A cat was found on the doorstep of a home in the nick of time so her kittens could have a roof over their heads.
Early this month, Jin’s Bottle Babies, an animal rescue in Phoenix, Arizona, was contacted about a cat who had been left on a doorstep while she was in active labor.
The homeowners helped the cat through her delivery but were worried as she was very stressed and unable to nurse her kittens. “My gut was saying to intake them and figure out the details later, so we did,” Shelbi Uyehara, the founder of Jin’s Bottle Babies, told us.
Shelbi’s husband, Brandon, set up a nursery spot for the cat family, and they arranged transport to bring them into their rescue.
The kittens were cold upon arrival, so Brandon placed them in an incubator to warm them up. Once their body temperatures were regulated, he supplemented them with a bottle and placed them back with their momma, who was understandably still terrified and guarded after the long ordeal.
With a quiet room and a comfortable, warm nest, the cat mother slowly began to relax. “Brandon set up a camera so he could watch from afar, and eventually she let the babies nurse,” Shelbi shared with us.
“As it turned out, the people who dropped her off mid-birth (on the doorstep), have struck rough times and have been living in their car at a park for sometime now. The woman who contacted us, apparently got the family a caseworker to help them out.”
Within a day being indoors, the cat momma came out of her shell and was glad to get some assistance for her kittens. All of them were severely underweight and required supportive care.
“Her entire litter of six had low birth weights, with half of them being in a very dangerous zone (less than 60 grams). We did lose one but the rest are thriving.”
Shelbi has been working alongside the cat mom to keep the little ones fed, clean, warm and loved. The feline family have been named after the characters from the Marvel Universe—Mama Marvel and her tiny super heroine kittens, Natasha, Shuri, Wanda, Pepper, and Jubilee.
Marvel is very affectionate and equipped with a loud purr motor. “When you walk in the room and her babies are nursing, she rolls onto her back and makes air biscuits. She loves to rub her head all over you,” Shelbi shared with us.
She has grown to enjoy the company of her people so much that she’d reach for pets in the midst of nursing—a complete 180 from when she first came to the rescue.
“She is a great mom! She only gets up from the nest to use the litter box, and eat if the plate we have right by her is empty,” Shelbi told us. “Even though she trusts me, she still gets nervous when I take her babies to weigh them. She follows me and watches me closely.”
Two of the kittens get extra nursing time with Marvel as they are smaller than their siblings. One of the babies, Wanda, is the runt of the litter but a mighty little fighter.
Marvel will never have to go through another pregnancy and will be spayed when the kittens are big enough. She will get to be the center of attention that she desires.
Her kittens never lack an ounce of love and comfort as they are thriving and growing in the care of their foster home.
“Mama is such a sweet cat and we’re going to find her the best forever home who will love and spoil her through all her days.”
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