Cat Left Kittens On Family's Porch, Then Comes Back With More 2 Months Later
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Life is hard for a mother cat in the wild. They're all on their own, about half the population hates them just for existing, and they have to fight hard to survive on the streets while caring for a litter of babies. One such feral cat had to leave her kittens, as is often the reality, but she was hardly gone for good. When she returned, a pair of Good Samaritan humans was shocked to see she wasn’t alone.
First Cat
Meggie and her boyfriend began caring for animals in need in 2014. It started when they took in the cat Zelda, who was about to be abandoned by a breeder. The couple's compassion for animals knew no bounds, and the next thing they knew, they were surrounded by rescues.
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Planned Fosterhood
After Zelda, the couple took in two pit bulls. Looking to make an even bigger difference, Meggie volunteered for the local cat rescue One Cat At A Time in their hometown of Quebec, Canada. She learned the ropes of taking care of strays, but nothing would prepare her for what was to come.
In Comes A Storm
Living in Quebec for some time, the couple was used to the flooding season in the spring. However, the flooding in April of 2019 was particularly terrible. Homeowners had water up to their knees, and for Meggie, it also brought some unexpected guests to her doorstep.
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Little Surprises
Meggie placed a winter box on her porch as a shelter for strays in her neighborhood, so granted, it wasn’t a surprise to find the occasional cat taking refuge inside. But in the wake of the flood, she discovered something out of the ordinary — three small kittens. Believing the mother would come back for them, she left them inside.
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One Kitten Left
Meggie kept an eye on the newborns, but soon she noticed that two of the kittens were gone, presumably taken by the mother. They waited to see if she’d return for the lone kitten who was left behind, but she never came back. At that point, Meggie knew she had to intervene.
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Forced To Act
The time to wait for the mother to return had passed. Meggie and her boyfriend decided to take matters into their own hands and bring the kitten inside. While she bottle-fed the hungry newborn, Meggie’s boyfriend noticed something that raised another alarm of concern.
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Sad Discovery
"My boyfriend found them scattered in another spot in my yard. They were out in the open, and the cat mom never came back for them,” Meggie told the site Love Meow. Luckily, the mother had selected the right person’s yard. They took in the other kittens and made sure everyone was fed. That night, they slept soundly together.
Diligent Work
Needing round the clock care, including feeding every two hours, Meggie had her hands full for the next few weeks. When the needy kittens made it to around 8 weeks old, they could start to live on their own. As their bond grew, she gave each of the kittens a name to match their personalities.
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Becoming Close
They named the kittens Trunks, Runty, and Saria, and as they grew, they became as energetic and playful as other cats their age. The animal-loving couple’s hands were just as full as their hearts, but they never stopped looking out for the mother cat’s return.
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Unexpected Return
Meggie continued to foster other animals even with all she had to care for at home. Though ultimately, her dedication was tested when the mother cat came back and this time, she wasn’t alone. She was flanked by four more newborn kittens! Just as before, the mama cat promptly disappeared, leaving her litter behind.
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Setting a Trap
Both Meggie and her boyfriend had a hunch they'd be seeing the mother cat yet again, and that she’d probably continue to have babies if she wasn’t spayed. Hoping to end the cycle of finding litters of kittens on their property, they decided to set a trap.
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Caught a Mother
It didn’t take long for them to catch the mother cat once and for all. While Meggie was thrilled by their capture, the mother cat was anything but. As the case with most feral cats, she was not accustomed to dealing with humans, so taking her indoors was a much more difficult transition.
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Hard to Trust
Untrusting and mean-spirited towards people, the mother cat would not let them close. Meggie set up a room just for her and her babies and found that although she was terribly unfriendly, she was a terrific mom.
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Unwavering Crankiness
Unable to escape, the mother cat focused on taking care of her kittens. Comfortably fed, she at least didn't have to worry about hunting in the wild anymore. Her aversion to humans didn't change much, especially when she when it was time for her trip to the vet.
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Medical Care
Life on the street came with its own medical complications, so the veterinarian gave the cranky mother cat and her kittens the full work up to bring them up to health. Most importantly, the mother cat was fixed. When all was said and done, she started to realize she was in a safe space, but her attitude didn't change too quickly.
