First There Were Three Then There Were Four

The St. Charles County Pet Adoption Center contacted us this afternoon to tell us, "We have something for you." Brought to the home of one of our Foster Care Volunteers a short time later were 3, 2-day old kittens. All of them were girls, so we named them Madison, Madeline and Margaret.

The litter was found today in St. Charles County in a box, that someone had put next to a shed in the yard of the person who lived there. She has done animal rescue work, so it makes us wonder if the person who left the kittens knew this and was hoping she would get them the help they needed.

When the homeowner found the box there were 5 kittens inside. Two of them had already passed away though. In a hurry to get the surviving ones to the shelter she brought the box inside and took out the ones that were alive and headed to the Pet Adoption Center. When she returned a short time later, she was startled when she heard a faint meow coming from the box. One of the kittens was still alive. He's a little boy and we named him Marvin.

The 3 girls have settled in nicely and are eating like champs. But we are concerned about Marvin. He has a swollen tongue and it's unlike anything we have ever seen in all the years of caring for newborn kittens. We sent photos to our vet. Normally steroids would be given for something like this, but Marvin is too young. We'll keep monitoring his condition and if it gets worse, we'll get him in to see our vet to see if something else might be able to be done for him. Meanwhile, Marvin is able to drink from a bottle, and a part form his tongue he looks good.

On this bitterly cold night we are happy there is at least one less litter of kittens who might not live to see the morning. These 4 certainly would not have survived.