Four kittens left alone beside a canal stayed huddled through the night, together, until a couple who stumbled upon them refused to give up on them. Now they dive into their dinner plates all at once.
Baccarat, Cribbage, Euchre, and RummyCredit: The Stray Cat Club
The four were found in an unlikely place, perched right at the edge of a canal, a long way from the nearest path, with no mother cat to be found.
It had the look of a dumping. The Stray Cat Club, a London rescue that sees more dumped litters than it would like, would eventually take them in. “Dumped kittens honestly break us, and sadly, we suspect this may be another case,” the rescue shared with LoveMeow.
Most people would have kept walking. A special couple did the opposite and decided these kittens needed a better outcome.
Exactly where they were found, huddled in the brush by the waterCredit: The Stray Cat Club
Worried for the kittens, the couple bought them food and settled in to wait, hoping their mother might come back. She never did.
As darkness came on, they could not bring themselves to leave the babies exposed. They sought advice and built a small shelter right where the kittens sat, determined to get them through the night.
Safe in a carrier at lastCredit: The Stray Cat Club
They barely slept. Early the next morning, they hurried back, bracing for the worst, and found all four kittens still there, snuggled together in a pile exactly where they had left them. After a night of worrying, the relief of seeing four little faces still warm and breathing was its own reward.
They fed the hungry babies and came back again that afternoon. By then it was clear the kittens were on their own and would not last out there, so the couple made sure all four were brought safely into the rescue’s care.
One of the three black siblingsCredit: The Stray Cat Club
The rescue is still a little awed by what the finders did. “We can’t thank their finders enough for making that journey again and again, watching over them and making sure they weren’t left behind,” the rescue shared with LoveMeow.
It was no short trip, either. The canal spot was a twenty-minute walk from the nearest access point, and the couple made that walk back and forth, morning and evening, all weekend long. Their persistence is the entire reason these four are here.
The lone tortoiseshell of the bunchCredit: The Stray Cat Club
Once they were in care, the kittens turned out to be surprisingly solid little things. “They’re surprisingly chunky little things, although we’re yet to discover whether those round bellies are full of food or worms,” the rescue shared at first. The answer, happily, was food. A full check came back clean across the board, litter trained, eating well, clean coats, bright eyes, and no health concerns at all, and they have put on even more weight in the days since.
The four came away with a theme for names. Baccarat, Cribbage, Euchre, and Rummy are all named for card games, a fitting set for four siblings who are never found apart. Three of them are black, which makes the one tortoiseshell an easy one to pick out of the pile.
Four faces down. Dinner is serious businessCredit: The Stray Cat Club
They have taken to mealtimes with real enthusiasm. Line up the bowls and all four dive in at once, a row of little tails tucked in and not a sound but contented eating.
For babies who spent a weekend waiting on food a stranger had to carry in, a full bowl on demand is a luxury they do not take for granted.
Bright-eyed and completely unbothered by companyCredit: The Stray Cat Club
The biggest surprise is how sociable they are. “They’re also incredibly friendly, which makes us wonder even more about how they ended up there,” the rescue said.
Healthy, well-fed, and sweet-natured, with not a single concern among them, the four carry every sign of having been cared for once. The clean bill of health and the easy, trusting nature make the rescue certain these kittens were dumped rather than born wild.
One of four, safe and soundCredit: The Stray Cat Club
In care, the four do everything as a unit, tumbling into the same bed and lining up at the same bowls, just as they were when the couple found them.
Their story could so easily have ended beside that canal. Instead, Baccarat, Cribbage, Euchre, and Rummy are warm, fed, and piled together, and for the first time in their short lives, they get to do all their growing somewhere safe.
Ready for next adventure Credit: The Stray Cat Club
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