Recently a kind hearted member of the public brought a box into the Sanctuary. Inside were 10 kittens all of which were less than a week old and appeared to have been separated from their mothers over 24 hours previous. She had found this box on waste ground.
As they were only a few days old their chances of survival were considerably less than if they had come to us at 6 to 8 weeks old after having been weaned by their mother.
What was required was feeding around the clock, initially at 2 hour intervals with a specially formulated cat milk substitute.
The kittens seemed to be in two distinct groups. There were 6 that seemed to be a day or two older than the other four or had come from a mother that was healthier than the mother of the other 4. We didn’t give these last 4 very much chance of survival.
That was all 7 weeks ago. The kittens were split into what we thought were their sibling groups and cared for. All the time we expected to lose a few as they hadn’t had the benefit of their mothers immunity through their milk. However I am very proud to say that after seven weeks of intensive care all the kittens are alive and thriving. The first six of these will be available for viewing by their prospective new families this Saturday.
Hand reared kittens learn very early in their lives to interact with people. They will not be cautious around humans, in fact they will be even more adventurous than the usual kittens.
The Sanctuary opens at 10.00 am. If anyone wants a new friend for their family should come to Bleakholt on Saturday. We expect there to be a rush for these kittens so people are advised to come early.
The last part of this story is that the Animal 24/7 team from the BBC have been following these kittens since their arrival. There will be a film crew here to continue their coverage of the miracle kittens.
For more information about Bleakholt Animal Sanctuary please visit
www.bleakholt.org.uk
