A woman found a feral cat with 4 Siamese tabby kittens in her yard. Each day she would check on the mom and babies and, sadly, a kitten would be missing. She believed coyotes were slowly picking the kittens off one by one.
She knew she couldn’t leave them outside any longer. She trapped mom and two remaining kittens. The mom was very feral so she knew that trapping, spaying, and releasing her would be the best scenario for her if she couldn’t bond with her. However, the kittens were still young enough to be worked with and socialized to be friendly with people. Since the woman couldn’t keep them, she reached out to a local rescue group.
Unfortunately, the rescue was very limited in space. They contacted Living Free to see if we could help save these babies from becoming coyote bait. Our cattery was more than happy to take them in. Right from the beginning, our cattery supervisor, Haley knew she would need to foster them rather than have them join the rest of the cattery population.
Haley regularly takes on fostering cats, kittens, and occasionally even puppies in her own home with her fiance Justin. This means that, on top of her duties caring for over 100 cats living at the cattery, she then comes home and continues to care for the animals in need. She does this because, occasionally, we rescue animals that need a bit more support when they first arrive at Living Free.
Haley shared, “I knew these kittens would need a lot of socializing to get them to an adoptable state. At first there was hissing and they did not really want to be touched. Justin and I made it a priority to get them fully healthy and friendly.”
“Slowly but surely, they started accepting treats and would tolerate pets here and there. Then about a week later, the little male kitten decided he liked us enough to come up for pets on his own terms. He then began to purr like crazy. Once his sister noticed he liked pets, she wanted some too. It took her a little while to purr but it finally happened.”
Once the two kittens were in a place where they enjoyed being pet and were healthy enough, Haley and her partner, Justin, decided to introduce them to their personal cats who are often a great influence on shy cats and kittens. Upon mingling with their cats, the kittens really started to blossom. They named the kittens Macchiato (male) and Latte (female).
Macchiato and Latte now thoroughly enjoy pets, the occasional cuddle on the couch, and they love to play with all of Haley’s other cats. They are full of energy and love to explore.
Haley believes there is still a little more rehabilitation needed before they will be ready for adoption. She has noticed that they can be a bit shy around new people but they are turning into wonderful kittens.
We are always so impressed with Haley and the rest of our team. They are always doing whatever they can to help animals.
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