“Adopt, don’t shop,” you hear them say, but you don’t know why. When you set out on an expedition to find the purrfect pet, you didn’t think you’d have to focus on where to get a kitten, rather than which kitten to get. We know you’re taken aback by that, but we can walk you through the situation.
Each year, millions and millions of cats and kittens roam the streets of pretty much every city in the world. With springtime comes warmer weather, the flowers, the showers, and the kittens – more kittens than you can even count.
While that shouldn’t be a problem, most shelters and rescues can’t keep up with the staggering number of kittens that need food, water, and a comfortable bed.
During the springtime, or the kitten season, shelters and rescues become overcrowded, overworked, and stressed out because they’re physically unable to take care of all the kittens.
Well-meaning humans, the Good Samaritans that adore animals as much as we do, stumble upon kittens and attempt to help them by bringing them to shelters and rescues.
Well, there’s something they don’t know, though – most kittens that come to shelters and rescues during the kitten season, die there, too.
Newborn kittens without a mother cat to take care of them die because they’re unable to get bigger and stronger without the mother’s milk. Volunteers and fosters need to bottle-feed them every few hours, and that’s borderline out of the question when there are thousands and thousands of them meowing, screaming, and begging.
Other, older kittens get put down because there’s not enough space for them to stay at a shelter or a rescue. Or there aren’t enough volunteers and fosters to take them home and there aren’t enough people applying to adopt them.
Not to mention that there are too many kittens that get abandoned by families that can’t (or don’t want to) take care of them anymore. Because of that, you should always go to a shelter or a rescue when you’re trying to get your hands on a purrfect pet.
Moreover, when you stumble upon a litter of kittens, you shouldn’t move the kittens without knowing whether the mother cat’s around or not because there’s a chance she might be hiding away from you or fetching them something to eat.
Still, you should always contact a shelter or a rescue when you’re 100% sure that the mother won’t come back and that the kittens are weak, starved, and struggling to survive.
Now, here’s what happened with Primrose and Petra, two kittens that were set to be euthanized by the end of the day. Luckily, we can say that life had different plans for the two precious purrincesses.
Lauren, a foster mother, took to Instagram to announce that Primrose and Petra were her newest foster kittens and that they were set to start her Kitten College program.
She started with the fact that the two girls were surrendered to a local county shelter and were set to be euthanized by the end of the day. She was over the moon that they were picked up by Trevor, a foster at the Animal Welfare League of Arlington (AWLA), who contacted her hoping she’d be able to help.
And, she was. Primrose was no more than two weeks old, but Petra was a week older, for sure. Because of that, they were considered “a burden” to most shelters and rescues.
On top of that, the two kittens were beaten down and weak. With gunky eyes, runny noses, and dirty fur, Primrose and Petra didn’t look like they’d survive the night. Primrose was even worse considering she was thin, frail, and severely dehydrated.
Lauren was trying her hardest to keep them afloat – she provided them with food, water, medicine, and warm compresses. She mentioned that the two fighters started munching on foods, gaining weight, and growing bigger right away – what more could she have asked for, right?
She continued writing about the kittens’ progress on Instagram. Petra recovered within days, but Primrose was having a hard time feeding because she was the tiniest thing ever.
She was ravenous and she scrabbled at the bottle with both her paws each time, but she couldn’t seem to understand how to suckle on the bottle. She clenched, refused to latch on, or latched on but refused to drink, or she would take a few sips and give up.
She would repeat the process and manage to eat enough, but she would take too long. She would demand Lauren’s attention, but Lauren would have to tend to other kitties, too.
One day, though, Primrose managed to drink the entire bottle of formula without stopping. Of course, Lauren took to Instagram to celebrate the milestone and ensured everyone she’d keep them posted on her progress.
Both Primrose and Petra were making progress, hitting milestones, and growing bigger and stronger with each day. But Primrose was still struggling with a few things, for sure.
She was the sweetest kitten ever, but she needed Lauren’s help with pretty much everything. She was growing, but she was a little slower than Petra.
Weeks after they’d arrived at Lauren’s foster home, the kittens were ready to move on and get adopted. And, they did! Both Primrose and Petra went on to live a happy and healthy (but separate) life. At the end of the day, the two kittens cheated death and that’s all that matters.
We salute you, Primrose and Petra, and we wish you the best!
Read more: Rescued Hours Before Death Row, This Cat Can’t Stop Thanking His Savior
