Naomi enjoying a cuddle with her foster kittens Isadora, Freya, Jenson and Jenni.

Naomi adopts kittens after losing her own

A malnourished and abandoned cat, whose kittens died shortly after giving birth, has saved the lives of four orphan kittens in Leeds.
 
Naomi was found wandering the streets last Spring and was taken to Yorkshire Cat Rescue where it emerged that she was pregnant. She was placed with experienced foster carer, Sally Goodwin, so that she could give birth in a safe home environment.

"When Naomi arrived at my home, she was very poorly. She was full of cold, had runny eyes and ear mites and stress had caused her to lose most of her fur. But she wasn’t at all timid or scared, and was definitely familiar with a home environment," explained Sally.

"For whatever reason she had ended up as a stray and, like so many other cats that are lost or abandoned , she struggled to cope on the street. She seemed ever so grateful that someone had taken her in and was the most devoted cat from the day one.”

After several trips to the vet and a special diet to boost her immune system, Naomi made a full recovery. However, her kittens were born prematurely. One stillborn and the other weighed less than a bar of chocolate. Sally did her best to help by hand feeding them every few hours, but to no avail.

"She didn't want to give up and kept cleaning and trying to feed them but they were just too weak. When they died, i felt like we had both lost something precious," said Sally.

Due to the stress of losing her kittens, Naomi's health deteriorated as she continued to look for her babies and started to bring little toys into her bed for comfort.

Whilst all this was going on, Yorkshire Cat Rescue had taken in five orphaned kittens that had been abandoned at just three days old - one of which was too weak to survive and passed away.  Usually it would fall to staff to hand-rear the kitten, but on this occasion they decided that there was a better alternative. Naomi was still producing milk and desperately grieving the loss of her kittens, so it was decided that they would try and see if she would adopt the orphans.

Sally said that what happened next brought tears to her eyes: “She ran to the box and instantly began washing the little orphan kittens. It wasn’t long before they started feeding and for the first time in days, Naomi purred. She finally seemed at peace and I just cried.”

“Her coat is so shiny and full again, and she now demands attention from me. I really hope it doesn’t take long before she finds a new home. After everything she has given, no cat deserves it more,” says Sally.

Anyone interested in offering Naomi a home should call Yorkshire Cat Rescue on 01535 647184 or email mail@yorkshirecatrescue.org

Image (C) Yorkshire Cat Rescue