Treasure was rescued at a truckstop.

Treasure

Treasure is enough of a kitten that her purrsonality, like his body, is still under construction.

She and her siblings, Tarot, Tristan, Bing, Tate, and Tarot were found (with two other siblings who died) at a truck stop. Maybe their mom was moving them and got interrupted by well-meaning humans, or perhaps something happened to her.

Treasure and Tarot were dropped off at the Eastern Iowa Veterinary Specialty Center, where they became bottle babies. They were cared for by Jody and Tim who are veterinary technicians when they aren’t feeding bottle babies. Then came Bing and Tate. And finally, Tristan arrived.

Live, Let Live, & Learn—If you happen to find young kittens (or other baby animals) without their mom, please think things through before you act. Bottle babies have very special needs (food, temperature, excretory, etc.) and require expert care. It’s so easy to shift into “helping mode,” but momcats do this best!

Unless you are sure mom insn’t coming back, be prepared to quietly observe for awhile. Human intervention is not always what’s best for the animal! To paraphrase Antoine de Sainte-Éxupéry—You become responsible for those you rescue.

In the meantime, Lily was about to wean her five six-week-old kittens so she could be spayed. We talked her dad into postponing the spay in hopes that Lily would accept the bottle babies and take care of them.

At first Lily just stared at Treasure and Tarot, wondering who they were and why they were all in a cage together. The kittens mewed and mewed. Lily stared at them. We put them all in a small pet taxi, so they’d have to be touching one another, and within about five minutes, Lily’s milk bar was open for business.