We received a call from a member of the public in June about a box of kittens that had been left on her doorstep. One of our Animal Welfare Officers, Tania, immediately attended the scene and found the plastic box full of eight very tiny kittens, barely having opened their eyes.

Tania, our Animal Welfare Officer on the scene, collects the kittens found in a plastic box

The lady that found them had opened the box not realising what was inside and the mother had sprung out and run away. She had clearly been very distressed and terrified at being shut in a box and bolted when it was opened. Tania attempted to find her but to no avail so she brought the kittens back to The Mayhew.

Named after star signs, the kittens needed round the clock care and attention since they were without their mum. Hand-rearing takes a lot of time and patience as they need to be monitored constantly. We hand-fed the kittens milk with syringes every 2 hours, kept them clean and, of course, spent time playing and socialising with them – all the things a mummy cat would do!

Aries is hand-fed by Kayleigh in the cattery

Six of the kittens went to foster homes so they could be in a home environment and the other two, Aries and Leo, stayed in the kitten block with us. Statistically speaking kittens being hand-reared by humans only have a 30% chance of survival, but thankfully all eight are doing well which is a fantastic achievement.

Tania says hello to Gemini

Our Animal Welfare Officers have found and rescued around 180 abandoned kittens so far this year, many of which have been hand-reared just like these kittens. Hopefully they will all be off to their new forever homes very soon. We also have our foster carers who are experienced and help to look after Mums and their kittens. Find out more about our team of Animal Welfare Officers here. You can also donate to help our Animal Welfare Officers rescue and help more neglected and abandoned animals.

Leo would like to find his perfect new family soon please!