And seeing as I was the only one besides the manager still at the shelter, the manager asked me if I would be willing to go pick up the kittens. Of course I said yes, and took off with a small cat carrier to transport the kittens.
When I got there, I saw there were 2 auto parts stores practically next to each other, and I couldn't remember which one was the right one, but as I pulled off the highway onto a street between the 2, I saw a woman sitting on the curb of one parking lot, with a large white laundry basket next to her, so I knew that had to be her with the kittens.
I parked, walked over to where she was sitting, and identified myself as being from the cat shelter, pointing out my staff T shirt, and yeah, she had 5 tiny kittens in the basket who looked to be no more than maybe 2 weeks old, all crying for their mama. I started carefully transferring them into the cat carrier, and a couple people walking by who were heading into the auto parts store stopped to look, and asked if we needed help & knew who to contact. I pointed out my T shirt again, saying I was from the cat shelter.
Finally got the kittens all into the carrier, and into my van, and headed back to the shelter where the manager was waiting. We took them into the quarantine room, where the manager took them out one by one, weighed each, and made notes on a chart. Then they were placed in a cage with a paper plate full of watery kitten food, which they started gobbling down. Also a small bowl of water, a couple of cat beds, and an "in the floor" cat box for easy access.
As they finished eating, the manager applied a little dab of flea control med to the back of each, as there were outdoor kittens, and in a bit of rough shape. They started crawling all over the inside of the cage, and some even climber UP the cage! And constant crying, of course. This was having an affect on the one other cat in the room, a recent mama cat named Miss White Paws who a customer of mine brought in after the stray cat had kittens in a small cat shelter on her front stoop I had made for her outdoor cat Miss Kitty. Yeah, this is getting complicated! LOL
Miss White Paws was getting upset, hearing the kittens cry, and her being a recent mama (she is awaiting spaying, as her kittens were weaned a couple weeks ago), we decided to move her to the next room, which is the medical room, and closed the door to the quarantine room to muffle the sound of the kittens crying. And then it was closing time, so the manager and I left, as there really wasn't anything else we could do.
Later on I texted the full-time manager, letting her know what happened, and she got back to me that a cat foster would stop by the shelter Sunday morning to pick up the kittens, so I hope all goes well with that.
Whew! What a day!
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