The story of Beans

A member of the public contacted the Cats Protection Forth Valley Adoption Centre after hearing unusual cries from a neighbour’s garden. The finders informed us that there was a feral cat who had a litter of kittens under some shrubbery next door a few weeks prior but there were no concerns at that point, and they had already been advised to leave the mother cat alone to do her motherly duties in peace.

However, after monitoring the situation from afar, it appeared that the mother cat had been in the process of moving her kittens, but for some reason, did not come back for the last one. Our team continued to monitor the situation as we hoped the mother would come back for the little one when it was quieter. Unfortunately, she did not return and as time went on we knew we had to act as the kitten was getting extremely vocal and distressed.

The kitten was collected and brought straight back to the centre to be assessed. The little one was cold and hungry, so to combat this, a snuggled pad was warmed and placed in his carrier under his blanket and the staff prepared the milk formula to give the kitten a bottle feed. Once the kitten was attended too, a further check was performed to confirm the sex of the kitten, to estimate an age and to check general health. The kitten was in fact a little boy and was estimated to be round 3 weeks old, he was then given the name Beans.

In the first week, Beans was getting bottle fed every few hours around the clock, to ensure he was staying hydrated and getting the nutrition he needed to continue developing. He also needed to be stimulated regularly to go to the toilet as he was not yet able to go on his own. Once he had reached 5 weeks old, and with a bit of persuasion, he soon started enjoying his first tastes of kitten mousse and the process of weaning onto solid foods, but also still loved his bottles of milk too!

After round the clock care from our amazing team of staff and volunteers, Beans is growing into such a handsome lad and is full of character. He loves nothing more than to play with his toys and is enjoying keeping his new foster carer on her toes.

We have been very busy with kittens this year at the Forth Valley adoption centre, but especially during September and October. Kittens need to stay in our care until they are around 9-10 weeks old to receive a range of veterinary care treatments and ensure they are ready for adoption to their forever homes. Some of our kittens were born here at the centre and so need 10 weeks of care, food, warmth and resources to ensure all of their needs are met. A typical week in October this year has seen us get through 8-9 boxes of kitten (whiskers/felix) pouches, around 40 tins of specialist kitten food and several packets of dry kitten food – they are literally eating us out of house & home!

We appreciate times are tight, the minimum donation set by JustGiving is £2, anything you can donate will be hugely appreciated; whether its £2 or £5, every penny and pound helps, please donate if you can.

Any funds that we are fortunate enough to raise beyond our target will be used to help other cats and kittens at the centre.

Thank you for supporting us.

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