. But for Shaw, the moment set her life on a new track, one focused on helping especially young kittens that require around-the-clock specialized care.
“(Coco) was my best friend for 15 years,” Shaw said. “She’s the reason that I opened my eyes to this issue.”
Shaw is now the founder of the Orphan Kitten Club, a San Diego-based nonprofit she started in 2016 dedicated to providing kitten resources to animal shelters around the country, including funding for staffing, kitten formula and medical treatment.
This week, Orphan Kitten Club partnered with the San Diego Humane Society for a three-day workshop for 11 animal shelters to learn techniques for caring for newborn kittens up to eight weeks old, the time in a cat’s life when it’s most vulnerable.
A kitten looks through its crate as part of Kitten Nursery Training Week at the San Diego Humane Society on Thursday, May 7, 2026. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
In 2025, neonatal kittens — under 4 weeks old — accounted for the largest share of cat deaths in animal shelters in the U.S., at 29%, according to Shelter Animals Count data. Weaned kittens, from 4 to 8 weeks old, accounted for another 21%.
“This population has been categorized as unhealthy and untreatable,” Shaw said. “So Orphan Kitten Club exists to change that.”
After Shaw rescued Coco, she became her neighborhood’s go-to whenever a kitten was found in need — so much that she was dubbed “the kitten lady,” a name that has stuck over the years. Entirely self-taught and with a degree in psychology, she’s written several books and offers educational materials on kitten care on her website.
The Orphan Kitten Club’s workshop at the Humane Society this week provided participants an education on several subjects, including how to bottle-train kittens without mothers, tactics for preventing and treating diseases and how to build engagement with foster families for the kittens.
Jackie Noble, executive director of Orphan Kitten Club, takes a closer look at a kitten as part of Kitten Nursery Training Week at the San Diego Humane Society on Thursday, May 7, 2026. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Such kittens are a challenging demographic to care for, Shaw explained. They need to be fed every two hours, and some are so dependent they can’t regulate their own body temperature. They’re especially susceptible to infection, and their rate of decline is faster than an adult cat if they do get sick — so keeping them in a clean environment is also important.
That can be easier said than done, especially at a shelter.
“An animal shelter is where a lot of sick animals go,” Shaw said. “When a baby kitten comes in, it’s kind of like bringing your newborn to a music festival.”
That’s why the Orphan Kitten Club aims to teach animal shelter staff how to support young kittens and give them the best chance at life.
Kitten season — when the most kittens are born — typically lasts during the warmer months from the spring through fall, but in San Diego it can be year-round thanks to the mild weather, Shaw said.
“It’s a really interesting city for kittens,” she said. “We have some of the highest need but also some of the best resources.”
Hannah Shaw, left, helps a volunteer with giving a kitten fluids as part of Kitten Nursery Training Week at the San Diego Humane Society on Thursday, May 7, 2026. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
On Thursday, tiny kittens at the San Diego Humane Society’s kitten nursery were curled up close together, sleeping. A one-week-old kitten, her eyes still shut, snuggled up to her mom, an orange tabby named Nurse Dana that was brought in as a stray. Other larger kittens played with their toys.
The kittens can’t be adopted until they’re eight weeks old, so until then, they have to either stay in the nursery or be fostered by a community member.
Fostering young kittens can be a game-changer since they need regular care and it gives them the chance socialize with other cats.
Shaw encourages people to sign up to be fosters — and to call local organizations like the Feral Cat Coalition to come spay and neuter cats in the community to address the problem at its root. “There’s too many coming in,” she said.
She hopes the Orphan Kitten Club can expand to a point where the work isn’t so needed. She says she does it less for the love of cats — she doesn’t like cats any more than any other animal — than to serve as a bridge to get the kittens stable.
“It’s about recognizing a vulnerable state that somebody is in,” she said. “Once you get to 8 weeks, it’s all smooth sailing. So it’s like building this bridge to get them there. That’s what it’s about for me.”
Newborn kittens seen during Kitten Nursery Training Week at the San Diego Humane Society on Thursday, May 7, 2026. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)