A litter of six, 2-week-old kittens were dumped on the side of a busy Hastings road and left to die. Photo / Supplied
A litter of six, 2-week-old kittens were dumped on the side of a busy Hastings road and left to die. Photo / Supplied
A litter of six kittens was found dumped in a shopping bag and would have died had they not been discovered by members of the public.
A pair of walkers on Pakipaki Rd came across the paper bag, and luckily decided to take a look at what was inside. Totheir surprise, they found 2-week-old kittens inside.
At two weeks, kittens need feeding every hour to half an hour, so it’s believed they were dumped only a few hours beforehand.
It is unlikely they would have survived a full day alone, as they were dehydrated, covered in flea dirt and incredibly hungry when found.
The concerned pair contacted Hastings SPCA and brought them in right away. They were assessed at the centre.
SPCA feline team lead Nadia Roos said the kittens were very cold, underweight, covered in flea dirt, which is flea poo, and hadn’t been fed for hours.
“They were lucky to be found on a busy road or even a quiet road. Most people overlook dumped boxes and bags, thinking they are probably just rubbish,” Roos said.
The litter of six kittens is doing well after two members of the public found them dumped along Pakipaki Rd. Photo / Supplied
The kittens have been placed together in a foster home with a trained vet who has kept up with hourly bottle feeds.
“All the kittens are looking good and are around 4 weeks old now, and she hopes they all pull through,” Roos said.
While the kittens are mostly out of the woods, some worries still come with kittens who have been pulled away from their mothers too soon.
One of those Roos was most worried about was Fading Kitten Syndrome, which is where a kitten fails to thrive during the period between birth and when they wean from their mother or a bottle for hand-fed kittens.
The syndrome period lasts about four to five weeks when a kitten is most vulnerable to sickness.
However, it’s not just the kittens the SPCA feline team lead is worried about.
Since the kittens were taken away so early, Roos expects the mum would have been pining for her missing kittens for a few days, as it is in their nature to look after the litter.
The mother of the kittens may also be experiencing mastitis from not being able to feed her kittens, and if that is left untreated, it could lead to a major injection.
Roos said whoever abandoned the litter “should have just come to us; we could have helped with the kittens and kept them with the mother until they had been properly weened off”.
The SPCA could have also helped with desexing the mother cat, putting a stop to any future issues with unwanted kittens.
This is the second time in three months that animals have been dumped, and the SPCA wants people to know if they are struggling with the welfare of an animal or newborn litter, they can get help, rather than dump vulnerable animals where they cannot fend for or look after themselves.
At one kilogram, in about 10 weeks, the abandoned kittens will be able to go up for adoption on the SPCA website and will be looking for loving forever homes.
