A stray cat moved out from under a porch and in with kind people. The next morning, they woke up to kittens in the office.

Cleo the cat and her kittensWilma

Cleo, a young stray cat, was alone and wary when she first sought shelter under the porch of a home. The resident noticed her one day and began providing food and slowly befriended her.

“About a month ago, they suspected she was pregnant and contacted Eliannie Animal Rescue to get her into foster care. Cleo was tame enough at that point that she’d go into their house for brief amounts of time,” Wilma, a foster volunteer of the rescue, shared with Love meow.

They secured the cat into a crate and brought her to Wilma on a Friday afternoon. Cleo was nervous but quickly eased into being petted.

CleoWilma

Cleo seemed pleased with her new space, a quiet, comfortable room with boundless food and all the amenities. “I could feel babies in her belly but didn’t think she was giving birth imminently.”

That night, Wilma went to bed after checking on Cleo, having little idea what was about to unfold the next day.

She was a young cat when she was rescued as a strayWilma

“I woke up on Saturday morning and heard kittens crying in my office.”

Cleo had given birth to two kittens on the base of a cat tree. Wilma raced to set up a nest and helped the mama move her babies in. She stayed with Cleo, offering support and encouraging words, until the last kitten was born.

“By the time she was finished, she trusted me. She has no problem with me handling her babies and seems to know she’s in a safe place.”

Despite their best efforts, one of the four kittens didn’t survive. The remaining three (Leila, Dalila, and Ramses) had good appetites and started to grow and thrive.

Wilma

“Cleo is a wonderful and attentive mom to her babies, going to them at the first squeak. The first 48 hours, she only left them to eat and use the litter box.”

A few days later, there was another twist. While Cleo was tending to her babies, the sound of a new kitten caught her attention.

A tiny tabby had been found in a yard without a mother to look after him. When Cleo saw the orphaned baby in her nest, she took him in and started caring for him. “We decided to see if Cleo would adopt him, and she did. She groomed him and allowed him to nurse.”

“We lose one, we gain one. The universe is keeping the balance.”

Cleo adopted an orphaned baby who needed a momWilma

The little tabby named Moshe is half the size of his new siblings, but he is scrappy, strong-willed, and has a big voice.

“I believe he was only born a few days ago. He fights off the bigger kids with the best of them. Who can blame him after what he’s endured in his short life already?”

Cleo showers her four little munchkins with unconditional love and watches over them every step of the way. “I’m so grateful this family is inside with care.”

Wilma

After raising her last litter, Cleo, who is only nine months old, will be able to enjoy being a kitten again, do what she loves with the family of her dreams, and live the good life she deserves.

Wilma