Sometimes, the best laid rescue plans don’t go exactly the way we think they will!
We made arrangements to rescue a pregnant cat who found herself at Hamilton Animal Control as a stray. Arrangements were made with the vet and foster home to pick her up from HAC on a Saturday afternoon. But this sweet girl decided to have her babies on Saturday morning! So, we ended up rescuing mama Zoe and her five very new born kittens! We took them straight to the vet to be sure everyone was doing okay and the foster family took them home from the vet clinic.
Zoe is a lovely girl, but very young to be having babies, and we’re assuming this is her first litter. Unfortunately, by late Saturday evening, one of the kittens (the smallest of the litter) passed away. The rest of the babies did wonderfully with the help of their foster family, and everyone is now happy and healthy and ready to find their forever homes!

Here’s a note from Zoe’s foster family:
“Zoe is a lovely young cat and would make an excellent addition to a quieter household. Although she doesn’t seem overly attached or protective of her babies she turned out to be a fine mother despite her young age. She was very thin after the babies were born but has gained some weight and looks beautiful. She is a fine featured cat. Zoe isn’t as active as I would expect a young cat to be but perhaps she is still exhausted from the ordeal of birth and raising kittens before she was truly ready to be a mother. Zoe has always been a very calm cat while staying with us even when the kittens were very young and we were touching or holding them. She rarely meows but rather makes this beautiful cooing noise — like a dove. Zoe’s defining feature is her love of human contact. She will literally sit for hours with you if you are stroking her head, cheek or neck. If you start petting one of the kittens she will come over and nudge her way in to make sure she gets her share of affection. Although she loves this attention she is far from being a demanding cat and does enjoy her alone time (like most new mothers do!!). Strangely, despite her love of petting, Zoe does not like to be picked up. She becomes physically quite tense (although NEVER aggressive in her attempt to get down) and if she senses you are trying to pick her up she will run away. She also is a little concerned if you try to pet her hind quarters. I feel that perhaps she has had a bad experience of some sort relating to being held and think that with time she will come to trust humans a bit more. Even in the time we have had her staying with us I feel she is becoming more trusting when being held. Given how loudly she purrs and how blissful she is when being petted I know deep down she loves human interaction. She is such a sweet young thing who seems to want nothing more than than love and a gentle hand.”

Zoe found her forever home with a wonderful person!

Zoe photos by Graham Powell:

Zoe (now Emmylou) in her forever home!