What could have been a heartbreaking separation of a mother and her four kittens turned out to be a heartwarming reunion as workers at Wrenn Rescues in Ventura, Calif., helped reunite them. The small kittens, seemingly abandoned by their mother, were moved 80 miles away so they could get the special care they needed.
Love Meow reported that homeowners in Downey, Calif., found four 10-day-old kittens in their front yard. The mother cat spooked and ran off during the capture of the kittens, so only the kittens made it to a local shelter. Unable to give the kittens the care they needed, shelter workers reached out for help.
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No local foster families could care for the kittens, but all was not lost, even though the new source of help meant moving the kittens 80 miles. "Thankfully, the networking group got them out safely, and a wonderful woman named CJ transported them all the way out to Ventura County, California, to us," Alissa Smith, cofounder of Wrenn Rescues, told Love Meow.
Bottle feedings began in earnest, with volunteer Ashley doing the night feedings and Wrenn Rescues cofounder Jennifer Hurt doing the daytime ones.
Luckily, the kittens were in good shape. "The kittens were very obviously well taken care of by their cat mama. When orphaned kittens land into the shelter, they don't usually see their mama again," Smith said.
The East Bay SPCA recommends that people who find "abandoned" kittens leave them where they are and watch for the mother. Often, the mother cat is out looking for food, sometimes for hours, and will return for the kittens, moving them frequently. If the kittens get moved, she cannot find them.
That is what happened with these little ones. When the homeowners got back, the mother cat had returned and was looking for her kittens. They caught the cat and took her to the shelter. The next day, she and her kittens were reunited.
The mother cat was rattled, thanks to being out of her normal surroundings, and she refused to come out of the carrier at first.
"I held a baby up to her, and she visibly calmed down," Ashley told Love Meow. "We coaxed her out of the carrier with it. She went right over and curled up in the middle of her kittens, purring. They all went right to her, and started nursing."
Although the Wrenn Rescues cofounders were prepared to hand-feed the kittens until they were weaned, the reunion between the mom and her kittens was the better solution and sweet to watch. "I don't think we have ever seen something so heartwarming," Smith told Love Meow.
The mom and kittens were placed with a foster family where they could receive all the love and attention they needed as they grew. Eventually, all four kittens were ready to find permanent homes.
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