Survival of the Kitten-est

A couple months ago Toni got an urgent call from two sisters, Jenny and Becky.  The young women had just rescued a motherless litter of five 2-3 day old kittens that a neighbor found in her backyard. They wanted to know how to care for the newborns.

Toni gave the sisters detailed instructions, but gently prepared them for the worse;  kittens orphaned that young (eyes not yet open!) often don’t live more than a week. She offered the women care supplies and asked them to keep in touch.

For the first 3 days and nights Jenny and Becky took turns feeding the kittens every 2 hours. From day three on, they fed them every 4 hours.

And until day 5, when the sisters got a heating pad without an automatic shut-off, one or the other woke up every 45 minutes to turn back on the automatic shut-off heating pad under the kittens’ bed!

Miraculously, at 5 weeks four of the kittens were very much alive and thriving. “They never had diarrhea or other problems that tiny kittens have, they were just healthy as can be” recalls Toni.

At that point Jenny and Becky were hooked on the rewards of kitten fostering and decided to become official TKR fosters. They took the required class at SFACC, then joined the TKR community.

The four kittens grew big and strong and eventually went up for adoption at SFACC. They are  now in forever homes!

“I told them I’d be surprised if they saved one of those days-old kittens. Yet they saved 4! It’s a real testament to the tireless effort and loving care Jenny and Becky gave to those newborn kittens.”