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Mother’s Day Miracle

Mother’s Day Miracle

Gretchen's babiesA family of six enjoyed a miraculous Mother’s Day this year.

That family just so happens to be feline.

"This heating pad is swell...but where's Mom??"
“This heating pad is swell…but where’s Mom??”

On the eve of Mother’s Day, two hungry kittens scarcely a week old were found alone a few miles from Tabby’s Place. The kittens were fortunate to find sanctuary with us. Although the infants would be best off with their own mother, ’round-the-clock human care would save their lives.

But little did we know, those newborns had three siblings still shivering outdoors.

After a night of unrelenting rain, a huge-hearted human being discovered three cold kittens huddled in the mud beneath her shed on Mother’s Day. Although the kittens seemed lifeless, the Good Samaritan rushed them to Tabby’s Place.

Our team worked tirelessly to warm the wee ones — and one by one, they revived. Given the kittens’ veritable “resurrections” from the cold mire, we named them for Titanic survivors.

But the greatest miracle was yet ahead for little Sallie, Grace, Kornelia, Trevor and Harry.

The day after the kittens’ rescue, we got an extremely unexpected call. Just a few houses down from the kittens’ miry nest, a neighbor had trapped an extremely anxious adult cat.

She’d been hanging around for a few days, and the neighbor had come to recognize the cat as a chubby little sausage. Chubby, that is, until the day she was suddenly skinny.

Just like three of our orphans, the newly-svelte feline was snow-white with black patches. Could she be the little survivors’ mother?

"OH! There she is!"
“OH! There she is!”

The maybe-mama was in a state of high anxiety when our staff scooped her up. Immediately, it was obvious: she was a ringer for her newborns. There was no chance that this wasn’t “mom.”

We named her Gretchen, but dared not introduce her to the Titanic survivors until she settled down. Between the trauma of being trapped and the terror of being torn from her tots, Gretchen was a wearied, worried soul.

Finally, Gretchen grew quiet. It was time to try a reunion.

Such things don’t always end well. Would Gretchen nurse her kittens? Had it been too much time apart for her to embrace them?

In the words of Paul Simon, the mother and child reunion was only a moment away.

Gretchen began purring with a warm rumble, blissfully kneading with her paws as five kittens snuggled into their mama’s belly and nursed. Soon, their little bellies were full, and the family of six was happily dreaming together.

In the days since, Gretchen has proven to be simply one of the best mama cats we’ve ever seen. Even in the sixty seconds or so it takes to clean the little family’s crate each day, she becomes frantic, restless until her babies are back in her embrace. The miracle continues before our very eyes, and our hearts are full to bursting.

Dear ones, I can’t thank you enough for helping to make such labors of love possible here. If you’d like to help Gretchen and her babies, please consider sponsoring our Kitten Fund or making a one-time donation.

May your weekend abound in miracles.

4 thoughts on “Mother’s Day Miracle

  1. “Mom – Mom! Is that you?” What a wonderful story! From homeless and orphaned and desperate, all kitties in this sweet family now have the best possible chances of a happy life ever after. Thank you Tabby’s Place!

  2. This type of story never fails to make me cry. I, too, am very active in raising kittens. I just scoop them up, along with their mama, and keep them inside in a special room in my house designated as a “kitten nursery”. I believe that the best person to raise these babies are their own mothers; all I do is provide a comfortable warm shelter safe from the outside elements, food, medical care, and appropriate socialization to make them adoptable. I have been very successful in enticing feral mamas into the house, using their kittens as “bait” to join them inside. I currently have 8 adoptable inside cats. I always tell people that they have better Health and Dental Insurance than myself (which is true). I am a community feeder of homeless cats, very active in TNR. But usually end keeping them if it is not safe for them to return where they came from. I am establishing a Cat Sanctuary soon, God- willing. I would love to pattern its processes from your organization because what you do is exactly an expression of what has been in my heart since I was a little girl. Thank you very much for everything you have done and will still do for these wonderful cats.

  3. From the worst scenario to heaven for this little family. Have you ever seen anything so darn cute?! And to LYS above – God bless YOU and best of luck to you in your efforts of love – the world needs more people like you and more places like Tabby’s Place.

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