A mother cat and her five kittens were found behind a nail salon so sick that the babies might not have lived another week, and today, against those odds, the whole little family is healing and growing stronger by the day.
The Nail Salon KittensCredit: The Cat Collective Rescue NY
Their story began behind a nail salon in the Bronx, where a mama cat and her five kittens were discovered tucked out of sight. Someone named them for where they were found, and the theme stuck: Mani, Pedi, Tips, Baby Buff, and Polly Polish, with their devoted mother, Frenchie.
The find was not a happy one at first. The kittens were critically ill, some with symptoms as frightening as severe diarrhea, and without rescue and intensive care, these fragile babies would not have survived.
The caring team at The Cat Collective Rescue NY pulled them into safety just in time, and the real work began, because a weak mother and five failing kittens needed far more than a warm place to land.
The spot behind the salon where the family was surviving Credit: The Cat Collective Rescue NY
The spot behind the salon is hard to look at, knowing a weak mother and five sick kittens had been surviving there with nowhere else to go. Frenchie had been holding the whole family together on nothing at all.
It showed the moment she was found. She was running on empty, and her babies were slipping, which made getting all six of them into safety a race against the clock.
Frenchie, who gave everything she had to keep her babies aliveCredit: The Cat Collective Rescue NY
From the first day in rescue, the family got truly around-the-clock care. There were medications to give and high-calorie supplements to build the babies up, along with special food, constant cleaning, and litter boxes changed several times a day.
Every one of them was watched over closely, and above all, they were showered with love. For a family that had been getting by on scraps and luck, it was the first steady care any of them had known.
Polly Polish, the smallest, beforeCredit: The Cat Collective Rescue NY
All five kittens were very sick, but little Polly Polish was the most fragile of them, hovering near death and needing more help than the others. That is when Nicola Jones, a volunteer who takes on the most fragile cases, stepped forward and agreed to nurse the tiny girl back to health.
Under her gentle, dedicated care, Polly got the fighting chance she so badly needed. The smallest of the Nail Kittens turned out to have one of the biggest wills to live.
Polly Polish NowCredit: The Cat Collective Rescue NY
Through it all, no one worked harder for these babies than their mama. When Frenchie was found, she was little more than skin and bones, having given every ounce of her own strength to nurse five kittens while she herself went hungry.
Her gentle spirit touched everyone who met her. "She is one of the sweetest cats I have ever met," The Cat Collective Rescue NYC shared with LoveMeow. "She takes her medicine without a fight. She rubs against your legs. She looks up at you and gives the softest, most heartbreaking little meow."
Baby Buff after a washCredit: The Cat Collective Rescue NY
Caring for a sick mother and five sick kittens at once was no small undertaking, and it came during an already difficult stretch for the rescue. Cat Collective NY refused to give up on this family anyway, pouring in time, energy, and heart even when resources were thin.
They did not do it alone. Alongside Nicola nursing Polly and the foster providing constant daily care, a whole community gathered around the Nail Kittens, and the tide began to turn for all six of them.
Baby Buff nowCredit: The Cat Collective Rescue NY
The results of all that devotion have been wonderful to watch. The Nail Kittens are healing beautifully, each of them gaining weight, eating on their own, and growing stronger with each passing day.
The sickly little ones who once needed round-the-clock intervention are now fully kittens, busy, hungry, and getting into everything, exactly as they should be. Tips leads the mischief, Mani and Pedi tumble after him, and Baby Buff keeps pace like he was never the smallest thing on a vet table.
TipsCredit: The Cat Collective Rescue NY
As The Cat Collective Rescue NY put it, they may have taken this family off the street, but it was the community who truly rescued them. From the volunteer who nursed the sickest kitten back to health, to the foster providing constant care, to everyone who shared the family's story, Frenchie and her babies have been carried by an outpouring of kindness.
Polly Polish, once hovering near death, is proof of how far that kindness reached. The kitten no one was sure would make it is now keeping right up with her littermates.
PediCredit: The Cat Collective Rescue NY
The kittens continue to flourish, growing into the playful, healthy little cats they were always meant to be. Where there was once a row of fragile patients, there is now a pile of ordinary chaos.
Each of them carries a piece of their origin story in their name, from Mani and Pedi to Tips, Baby Buff, and Polly Polish, a cheeky set of souvenirs from the salon that nobody who meets them will soon forget.
ManiCredit: The Cat Collective Rescue NY
Their mama, meanwhile, is still looking for a place of her own. After giving so much of herself for her babies, Frenchie is searching for a foster or a forever home, somewhere she can be the one who is cared for.
She has earned it many times over. The cat who arrived as skin and bones, still purring and still gentle, gave everything she had before anyone thought to give anything back to her.
Frenchie, ready for her next adventureCredit: The Cat Collective Rescue NY
After everything this brave family endured behind a nail salon, their story has turned into one of healing. The five kittens who nearly did not make it are thriving, and the mother who went hungry to keep them alive is finally being looked after herself.
Frenchie and her five babies have come a very long way from that hidden spot in the Bronx. For the first time in their lives, every one of them is safe, fed, and surrounded by people who refused to look away.
Share this story with your friends. View more on Frenchie, the Nail Kittens, and The Cat Collective Rescue NY on @catcollectiveny. Follow Nicola Jones, the volunteer who nursed Polly Polish back to health, on Instagram @harlemkittiechick1.
