Alivia Smith has fostered kittens since she was 4 years old. She was featured as the Humane Hero in the May/June issue of “Kind News.”
Alivia Smith and her family use their love of animals to give back to community
Alivia Smith reads to kittens to help them with socialization and to improve her reading skills.
LAURINBURG — Rising fifth-grader Alivia Smith has always had a love for animals.
It started when she was four, and her family started fostering kittens.It was fostering and other activities that led to her being featured as the Humane Hero in the May/June issue of “Kind News.”
It is a children’s magazine published by RedRover, a national animal welfare nonprofit.
“It was pretty cool,” said Alivia Smith about being featured in the magazine.
With help from her family (mother Alice, father Ryan, and brother Drew), she has fostered more than 100 kittens and adult cats.
Alivia Smith, who lives in Laurinburg and attends Marlboro Academy, shows her love for animals in her care for the kittens and has seven cats, three dogs, two fish and a hamster.
“We are animal lovers,” she said.
Alice Smith said it started years ago with orphan kittens that needed to be bottle-fed.
“We did a couple of litters by ourselves with taking them to the vet, getting them vaccinated, vetted, and finding owners,” she said.
They soon realized they couldn’t keep rescuing if they couldn’t find people to adopt them.
A friend, Emmie Beck, in Bennettsville, suggested they talk with Stephanie Jones at the Marlboro County Animal Shelter about fostering cats and helping with some costs.
The Smiths take kittens, and some older, from the shelter for two weeks or longer.
The Humane Society of Marlboro supplies all of the medications, and the Smiths bring the felines for their veterinarian care.
Alice Smith said they have graduated from doing bottle feeding to being able to help the sicker kittens.
“The shelter only has staff there so many hours a day,” she said. “We can feed them multiple times throughout the day and give meds three or four times a day depending on what is happening.”
Typically, the family fosters kittens in the 2-3-week-old to 6-8-week-old range.
“These are the ones who need hands-on treatment,” Alice Smith said.
For most of May, they cared for three 12–14-week-old feral kittens to get them socialized.
“We were able to get all three friendly enough,” Alice Smith said. “I think they will be able to go to a rescue.”
Currently, they are fostering a female cat found at Scotland Memorial Hospital. The very friendly cat was also pregnant and just had three kittens.
The goal is to keep her until the kittens are 6-8 weeks old.
Alivia Smith admitted it is hard to say goodbye to the kittens they fostered.
Alice Smith added they adopted two cats that they had fostered.
“We couldn’t get rid of them,” she said. “But we know if we keep keeping them, we can’t help others.”
In addition to fostering, they volunteered at the shelter, helped with a baby shower for kitten season, and participated in the 24-hour sleepover at the shelter to raise money.
And as much as the Smiths have helped kittens, the felines have helped them.
Alivia Smith and her little brother read to them, which helps the kittens get socialization and helps them to improve their reading skills.
“It is so nice because they just lay there and listen,” she said.
Alivia Smith encouraged people to foster kittens.
“The orphans always need help, especially if they are little, because they can’t go to the bathroom by themselves yet, can’t control their body heat, and can’t eat without their mama,” she said.
Marlboro County Animal Shelter Director Stephanie Jones appreciates Alivia Smith and her family.
“Alivia and her mom Alice mostly take on some of our harder cases such as neonatal orphan kittens that need bottle feeding, ones sick in some way, or behavioral kittens that are feral,” Jones said. “They are always up for any challenges.”
She added they were very detail-oriented and skilled at caring for fragile kittens.
In addition to fostering cats, Alivia Smith participates in gymnastics and softball.
Alivia Smith said she wanted to be a veterinarian when asked about her future career goal.
RedRover, which publishes “Kind News,” has helped the Marlboro County Animal Shelter through its “Unchain Marlboro” program. RedRover Responders arrived in the county for a fourth time in April to help unchain 10 dogs, relocated one dog, repair an enclosure for two pups, and build a bigger space for a rabbit.
RedRover also participated in a free wellness clinic in which 114 animals were provided vaccines, food, flea/tick prevention, and pet I.D. tags.
For information on fostering cats or donating to the Humane Society of Marlboro County, visit humanesocietyofmarlboro.org or call 843-479-3330.
Jacqueline Hough is the editor of the Herald-Advocate and Pee Dee Life Magazine. She can be reached at jhourg@heraldadvocate.com.