A few days ago, a mother cat and her four kittens were starving with little chance of surviving very long after being abandoned by their owners. A concerned utility worker named Joe called C & W Rustic Hollow Shelter and left a message about the starving kitties.
After receiving Joe’s message, two staff members from the shelter set out to assess the situation. When they arrived to the abandoned home, they found a mama cat and three of the kittens all struggling over a single dead mouse, clearly hungry! The kittens appeared to be around five or six months old and they all needed more food than they were receiving, despite the mama cat’s noble efforts.
The two staff members decided they would come back and feed them each day, both to win their trust and to give the former tenants, who had moved, a chance to claim the cats if they wanted. The family was notified that if they don’t claim the cats, they would be picked up within a few days.
After a few days of earning the kitties’ trust and not hearing from the tenants, it began to look like they would get to spend Christmas at Rustic Hollow. When the time came to transport them, they received a bit of a surprise. Papa kitty wanted to come too! Also, the fourth kitten, who is very shy, was not caught at first. Finally, after the persistent efforts of the volunteers, he was also brought to join the family. So, the whole kitty family was brought to the shelter, where they could be warm and fed just in time for the holidays.
The family all received names and a holiday dinner for Christmas. Papa has been named Papa Joe and mama kitty is JoJo (both named after the concerned utility worker). The kittens have been named Dandee (the shyest), Pippin (looks the most like his daddy), Duchess and Candy.
Everyone is thankful for the Christmas miracle that brought this sweet kitty family to Rustic Hollow!
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C & W Rustic Hollow Shelter is a no-kill shelter tucked away in a valley of northeast Iowa. The 350+ felines that call C & W their forever home have woods, creeks and plenty of wildlife to keep them occupied. Inside the six buildings and houses that the felines reside in, there are even TVs with Catsitter videos and cartoons to watch! Outside, the cats enjoy screened “catios” and playrooms, full of other felines lounging in the sun.
C & W is home to cats deemed “adoption challenged” by other shelters or humane societies around Iowa and the US and also to special needs cats who may have chronic medical, physical, neurological or behavioral issues.
