Adoption Success Story: THE WINTER STORM KITTENS

In late January, Allissa answered a trapping request to help trap two adults and five kittens that a kind woman had been feeding, who were living in the woods next to her apartment complex. She was able to trap four of the five kittens and their mom, but the fifth kitten and second adult evaded the traps. She took the four kittens, who were already weaned, and about 11 weeks old. We know in rescue that anything over eight weeks old is going to be a challenge to socialize. But, a big winter storm was brewing, and Sue Krause knew she had to foster and give these innocent souls a chance at becoming spoiled housecats. Because they were brought into rescue right before the storm, she named them the Winter Storm Kittens: Flake, Flurry, Slush, and Frost. She used the Socialization Saves Lives method to work with them.

It took about two and a half weeks before the extremely trap-savvy fifth kitten was finally trapped and joined his siblings, and was named Powder. By then, the other four were already warming up and purring and enjoying being pet. Powder was terrified the first couple of days until he decompressed and watched his siblings enjoying tasty Churus from Foster Mom and Dad. Eventually, Foster Dad got the first purr out of him. Before long, they were doing great, snuggling and purring regularly with their foster parents. Though, they were still very wary of any new people who visited them.

After they were fully vetted and made Available, it didn’t take long to get some applications. Thankfully, all five kittens were adopted by amazing people who understood how shy they were and how patient they would need to be. First Frost and Slush were adopted together. Then Powder was adopted into a home with another young kitty who needed a friend. Finally, Flurry and Flake were adopted together. Sue outlined for each adopter how they would need to approach the acclimation and how to set up their safe room. They all checked in with Sue regularly to share their progress and to get her advice about the next steps. They all did a wonderful job and all five kittens acclimated successfully within a few weeks time. These kittens really hit the jackpot and will have the best lives, spoiled and loved.

As a bonus, the sister of their feeder decided to try to use the Socialization Saves Lives method to work with the kittens’ feral mother. Sue lent her a large playpen and she was successful in socializing their mom, who she named Delilah, who is now buddies with her other cat.