Five kittens of various ages were found at a house fire and were in desperate need of help.
Some of the kittens were just a few days old.
On May 18th, Tia Hagnas, founder and president of Alley Cats and Angels of North Carolina, received numerous messages about several kittens needing urgent rescue and immediate vet care.
They were spotted at a house fire in Wendell, North Carolina. "One of the first responders found them. We do not know if they were in the house but most likely near the house," Tia told Love Meow. "The older kitten was very friendly. Brooke, one of the first responders, said that he ran towards them."
Out of the five kittens, three of them were just a few days old.
"The first responders were fantastic and even administered oxygen to them."
The kittens reeked of smoke but started breathing and meowing after getting the help that they desperately needed.
Knowing that they needed round-the-clock care from a foster home, Tia reached out to a neonatal kitten specialist and asked if she could take on five additional kittens for the week.
"She thankfully said, 'Yes, I can take a few more because these need me.'"
When Tia went to pick up the kittens, they were huddled up with each other in a large container with a towel. "The bigger boy would lie on top of the others to keep them warm. We immediately went to the emergency vet and they were examined and assessed," Tia added.
The vet estimated the youngest kittens to be three days old, the middle kitty to be about 10-12 days old, and the oldest kitten to be around five weeks old.
"The older kitten had a severe URI (Upper Respiratory Infection) and his eyes were so badly infected that we thought he might lose one or both of them," Tia told Love Meow.
Once they were released from the vet later that evening, Tia brought them straight to their foster home, where the sick kittens were separated from the healthy ones.
"The littlest kittens did well for several days, however, two of them crashed suddenly, and we did lose them despite heroic efforts from our best itty bitty sick kitten and bottle feeder foster home," Tia added.
The remaining three kittens have bounced back and are eating like champs. They love to play together and keep each other comforted.
"Quidditch the older kitten is doing well. His eyes are better and we no longer believe he will lose them," Tia told Love Meow.
The middle kitten named Exploding Snap is three weeks old and getting very playful as he is figuring out how to walk and run.
Wizard's Chess, the tiniest baby, is 12 days old and starting to open her eyes.
"We are trying to contact the home/land owners to see if we have permission to go onto the property to see if there are any more kittens. And the adult cats need to be spayed/neutered," Tia told Love Meow.
Quidditch the ginger boy loves his foster family and gives everyone kisses and love nips for saving his life.
The trio is now thriving in foster care.
They dote on one another and give each other comfort. Despite a rough beginning to life, they are happy little kitties and eager to be loved.
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Related story: Elderly Man Held His Beloved Kitten After Losing Everything to Fire, Now Has a Safe and Warm Place