Surrogate Mama Zoey to the The Rescue!

Saturday evening I got a panicked phone call from one of our foster moms. Her daughter had rescued a litter of six kittens who were fading fast because their mama was too sick to look after them.

At just 3 weeks old, even a day without nutrients put them in jeopardy. The woman and her daughter did their best to try and bottle feed them, but the kittens weren't eating and by Sunday things were looking grim. One of the kittens had already died.

So, I contacted the family fostering mama Zoey to see if they'd be willing to take the litter and see if Zoey would "adopt" the kittens and nurse them. Zoey's own kittens are now 8 weeks old and have just been adopted, so she is still in mama mode but only had 3 of her own babies, so taking on 5 was a tall order. It was a long shot with no guarantee of success - and if Zoey rejected them, then the 5 struggling kittens would need to be bottle-fed, which is a full-time job.

Thankfully, Zoey instantly joined the babies and started caring for them as soon as she heard the desperate little cries. She is caring for the kittens like they were her own - one of the sweet miracles of nature (and cats). They were pretty hungry, so are still getting a bit of supplement, but are loving the comfort of being with Zoey.

Hopefully, these little kittens will thrive and go on to find loving homes just like Zoey's babies did!

-Alanna