A hero mum cat from Kilburn has came to the aid of an orphaned male kitten by nursing him at the Mayhew Animal Home.
One-year-old rescue cat Carrie quickly stepped up to feed the 10-day-old stray kitten Spiro despite already nursing four of her own kittens and being blind in one eye.
Animal welfare officers, based at the charity in Trenmar Gardens, Kensal Green, were alerted to heavily pregnant Carrie by a concerned member of the public.
The vet team spotted that Carrie’s right eye was inflamed with overlaying scar tissue but could only directly medicate her eye, not vaccinate her, until her babies were weaned.
The feline gave birth to six kittens, two of whom died, and then two weeks later welfare officers were called out to rescue Spiro, who was found abandoned in a garden.
Gillian Notton, The Mayhew’s head of animal welfare, said: “We suspected that Carrie would make a good surrogate mum as she has such a gentle, caring temperament. As her kittens are also a very similar age to Spiro, we also knew that her milk would be at the right stage for his development and that the others weren’t old enough to push him out of the litter.”
“We slowly introduced Spiro to the litter, and despite the other kittens hissing at him at first, Carrie did not seem upset and appeared happy to welcome the abandoned Spiro into her litter. After about ten minutes, Spiro settled down and joined the other kittens suckling for milk, and thankfully Carrie did not seem to mind. No more than a day later, Spiro was completely settled in the litter.
“Being a young mother who’s blind in one eye, Carrie’s been so brave through everything and truly is the world’s best mum.”
Once the kittens were old enough and able to leave their mum, they were neutered, vaccinated, microchipped and given a final health check before they were found new homes.
Carrie was finally able to receive the medication she needed but sadly despite topical treatments, the decision was taken to remove her eye.
With care Carrie recovered and has found a new home. Only little Spiro is still waiting for a special person to adopt him for a lifetime of love and affection.
To adopt an animal from the Mayhew cal020 8962 8000 or to donate call 020 8206 5870.
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