When a cat rescuer from Washington was asked to foster five 1-day-old kittens, she knew they were too small to be on their own, so she did the one thing that made most sense to her; ask her own cat for help.
In a viral TikTok video shared in January, under the username @soccercatmom, Ashley Saldana says: “These kittens were taken from their mom when they were born. five of them came to me when they were one day old.”
Saldana told Newsweek that, by the time, she filmed the clip, three of the kittens had already passed due to congenital issues with their digestive systems, so, to help their chances of survival, the poster decided to put the remaining two near 3-month-old Poppy, her cat, for some physical touch.
“I can’t believe how therapeutic it has been for both Poppy and the kittens. I believe Poppy has the power to heal these babies. She transforms into a pile of mush when the kittens are placed with her. Poppy was truly made for this!” Saldana continues, as the kitties all purr in the background.
Saldana told Newsweek that, about a week after she posted the video, a fourth kitten succumbed to his illness. Thankfully, one survived, the only female of the litter, which the poster ended up adopting and calling Red.
Saldana said: “All the babies were bottle-fed every 2 hours around the clock and, eventually, I had to tube-feed them and give them regular subcutaneous fluids. Sadly, I just couldn’t bear the congenital defect.
“It was a sad six weeks or so as we slowly lost the four, but we are so thankful to have ended up with one healthy one and so thankful that Poppy was there to love on them in their final moments.
“It was quite amazing to watch Poppy’s mothering instincts come out, even though she was just a kitten herself and only a few months old at the time!” Saldana added.
A Catster article medically reviewed by Dr. Ashley Darby says that kittens should be no younger than 8 weeks old when they first leave their mom, although some experts suggest 14 weeks is a more appropriate age.
Taking kittens from their mom too early can cause behavioral problems in the kitty, often known as “single kitten syndrome.” These young animals may find it difficult to understand appropriate social behavior with other cats and humans, and may accidentally hurt others because they don’t know any better.
Raising them with another cat, even if it is not their mother or a member of their family, does help this behavior as they can practice social cues they wouldn’t otherwise be able to learn without a feline showing them.
@soccercatmom
The video quickly went viral on social media and has so far received over 692,000 views and more than 81,300 likes on the platform.
One user, Ed_monaco, commented: “Poppy is doing a fantastic job. They all came to you for a reason.”
Emookitkats posted: “You’ve got a forever surrogate foster mom right there.”
Allie cat wrote: “Love that she has a paw around each! So precious!!!!”
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