Saint John SPCA: Facebook
Eight kittens and their mother are doing just fine after being abandoned on the side of the road earlier this week.
The Saint John SPCA say a box containing the cats was dropped off by a man who had found them on Westfield Road on Monday.
Joan Richardson, shelter manager says thankfully the kittens had their mom around to feed them and take care of them, otherwise things could’ve turned out worse.
“One of the first things we’re looking for with small kittens is are they lethargic? They weren’t. They were active. Hungry, but appeared fine, like no sign of upper respiratory which is quite common in kittens when they’re stressed,” she said.
She says the mother cat is tired from feeding her eight kittens, but it also healthy.
Richardson says while the shelter is full right now, they always have room for the most vulnerable.
“Your kittens, your pregnant moms, the sick, the injured, the old. It’s the healthy strays that often have to wait longer getting into a shelter. People can bring us kittens, moms and their babies, pregnant cats, anytime and we will take them,” she said.
The three-week old kittens still need some time to grow before they can be adopted, but Richardson says she expects them to be adoptable by the end of January.
“They’re tiny,” she said. “It’s about weight gain, it’s about making sure that they’re developing properly and we’re weighing them every day to make sure that they’re gaining and they are, but it’s a slow process. Around the eight week range we’ll separate them from mom and see how they do,” she said.
Richardson says if you’re looking for a new addition to the family, they’ll have a number of kittens ready for adoption come January 3rd, when adoptions open up again.
Richardson says sadly, she’s not surprised by the incident.
“There’s people that bring cats and kittens to us throughout the year…sometimes they get left outside in totes or cat carriers, so this is not uncommon, and so sadly this time of year its harder because the mom would’ve survived –she could’ve jumped out of the box — but the babies would have died for sure, it was cold,” she said.
“If you’re going to leave them, leaving them outside the shelter is better, or outside a veterinary office, than leaving them stranded. There’s no chance for survival.”
If anyone has information about this mother and her eight kittens abandoned in a box on the Westfield Road, please call 633-1228 ext. 0.
Posted by Saint John SPCA Animal Rescue on Monday, December 23, 2019
She says the incident was reported to the New Brunswick SPCA, which investigates neglect and abandonment. She’s urging people with more information about the abandoned cats to come forward.
Richardson says if you see an abandoned animal, or have one you can’t take care of anymore, call their animal control line at 633-1228 for help.
