When A Mother Cat Becomes Ill, A Stray Cat Steps In To Help Raise The Newborns
Something went horribly wrong after a cat named Church gave birth to a litter of five kittens.
In those first few seconds on Earth, the little kittens needed their mother’s love and care more than anything, but Church was sick from a prolapsed uterus, leaving her in serious condition. Church’s owner called the MSPCA-Angell shelter to ask if they could aid her kittens since she needed to be taken to the hospital.
In a statement, Alyssa Krieger, the shelter’s community engagement coordinator, said, “Church’s owner was unable to come to our clinic, so we went to the home and grabbed her and the newborn kittens and raced them back to the adoption facility.” “Because they couldn’t eat, the kittens were weak and underweight.”
Fortunately, a 2-year-old orange tabby cat called Betty was waiting for a home in the shelter. But she was much more willing to assist.
“Betty was dumped in an apartment complex, and some Good Samaritans took her in for approximately a month,” Krieger told The Dodo. “It’s conceivable she had kittens over a month ago and was still nursing a little bit, but there’s also possible it was a hormonal reaction — which is uncommon but not unheard of.”
Betty immediately began washing the babies’ silky gray fur and protectively placing her orange paws around them when she first saw them. Krieger added, “She spent the next two days caring for all five babies until Church was back on her feet and ready to be with her kittens again.”
Church was reunited with her kittens once she was strong enough. But, after everything she’d been through, she couldn’t produce enough milk to feed all those tiny hungry mouths. Betty continued to nurse three of the kittens to assist Church.
“Neither cat could provide enough milk for all five kittens, but we were relieved to discover that each could sustain half of the litter. Krieger described the incident as “really a communal effort.”
“Having a mom cat that can take over kitten care for another is quite unusual for us, and we frequently have to resort to bottle-feeding kittens,” Krieger noted. “However, we were fortunate that Betty was able and ready to help.”
Betty and one of the kittens were placed in a foster home, while Church and the other four kittens returned to their family. The kittens will be available for adoption once they reach the age of ten weeks. And once the final kitten is weaned from Betty, the hero cat will still be looking for a home.