Last fall, about a dozen St. Anthony Park residents joined forces with a rescue organization and a foster family to save a mother cat and three of her kittens.
The tale begins when a neighbor noticed six kittens living in her window well.
However, before she could round them up, the mother cat had already moved the kittens. Several neighbors, upon learning about the feline family, were able to locate and feed the mother, but no one could find the kittens.
A few weeks later, three of the kittens were found by the groundskeeper at Milton Square. (Of the remaining three kittens, a fourth one was found dead and two others were never located.)
Lucas Robinson and Ana Pooley, owners of Tax Cat Consulting in Milton Square, found out about the tiny kittens and brought them into their office. They put the kittens in a box with a blanket and then made a trip to PetSmart for additional supplies.
Afterward, Lucas and Ana took the kittens to a veterinarian for medical care, including treatment for eye diseases and stomach worms. They then transported the trio to Pet Haven, a nearby rescue organization.
“Thankfully we had availability . . . to help these kittens get out of the cold, receive medical attention and find rescue placement with Pet Haven,” Pooley said. “The desire and ability to help never really goes away, and I am thankful we were in the right place at the right time.”
Robinson agreed. “When I saw the kittens huddled up at the bottom of a window while snow was piling up around them, getting them safe and warm became my only priority,” he said.
Although the couple no longer fosters cats due to having young children at home, they are still passionate about cats and cat rescue. Currently, they have two rescue cats, Piper and Lenny, at home.
Meanwhile, another St. Anthony Park resident found and trapped the mother cat and took her to Pet Haven too, where they named her Momma SuzyQ. She was happily reunited with her surviving kittens, which by then had been named Milton, Maxine and Willy.
Kerry D’Amato, executive director of Pet Haven, said the surviving kittens were six or seven weeks old and in poor health when they arrived. She bottle fed them for one day before SuzyQ rejoined her brood.
“We were able to reunite mom a couple days after bringing the kittens into care. She was so happy to see them and they burrowed into her with loud purrs,” D’Amato said.
After the veterinary staff at Pet Haven cared for the kittens, feline foster parents Jada and Dan Fehn took the family home in late November.
Jada Fehn detailed the various veterinary services that were provided at Pet Haven: spaying/neutering, enucleation (due to Willy’s severe upper respiratory infection), vaccinations, medical tests and the implantation of microchips. “At Pet Haven, many people contributed to keep the little family healthy and happy,” she said.
“My husband and I consider cat rescue our life purpose. We usually have multiple foster cats and we are completing multiple community cat projects at any given time,” Jada said. “I have cared for hundreds of cats and kittens in my rescue work,” she added.
Debbie Smith, another concerned neighbor, coordinated a volunteer effort to deliver fliers and participate in nighttime searches for the mother cat. She also received texts and phone calls from residents with the mother cat’s location which enabled her to develop tracking data.
Additionally, a GoFundMe effort was established which raised $1,100. These funds were used to reimburse volunteers for veterinary services as well as to provide a generous donation to Pet Haven to offset the spaying/neutering charges.
SuzyQ and her kittens remained with the Fehns until late January when they were all adopted. SuzyQ and Milton were adopted together and Maxine and Willy were adopted together, providing a storybook ending to this tale of collaboration and compassion.
Janet Wight is a regular freelance writer for the Bugle.
