With kitten season well underway, it comes as no surprise when owners struggle cope with an influx of unexpected or unwanted new mouths to feed.

Sadly, this can end up with kittens like Marge and Keba being abandoned on the streets at just a few weeks old.

When our Animal Welfare Officers were called out to a bus stop in Brent a few weeks ago, they found a tiny male kitten lost and alone.

They brought him back to Mayhew, but later that day, a second member of the public found yet another kitten abandoned in the same area. Our AWOs went out again and brought Marge in to us – and from the similarities in age and markings, deduced that she and Keba were siblings from the same litter.

There was no evidence of an owner, mother or additional siblings anywhere in the local area at the time of each rescue; and so whether the kittens had both been abandoned at the same time, only for one kitten to wander off; or whether they were dumped at different times in different places, remains a mystery.

Our Vets gave both kittens a general health check, and estimated them to be around 7-9 weeks old. We quickly settled them into our warm and cosy Kitten block to rest and recover.

Whilst Marge seemed to cope well with the transition into our care, it soon became clear that tiny Keba was in distress. He was seemingly unable to pass urine properly, and his abdomen was becoming more and more distended as the days went by.

Keen to find out what was going on, our Vets anaesthetised Keba so they could take a closer look at his abdomen and urinary tract. To their surprise and sadness, they discovered that Keba did not have a normal urinary opening and functional penis – just a small hole which was leaking tiny amounts of urine onto his back legs.

Keba was unable to empty his bladder properly and therefore his bladder remained very full despite the abnormal leakage onto his legs.  This full bladder was the reason for his extremely distended abdomen.

Sadly, this type of deformity is incurable and incompatible with life. With a heavy heart, our Vets therefore made the difficult but necessary decision to put Keba to sleep.

Thankfully, Marge’s prognosis remains positive, and she has settled in well and is growing and developing as normal. She is now available for adoption, and is currently spending time with a foster carer to get her used to the idea of having a family of her own.

If you or someone you know is struggling to take care of a pet or pets, Mayhew are on hand to help. Our non-judgemental Animal Welfare team are available seven days a week to give advice and help re-home unwanted animals. They can be reached by calling 020 8962 8000 or emailing [email protected].