Maui has a feral cat problem and we had two female cats living in our backyard who had been born there a year ealier. They both became pregnant and one Sunday morning I was in my backyard clearing brush when I heard crying. After moving a discarded lawn mower, I found two tiny kittens both with their placentas attached, and one still in the birth sac. I broke open the birth sac and vigourously rubbed until the kitten began to breathe. Their mother didn't return, so I called the local humane society. Fortunately the control agent who came to pick them up let me know that they would be allowed to die as they didn't have a foster program. I couldn't let that happen so I quickly learned how to feed and care for them. The next day, I found the rest of the litter abandoned. Sadly, one was already dead and another didn't make it.
The other mother cat had her kittens a couple days later, but did a great job taking care of them. About three weeks later, I heard peeping and found the two kittens from the second litter. We then made arrangements to capture the mother cats and have them spayed. Already having three cats, we decided that we were only able to keep two of the four and found homes for the other two (although one returned and we now have three of the original kittens). I enjoyed taking care of the them so much that I now volunteer as a foster mom and have hand-raised another litter.
Kahului, HI
