Last week we took a phone call from a desperate member of the public. He told us that his cat had kittens 10 days ago and up until today she had been feeding them and caring for them. On Saturday mum cat appeared to be rejecting the kittens, wouldn’t feed them and was hiding under the television cabinet. If she was presented with the kittens, she ignored them and wouldn’t let them latch. The owner wasn’t in a position to hand-rear so was reaching out to us for help.

An emergency email went out and one of our fosters offered to go collect the kittens, aware that they might be unwell and this could be the reason for mum cat to be rejecting them. The outlook wasn’t great. When they collected the kittens, they were super hungry and took a hand-feed really well. They looked to be well and we’re a good weight. The foster was worried that mum cat might be unwell but she had gone out so she didn’t see her. She advised the owner of this and he said he would get her to a vet “if she came back”. The foster returned home with the kittens and began the task of 3 hourly feeds and toileting them. The kittens were active, vocal and feeding well.

On Sunday evening the owner messaged for an update on the kittens and said mum had returned and seemed well. She was eating and cuddly but appeared to be looking for her kittens. At that point we knew we had to try and reunite the family. It would give the kittens the best chance of survival if mum would accept them and feed them again. The owner agreed to let mum cat come into foster so that we could see if she would recommence her mummy duties in a quiet and calm environment.

Luna was scared but we took her into the kitten room where she had a little wander round but as soon as she heard her kittens, she went straight to them and began washing them. Within a minute she was allowing them to feed and she hasn’t left them since.