Great Honor
The mother cat extended a great honor to Meggie, allowing her to sit close by without getting swatted or hissed at. Her second litter of kittens grew, just as spritely and healthy as Trunks, Runty, and Saria. Having a safe home inside, even if temporary, might’ve made the difference for their survival.
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Time to Move On
Having the mother cat and two of her litters together was a special moment in Meggie’s foster rescue journey, but the time had come to get everyone settled elsewhere in forever families. Though, as many animal lovers will attest, saying goodbye to every kitty proved impossible.
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Part of the Family
Prior to taking in the second batch of kitties, two of the first litter, the bonded brothers, Trunks and Runty, left a permanent mark on the family and the rest of their pets. Meggie decided to keep them as part of her growing zoo of furry friends. As for their sister Saria, she was taken care of too.
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New Lives
Saria was adopted into a loving home that keeps Meggie updated on her happy life. In addition, the four kittens each were adopted out to new families. As for their once-so-fierce mother, she too learned to love human contact and went to a new home of her own. At Meggie's, Trunks and Rusty took on an important job.
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Tuff Job
Aside from their main job of getting chin scratches and lots of love, Runty and Trunks help their human mother Meggie welcome and care for new foster kittens as they intermittently stay before heading off to their new families.
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Expert Foster
The expert foster mom fondly refers to her household as “Meggie’s Little Zoo." She continues to welcome rescue animals into her home, including newborn kittens, which puts her into an elite tier of experienced fosters. Most people who end up with stray cats in their yard are unprepared for the work it entails.
Someone At The Door
That was the case when a cat first wandered into Erin Breean and her boyfriend Landon's yard. At first, the furry stranger only showed up a few times a week. Eventually, though, the visitor began making more frequent appearances.
Tentative Beginnings
The cat kept a careful distance. It climbed on the steps of their porch and stared as they tried to coo him closer. From his lack of collar, they suspected he was a stray.
Baby Steps
Slowly but surely, the kitty allowed them to scratch its exposed belly. If their hands wandered elsewhere, the cat reacted skittishly. Erin put food and water on the porch for her new friend in an attempt to gain his trust.
Growing Attached
Treat bribes paid off. The cat let his guard down, following them around dutifully. Despite their better judgment, they became smitten with the hefty kitten, whom Landon nicknamed Kevin. Before they made a rash decision, they had to have him scanned for a microchip.
Potential Past
If Kevin was microchipped, there was a chance that he had a family that might be looking for him. Erin and Landon needed confirmation that weren't taking someone else's pet. So, they had to stealthily corner Kevin to bring him to the vet.
Luring Him In
For four days, they tried to capture him. But Kevin didn't fall for tricks. All on his own, he wandered into Erin’s office behind her. They promptly whisked him off to the vet’s office for some answers.
Timely Arrival
Kevin entered Erin and Landon’s lives at precisely the right time. A few months prior, they’d suffered a tragic loss when their cat Max ran away. Given their grief, they knew how important it was to pinpoint Kevin’s background.
Big News
Ultimately, the vet found no trace of a microchip in Kevin. They did, however, clear up a rather amusing wrong assumption made by Landon and Erin. It turned out that Kevin was female!
Bigger News
That wasn't all, though. The next news the vet delivered totally blew the first development out of the water. After giving Kevin a quick assessment, the vet was able to tell that Kevin was also incredibly pregnant!
No Time To Waste
Erin and Landon were shown Kevin’s X-rays, where they saw the outlines of four to five little kittens. Frankly, they were shocked, but didn’t have long to dwell on it. According to the vet, Kevin could have gone into labor as soon as that night.
Too Late
While taking care of a pregnant cat was totally out of Erin and Landon’s comfort zone, they were already in too deep at this point. Kevin had weaseled her way into their hearts and a belly full of kittens made her all the more endearing.
Winning Over The Dog
There was one other major hoop to jump through — Erin and Logan's dog Murphy. They'd initially hesitated to let Kevin inside their house because they weren't sure how either of them would react.
