Can you help us to continue providing lifesaving care to these Christmas miracle kittens?

Our branch received a phone call about a litter of kittens born to a feral mother and found under a shed. Five black kittens, with very few distinguishing features, around 5 weeks old.

We are still attempting to trap, treat and neuter their mum, and are hopeful she will be found.

All of the kittens were sneezing, with infected eyes and mouth ulcers. It was clear that they were all suffering from severe cat flu and needed to be urgently assessed by a veterinarian. Two of the kittens were noticeably very sick with painful eye ulcers.

The smallest kitten at just 385g, who is the only girl, already had a ruptured eye which needed to be removed without delay, a risky operation for such a tiny sick kitten. Thanks to the amazing care she received at Highertown Vets, she survived her op. The lovely Veterinary nurse who cared for her throughout the day described her as a 'little miracle'.

One of our fantastic dedicated foster carers has been providing around the clock care for them, bathing their eyes and noses, administering antibiotic eye drops 4 times a day and providing oral antibiotics and oral pain relief for the tiny two needing extra care for their stubborn eye ulcers.

The vet recommended anti-inflammatories post operatively for the little girl and added antiviral eye drops for all of the kittens a couple of weeks ago, which will continue for another month.

In their first 3 weeks of care, the kittens needed 10 veterinary appointments! To date, the cost of their care has amounted to around £1,500 for our branch.

Are you able to help these Christmas miracle kittens by donating towards the cost of their care? We receive no government funding and rely heavily on kind members of the public to help our work. No gift is too large or small and every penny makes a difference.

Each of the kittens are coming in to their own little personalities as they recover, they are all eating well and have been given five wonderfully festive names: Gnome, Imp, Elf, Sprite, and Pixie.

Despite their challenging start to life, all of the kittens are so sweet and very friendly in nature. The boys purr all the time and ask to be picked up for a cuddle and like kittens their age should, they all love to play and run around. It took Pixie a little longer to come out of her shell after her operation, but she now plays happily with balls (she loves crinkly balls and balls with bells) catnip mice... and her brothers tails! despite her limited vision.

If we are fortunate enough to raise above our target, all extra donations will go towards helping other cats in our care, and in continuing schemes like our trap-neuter-return strategy helping feral cats.

Many thanks in advance for your kind generosity. 🖤

Cats Protection help more cats than any other organisation and we want to help millions more. We are a dedicated community of passionate employees, volunteers, supporters and partners, working together to make life better for millions of cats and the people who care for them.

We are the voice of cats in society and we speak up for their protection.

We’re working towards a society where every cat is treated with kindness and respect.

Making a better life for cats, because life is better with cats.

Find out more: www.cats.org.uk