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Report crueltyCat and kittens rescued just before Christmas eve have now found forever homes
08.12.20
We rescued more than 1,800 cats last Christmas - more than 60 a day.
Three tiny kittens and a mother cat were found abandoned in a box behind a fence in Stockport just days before Christmas last year.
The kittens were only hours old and had been abandoned with their mum in a wet and cold cardboard box. Sadly, one of the kittens had already died.
Cat gave birth to kittens alone in an abandoned box
Our inspector Nadine Pengilly went out to rescue the little family on December 23. She said she believed the mother cat had been abandoned in the box overnight and had given birth inside as there was blood in the box and the kittens still had their umbilical cords attached.
The box was behind a fence and Nadine had to wade through trees and brambles to get to them so someone has gone to some real effort to dispose of the cats either by clambering through the undergrowth to hide them or chucking them over the metal fence at the back of the Jobwise car park in St Petersgate.
Once rescued, they were taken straight to a vet for care and then came into foster care with Karen Gunter on Christmas Eve. Nadine messaged Karen to ask her if there "was any room at the inn" - and Karen opened up her home to the mother cat Mistletoe and the two kittens Holly, the female tortoiseshell and Merry, the black and white male kitten.
Karen, who lives in Biddulph in Staffordshire Moorland, said:
Caring for these cats was the best Christmas present I could have asked for. The kittens were just adorable and Missy was such a good mum. I looked after the kittens from just one day old to 10 weeks old when they were rehomed.
Missy, who was only 10-months-old when she arrived at Karen's house, stole her heart and the fosterer decided to adopt her.
She added:
Missy was so skinny when she arrived and didn't put on weight for a while whilst she was feeding her kittens as they were taking all her energy but she's really filled out now.
She's such a lovely cat. We decided that we would keep her as one of our cats had passed away about nine months earlier and our other cat Charlie missed the company. They were a bit feisty with each other at first but now they are friends and will nuzzle up to one another.
Karen is continuing to foster kittens for us and is now caring for a cat called Sansa who became pregnant at just four months old!
Karen added:
Fostering these young mums makes you realise just how young cats can become pregnant and how important it is to neuter them to avoid unplanned pregnancies.
The two kittens, Holly and Merry, were incredibly bonded and thankfully went off to their forever home together.
Last December, we rescued 1,865 cats - that's more than 60 cats rescued each day throughout the festive month. On Christmas Day alone, there were 791 cats in our care.
This winter, we expect to rescue thousands of animals from neglect, cruelty and suffering. To help our rescue teams reach the thousands of animals who desperately need us, Join the Christmas Rescue.