Preparing For Labor
Thankfully, Murphy treated a pregnant Kevin like family. Erin and Landon set up a comfortable space for Kevin to give birth. Every second ticked by with anticipation, and they attempted to squeeze in as much last-minute cat labor research.
Kevin's Big Day
Four days later, kitten time arrived! They’d converted their tub into a birthing nest and watched as Kevin greeted four precious kittens into the world. All their worries vanished after seeing Kevin expertly nurse her babies.
A Natural Mama
Erin explained how rewarding it was witnessing Kevin switch into mama mode: "From the first time we spotted her in the green belt to today on our couch, she talks nonstop. She has full conversations with her kittens, which is cute to hear from the other room.”
Murphy Approves
Even Murphy got hooked in by the cuteness. He was allowed to meet them after five days, and as Erin detailed, “He is obsessed with her kittens, and the kittens love to climb all over him, pounce on his tail, and sneak up and stalk him.”
A Plan For The Kittens
While Erin and Landon were happy to help Kevin and her newborns, they weren’t prepared to add five kitties to their family. So, they contacted Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter, which set them up on a track to foster the babies.
Sticking Together
When they were old enough, the kittens were adopted in pairs, much to Erin and Landon’s delight. It meant a lot knowing the siblings were going to grow up together in loving forever homes.
Long Term Kevin
For Kevin though, it was already too late. Erin and Landon had long since fallen in love with her. There was no way they could say goodbye to their little surprise bringer, so she stayed put as part of the family.
Stepping In To Help
If Erin and Landon hadn't taken Kevin to the vet, who knows what would have happened to her litter of kittens? They were relieved their experience played out a bit differently than that of one man who spotted some kittens in danger along his route to work.
Hamdan Shibli
In the middle of the road, Hamdan Shibli spotted three small animals huddled together on the ground, clearly lost and abandoned. Before he could formulate a true plan of action, however, he discovered the animals were not what they appeared to be.
Road Cats
After discovering the kittens in the middle of the road Hamdan knew he had to do something. With their mother nowhere in sight, the Israeli man decided he had to move them to safety.
Pulling Over
Hamdan put them in some roadside bushes in case their mother returned, and he planned to come back to check on them. He could only hope that the baby animals would still be there when he returned.
Details
But after he posted pictures of the kitties online, he was shocked to discover that he was completely wrong about the animals he found. There was a key detail that he'd missed about those them...
Jungle Cats!
They were actually jungle cats, a wild species indigenous to Asia! Learning this, Hamdan returned the next day to the bush where he'd left them. Their mom still wasn't there, and he decided it was time to take action.
The kittens were all sick and had lots of ticks. Clearly, they desperately required medical attention, so Hamdan placed them in a basket and went for help. The clock was ticking.
Hamdan's efforts were noble, but odds were against the jungle cats. Tragically, one of the three kittens didn't make it. As the others kept fighting, Hamdan hoped that the worst was behind them.
In a last-ditch attempt to stop any more senseless loss of life, Hamdan made a series of phone calls. He breathed a sigh of relief when he finally hung up. Help was just around the corner.
Hamdan handed the kitties off to vets at a wild animal hospital. With the cats' survival out of his hands, he could only wait for them to recuperate. In addition, Hamdan wanted some more answers about how exactly they wound up in the middle of a dusty road.
As luck would have it, the veterinarians provided Hamdan with some answers about the animals. At the clinic, tests determined that both of the surviving kittens were male and no older than 5 weeks.
Of course, knowing more about their backgrounds would mean nothing if the kittens didn't survive. The vets gave the kittens fluids and a milk substitute in order to nourish them back to full health.
They needed to help the kittens gain weight so that they could eventually be reintroduced back into the wild. The veterinarians feared that if they went back out in their current state, they wouldn't last against the elements.
Little by little, the jungle cats began to regain their strength. Soon they were able to eat solid food. That was without a doubt a positive sign for their re-entry into their natural ecosystem.
Things were looking good. With the kittens' appetites returning out of nowhere, eating actually became a favorite hobby of theirs! Hamdan, hearing the good news, expected that they were truly turning a corner.
Continuing to grow in size, the animals began to play with one another on a more regular basis. They were now behaving like normal young jungle cats — not like starved creatures on the brink of death.
