A cat showed up outside a family’s home to have her kittens and ended up helping a few orphans too.
Sunflower the catKara @azkittenfostermama
A few weeks ago, Kara Yancey, a foster volunteer of Living The Dream Rescue (in Phoenix, Arizona), spotted a cat outside her house, peeking through the screen door. Perhaps, the cat knew that something about Kara’s home just felt right.
“Every year when the weather gets nice, we open our living room window (with a screen installed) and our own cat, Charlie, ends up somehow attracting pregnant females to our backyard porch,” Kara told Love Meow.
“Sunflower (an orange stray) showed up on our porch one night, so we started feeding her. We could tell right away that she was pregnant.”
Sunflower the cat showed up as a strayKara @azkittenfostermama
The expectant cat mom was very shy at first and wouldn’t let anyone near. She kept coming back to their house and waited patiently outside for food.
A couple of weeks went by, and the cat began to warm up to her food providers and even allowed them to pet her. No one came forward to claim the tabby, so Kara along with her rescue knew they had to help.
Kara @azkittenfostermama
It took a while to gain her trust, but once Sunflower took the leap of faith to move into Kara’s home, things began to change.
When she realized she was safe, Sunflower became very affectionate and just wanted to be petted.
Kara @azkittenfostermama
A few days after she moved indoors, the sweet tabby brought five healthy kittens (three boys and two girls) into the world.
“We brought her in just in time. We named the kittens after plants and flowers just like her: Aster, Clover, Violet, Iris, and Sage,” Kara shared with Love Meow.
Cat mom Sunflower and her kittensKara @azkittenfostermama
Sunflower was completely devoted to her precious litter. She was so pleased to have a roof over their heads and never have to worry about food again.
Perhaps, fate had brought Sunflower to Kara’s home for something else too. A week later, Kara got a message from her rescue about two newborn kittens abandoned outside a vet’s office in a Kleenex box.
Sunflower’s five precious kittensKara @azkittenfostermama
The feline babies were in very poor shape and hanging in by a thread. The vet cleaned them up, started them on antibiotics and brought them back from the brink.
“That’s when our rescue tried to see if we could take these babies. They wanted to see if Sunflower would accept them as her own. It was their best chance for survival since they were so young and frail.”
Kittens abandoned in a Kleenex box outside a vet’s officeKara @azkittenfostermama
When the two orphans arrived, Momma Sunflower got up from her nest and immediately started looking around for the crying babies.
“She must’ve heard them meowing because the second I entered her room, she was waiting for me at the door and very concerned,” Kara told Love Meow.
Sunflower the cat cuddling with her kittens including 2 adopted babiesKara @azkittenfostermama
“The moment I put the new kittens in front of her, she started bathing them and nursing them. She was very protective and would wrap her paws around them.”
Watch Sunflower and her journey in this video:
Sunflower the cat and her kittens
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Sunflower adores her own kittens and the two adopted babies. Since nursing seven is a lot of work, Kara has been providing supplemental feedings to ensure that all the kittens are well fed and properly cared for.
Kara @azkittenfostermama
“I’m happy to report that all seven babies are doing very well, and the two new babies (Cedar and Ren) have gained a lot of weight and are thriving,” Kara shared with Love Meow.
Sunflower is blossoming into a well-adjusted indoor cat. “When the kittens are weaned and big enough, they will be fixed, microchipped, and adopted out to good homes. Sunflower will also get fixed and microchipped and find her forever home so she no longer has to live on the streets.”
Kara @azkittenfostermama
“Sunflower has turned into one of the sweetest and most affectionate foster cats we’ve ever had. She’s the best mom to her own babies and a fantastic surrogate mom to the orphans.”
Kara @azkittenfostermama
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Related story: Kittens Drenched and Cold Brought Back from the Brink By Family that Never Gave Up on Them