When a heavily pregnant stray cat came across a seemingly abandoned property, she thought she’d found the perfect place in which to give birth and bring up her young kitten.

However, she was not to know that the property was in fact in the midst of being renovated – and one day, the sudden shrill sounds and loud noises all became too much.

The mother cat was so frightened by the building work going on around her that she ran away, and left her newborn daughter behind to fend for herself.

Luckily, a member of the public spotted the tiny black and white bundle curled up on a pile of rubbish, where it was using an old washing machine as shelter.

After waiting a full 24 hours to see if the mother returned, the member of public called us for help.

We went straight out to investigate and rescue the little kitten, who we named Little Bean because of how small she was. She was only a few weeks old when we found her, so our Animal Welfare Officers made sure they were extra careful as they transported her back to our vet clinic for a general health check, which thankfully showed her to be in good spirits (if rather hungry!)

We settled Little Bean down in a warm and cosy cabin in our Kitten Block to rest and recover, and gave her plenty of one-on-one TLC. She soon showed herself to be an energetic and hungry little kitten, though she was bit quiet, which is unsurprising given her unusual start in life. We made sure we kept her happy, healthy and well-entertained, and she slowly began to get used to our presence and play with us and the toys we gave to her.

Although she was born a stray, we rescued her whilst she was young enough to be domesticated, so we will eventually be looking to rehome her with a purrfect family as soon as she is ready. In the meantime, we have neutered her and got her up to date with vaccinations and flea and worming treatment. She has had a few mild tummy troubles since arriving with us, which our vets have put down to her spending time amongst the rubbish – they have no long term concerns and have prescribed medication to help settle her digestive system.

Our Animal Welfare Officers have also advised Little Bean’s finder to keep an eye out for the mother cat in their local area, and get in touch with us if they spot her.