(Continued from earlier posts: Part 1 and Part 2)

The ride to the PACCA was traumatic: I noticed the mother shaking and panting heavily in her cage; her tongue lolled out of her mouth. I kept telling her that I was sorry. The kittens were trying to climb out of their box, and I had to reach back several times to push them gently back inside.

When I arrived at the shelter, I asked everyone I could whether or not they thought that the kittens would be put down. One attendant looked at me, pointed to a sign on the wall, and read it out to me. The sign went something like this:

Due to overcrowding, we cannot accept any kittens under two pounds. Kittens weighing less than two pounds are likely to be euthanized.

Please consider providing foster care for your kittens until they reach two pounds.

I kept looking down at those cute kittens in the box. I had come in worried about the mother’s welfare, but now it looked like the entire group of cats might be endangered. A woman emerged from the back room and demanded to know who had brought these kittens in to the shelter. She told me that they were likely to be put down unless I could provide foster care for them, and she pleaded with me to take them in. I asked whether or not I could take only one or two, but she said that I shouldn’t separate the litter.

I couldn’t leave them to an uncertain fate. There wasn’t much I could do for the mother at this point, but it was within my power to save the kittens.

So I agreed to join PACCA’s foster parent program, and to provide foster care for these kittens. I didn’t even have time to clear this with my wife — I just made the decision to take them in.

We’ve now had the kittens in our downstairs bathroom for four and a half days. It has been an immensely rewarding experience so far. The kittens are all cute, friendly, and affectionate.

(click on pictures to enlarge)

When we brought the kittens into our home, they had never tasted food — having only had their mother’s milk, they didn’t even know what food was. They were hungry, but they’d walk up to the food, sniff it, and walk away. We eventually got them to eat wet food by getting them to lick little bits of it off of our fingers. They are now feeding regularly on both wet and dry food, and they all use the litter box.

Unfortunately, they also tend to frolic in the litter box, quite often after using it for other purposes. We’ve done more loads of laundry than I can count in recent days, and I’m constantly cleaning the floor of the room in which they’re living.

But I can’t tell you how happy it makes me when I see all four of these kittens going at their little plates of food! And how amazing it is when they meow at the sight of me, when they close their eyes and purr as I stroke their chins and bellies.

All four of the kittens are absolutely beautiful, and remarkably healthy for having lived outside for so long. We’ve named the two above Nigel (gray and white) and Celene (orange and white).

Nigel has a very special place in my heart, as he is the runt of the litter. He was the last one to eat, and he most needs affection. For a long time, he kept trying to suckle our fingers in search of food. Celene, who has a girl’s name but is actually a boy, is the strongest of the bunch and is amazingly sweet.

We refer to the other two kittens as “the twins.” They both have tiger-like black and yellow-gray stripes. One of them is a little smaller than the other, and a little more shy.

Part of what we’re doing is socializing the cats — getting them used to human contact. This process has made me wonder whether my own cat, Luna, had such a socialization process, because she can be a little resistant to contact. Judging by what I’ve seen so far, I think that all four of these kittens are going to grow up into kittens who love to be held.

We ran into a big issue two nights ago, when we discovered a flea on Nigel. Knowing the problem could spread if we didn’t act quickly, we flea-combed all of them (finding a total of three fleas), and then removed the kittens from the room, which we doused in a diluted bleach solution.

The next day, my wife and I spent a long time flea-combing and shampooing the kittens, and using flea spray and carpet powder on their entire living quarters. We did our last clean-up of the area last night. As of today, none of the kittens have flea dirt on them, so I hope I’ve tackled the problem by going ballistic on it.

Besides that issue, which I hope has been resolved, all of the cats appear to be in perfect health.

We can’t keep the kittens too much longer, so we’re going to give them to another foster family soon (perhaps tomorrow). The work we’re doing for them is amazingly rewarding, and indeed life-saving, but it is also time-consuming.

If you are interested in adopting (or fostering) one of more of the kittens, please get in touch. Before you adopt (and once the kittens have reached two pounds), the PACCA will spay the kittens and give them shots, etc., for the adoption fee of $25. And it’s “buy one get one free” season at the PACCA.

I have to say that these kittens are some of the most adorable felines I’ve ever been around. It’s obvious that they’ve quickly become socialized, as they enjoy attention and have no fear of humans. I would love to find happy homes for them.

I’m still trying to find out what has happened to the mother. If I had to do it all over again, I would have left the family in the backyard for another few weeks, until the kittens were fully grown. I don’t know whether I’ve done the right thing, but I do know that I’ve had the best intentions all along, and I hope that my fostering parenting of these kittens will make it more likely that they will be adopted and loved.

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