As meat became a more prominent part of the cats' diet, the vets felt it was a sign they'd soon be capable of hunting for their own food. They were getting closer and closer to being able to return to the wild. And there was no better time than the present!
While the jungle cat isn't endangered worldwide, there are only about 600 in Israel where these kittens were found. Once these two males entered the wild, they would play a key role in the next generation.
It's a miracle that Hamdan just happened upon these little guys before it was too late. A tear of joy ran down his face when he got the good news that the jungle cats were back out in nature, where they belonged.
Animal lover Hamdan would've no doubt been excited to hear the story that took place on an industrial construction site in Montréal just a few years later.
There, in September of 2017, a man reported for duty on an industrial construction site. He thought it would be like any other day—except, this time, something was different. This time, he would make a discovery that would change the way he saw his job forever...
That morning he happened to spot a litter of kittens crying out for their mother. With no mom in sight, he decided to take them in and care for them. He knew an industrial construction site was no place for them to be!
It took most of his day trying to round up all of the kittens. In fact, he had to make multiple trips to collect them all. He worried that some might've slipped away, but he took comfort in the fact that he did the best that he could.
Once the kittens were secured, he contacted a rescue organization named Chatons Orphelins Montréal (COM). Their mission is to provide all of the help and support they can to the stray cats of Montréal, and they did the city a tremendous service.
"The gentleman managed to catch six kittens. One of them was immediately adopted by a family," said a representative from COM about the rescued kittens. "The guy knew that the other five needed help, so he brought them to us."
After providing them with medical treatment, COM employees estimated that the kittens were only about seven weeks old. Though a few had parasites, their conditions were treatable and soon they were all back in good health. There was something odd about two of the kittens, though...
These kittens had extra toes! This was the result of a condition called polydactylism, or hyperdactyly. This is an inherited abnormality caused when one gene in the cat doesn't develop properly. Thankfully, it's not serious. In fact, some people think it's lucky!
Polydactyl cats can have as many as eight toes on each foot, and as a result of their condition, their entire paw can seem to be much larger than that of the average cat. Interestingly, this condition usually only affects their front two paws.
Although it's rare, the condition can affect a cat's back paws, as well. The Guinness World Record holder for the number of toes on a cat is a Canadian polydactyl kitty called Jake; he has a whopping 28 toes total!
COM wasn't put off by these kittens' special features, and the staff was more excited than ever to help the entire litter find a home. "There are two females and three males," they said. "Chaplin (black, male), Vinny (tiger, male), Muslie (gray, female), Alpha (gray, male) and Zia (gray, female)."
The kittens were immediately placed into foster care. "The five little kittens went to their foster home with Isabelle to continue their weaning and socialization," said a representative from COM. "The little ones were very active, friendly and playful."
Once they had a roof over their heads, the kittens felt comfortable enough to really let their personalities show. Alpha, one of the polydactyl kittens, revealed himself to be the calmest of the litter, loving nothing more than a good nap or cuddle.
Zia, meanwhile, proved herself to be the most social of the five. Sure, she enjoyed time spent playing with her siblings, but if things got a little too exciting, she would seek comfort in the lap of the closest person that she could find.
Muslie, the other polydactyl kitten, was the most playful of them all. She couldn't resist any toy that came her way, especially those covered in feathers! She also loved to launch sneak attacks against her siblings. It looked like she was shaping up to be one heck of a hunter, huh?
Vinny was the kitten with the biggest passion for stirring up trouble. He might love his brothers and sisters, but that didn't mean he wouldn't pounce on them or steal a toy or wreck some other kind of havoc just to keep things interesting.
Of course, Vinny needed a partner in crime, and he found that in his brother Chaplin! While all of the kittens got along with each other, the bond that Chaplin and Vinny shared was truly one of a kind. They loved to shake things up!
The kittens were doing so well in foster care that the team at COM decided they were ready to find new forever homes. No one could argue that it was something each and every one of these silly kitties deserved.
COM uploaded all of their photos to their Facebook page, and in a matter of weeks, they had been adopted! Just think: without the intervention of that hero on the construction site, these unusual kittens might never have had a chance.
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