Stray mum and litter's miracle survival

Brave Emma was doing everything she could to care for her seven kittens.

Living outside and all alone, she faced a daily battle to feed her young and keep them warm.

The owner of the garden she had taken up residence in had even built her a little wooden shelter to try to keep them all safe.

But it wasn’t enough. And it soon became clear that the kittens and their mum needed help.

“We thought they were going to die,” says Caroline Oram, Animal Welfare Assistant at our Bromsgrove rehoming centre in Worcestershire.

Emma and her kittens, aged two weeks by that point, arrived at the centre in October. Mum was so terrified that she had toileted over her litter, who were all in a terrible state.

But the team had to stage their intervention carefully, so as not to put the bond between Emma and her litter – comprising four boys and three girls – in jeopardy. 

Caroline explains: “We didn’t want to touch the kittens too much as we didn’t want it to affect Emma and lead to her rejecting them. She was so, so scared.

“But, once she realised that she was safe, she cleaned them all up and relaxed a bit. We were then able to carefully start helping her with caring for her young.”

Two-year-old Emma, perhaps due to the trauma she had endured, was struggling to produce enough milk and feed her kittens. 

And so, the team stepped in to provide supplement feeds. Soon, both mum and litter were thriving.

Caroline says: “Emma was unrecognisable from the cat she was when she arrived with us. She’s now so affectionate and loves a fuss. With our support, she’s been a brilliant mum.”

The kittens, like their mum, were named after the team; Caz, Joe, Martin, Danny, Hannah, Kelly and Patrick. 

We believe that, as two of the kittens are so different in size and colour, they have a different father. It’s possible for one litter to have two different dads due to a phenomenon known as superfecundation.

The litter have now started to fly the nest to join loving families and Emma is now waiting to find her fresh start.

Caroline adds: “Emma is such a sweet, special girl and she’ll make a wonderful pet. We’re keeping everything crossed that, like her babies, she finds the home she deserves before Christmas.”

Our centres have been inundated with homeless kittens this year and, up until a couple of weeks ago, our Bromsgrove team were caring for 24 at once across several litters. 

As the cost of living crisis deepens and people struggle to afford routine neuter surgery for their pets, we expect the number of unwanted kittens to rise even further. 

Our services have never been needed more. And, with kind donations from our supporters, we’ll be there for as many pets as we possibly can.