The Dustbin Kittens: A Tale of Heartache and Love

Welcome to the Wednesday Cats of Catster! Every week, we share a story from one of our cat-loving Catsters. This week is about Crystal and her soul cat, Ivy.

Hi, Catsters!

The last time we spoke, I told you all about our moving experience with Ivy, where she ended up surprising us all with how well she handled it.

This week, we’re shifting the focus from Ivy over to some other furballs: the dustbin kittens.

The Story Begins…

One day, about two years ago, my fiance called me from work. He had found 3 kittens in a dustbin at work.

He works in an industrialised area, with lots of factories and warehouses. There are often feral cats living on the premises, and they’re sometimes taken care of by one of the employees who kindly decides to take them under their wing.

These cats often don’t live very long, due to car accidents, lack of food, diseases, and cruelty from people who don’t care for cats. Heartbreaking, I know.

So the fact that there were kittens was no surprise, but the fact that they were in a dustbin indicated that someone put them there. The dustbin had a lid and no holes, so there is no way a cat could’ve managed to give birth in there. Once again, the cruelty of humans can never be underestimated.

Before I go off on a whole entire rant, long story short, I told him to bring them home.

Little did I know what I would be taking on.

I spent the rest of the day in crazy anticipation, and prepping by gathering the necessary resources: blankets, hot water bottles, kitten milk, bottles, you name it.

When my fiance came home with the box of kittens, I was shocked at what I saw. They were so very tiny. They still had their umbilical cords, their eyes and ears were still closed, they were basically just small, breathing furballs. And in a couple of hours, they turned into hungry, screeching furballs.

Feeding them turned out to be very difficult and time-consuming, at first. But it did get better once they learned to latch onto the bottle! My fiance and I developed a feeding schedule for them, even though they definitely let us know whenever they were ready for food by loudly screeching.

We learned a lot, and we grew so fond of them and watching them grow and develop day by day. I developed a newfound wonder and respect for nature – and for the people who regularly hand-raise kittens.

The Heartache

We made a trip to the vet one day, as one of the kittens was no longer expressing an interest in eating. We decided to take all of them to get checked out. They were all cleared and she was very pleased with the rate they were growing at.

The next morning, that little kitten passed away. I was devastated, and I couldn’t help but feel that it was our fault. I called the vet to let her know, and she told me about Fading Kitten Syndrome. This somewhat comforted me, but it didn’t heal the heartache of losing one of the kittens.

A couple of days later, one of the remaining two kittens seemed to develop some sort of infection in his belly button. Off to the vet we went again, and he got medicated and sent home. The next morning, he passed away. Again, my heart was shattered.

We had already given him a name (Mr. Mittens) and planned on keeping him to be Ivy’s sibling. I then told my fiance that I wouldn’t be able to handle it, should the last kitten not make it, either.

It truly surprised me how quickly one can grow to love something – although they were so small, they were just beginning to see the world, to take their first steps, and to start playing together.

I then made a call to my sister, who had previously expressed that she would love to give the orange kitten a home. I told her about the emotions I was feeling and that I wouldn’t be able to handle another loss. She came to get him that same day and felt confident that she could raise him into adulthood. I truly hoped he would make it.

The Happy Ending

And so he did! The little orange fighter grew up and was dubbed Toast. It was beautiful to see him reach all of his kitten-milestones, and to watch him grow into a gorgeous, fluffy cat with a lot of unique quirks and personality.

He loves my sister dearly, and they’re basically attached at the hip! He LOVES food (like any orange tabby!), he loves playing fetch, and he is also fond of sleeping in very interesting positions.

All in All

What I learned from this entire ordeal, is that:

1. I am not the right person to hand-rear kittens. It was too stressful, I was too hard on myself and quite frankly, I would not do it again out of choice. I’d rather call on someone with more experience.
2. The people who foster and hand-rear kittens are extremely special and definitely don’t get enough credit for what they do.
3. It is A LOT of work, and lots of things need to be taken into account. Their feeding times, their weight gain, their development, their temperature, and the bathroom and grooming habits they need to be taught. Not to mention the financial and time-related obligations involved.
4. It is a very rewarding experience, but one needs to be prepared for hard work and, sadly, sometimes heartbreak.
5. If you ever find yourself having stumbled across an orphaned kitten, I’d highly suggest checking out Dr. Luqman’s kitten series on YouTube. He offers so much valuable advice that I would have loved to have known when I was going through this!

Have you ever hand-reared kittens? How was your experience? I’d love to know!

P.S. I lied. I just can’t tell a story without mentioning Ivy! Ivy hated the kittens, which is no surprise. I’m sure they smelled weird and sounded weird, and she wanted no part of it. Luckily, we had a spare bedroom where they could stay. One could almost say she’s ‘hated’ Toast since the beginning…

Check in with us next time to learn more about Toast & Ivy’s first time meeting, their relationship progression and their life together as frenemies!