Miraculous Escape For 10-Day-Old Stray Kittens Hidden Inside Vehicle At Scrapyard
Four stray kittens were rescued from a van that was minutes away from being crushed at a scrapyard. The tiny 10-day-old siblings were found huddled up inside the transit van which had been transferred to a scrapyard in Cambridgeshire from another site the day before.
As the machine was getting ready to crush the vehicle, a worker luckily heard the kittens’ cries from inside the van and opened the door to investigate.
Within the hour, the vulnerable kittens were taken to nearby Woodgreen Pets Charity, the home of Channel 4’s The Dog House, based in Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire, where they underwent an urgent veterinary check. Apart from being very hungry, the kittens were all healthy.
Woodgreen’s Veterinary team assessed the kittens to be only 10 days old and likely had been without their mum for 24 hours, which can be harmful to kittens so young. Staff at Woodgreen immediately hand-fed the hungry youngsters with a milk replacement formula – their first meal for some time. They will continue to need feeding round-the-clock, every few hours, until they get bigger.
The kittens, named Mercedes, Mazda, Ford and Lexus by staff at the charity, are currently doing well and staying with an experienced Woodgreen foster carer. They will then be ready to find new homes when they’re around eight to 10 weeks old.
Helen Stapleton, Head of Intake and Rehoming at Woodgreen Pets Charity, said: “It’s because of the quick actions of the scrapyard worker that these kittens survived. If they hadn’t cried out in time, it’s awful to imagine what could have happened.
“We don’t know where their mum is but it’s possible she was a stray cat and choose the van as a quiet place to give birth, but then the vehicle being moved to a different site meant she was unable to get back to them. It’s likely the kittens had been without her for at least 24 hours, so they would have been very hungry. They very enthusiastically took their milk without any fuss before going home with one of our fosterers. Luckily, they were in surprisingly good condition; they all had their eyes open and were very vocal – something that saved their lives.
“Sadly, over the past year we’ve seen more and more stray and abandoned pets coming through our doors due to the cost-of-living crisis. We urge anyone who’s struggling to care for their pet to reach out for support; our behaviourists offer free advice to members of the public and we can provide help to keep pets in the home wherever possible.”