“I know. I’m going to phone the shelter. It’s been seven hours now.” He took out his phone and Lily leaned closer to try to listen in.
“Hi, I rang earlier about some kittens our dog had found in Amberdale Woods. No, no sign of their mum coming back, I’m afraid. Would you be able to come and get them?”
He paused for a minute or so, listening, and Lily saw an anxious expression appear on his face – little creases over the top of his nose. “Oh… No, don’t do that. Maybe we can help? Look, give me a minute. Let me talk to my wife and get back to you.” He listened for a little longer, saying, “Mm-hm, mm-hm,” and Lily squeezed even closer, desperate to know what was going on.
“Dad, what’s happened?” she burst out, as soon as he ended the call.
“The shelter’s really full. All of their foster carers have got kittens already. The manager was saying she’d ring round and see who could squeeze them in. Apparently this is kitten season.” He laughed a little nervously.
“So what’s going to happen to our kittens?” Lily asked. “Will they go to one of these foster people? Will they be all right?”
Dad was silent for a minute, running his hand down the back of Hugo’s neck. “Actually, Lily, I’m wondering if we could take them. Just until they can find someone to foster them properly.”
“What?” Lily squeaked. She was so surprised and excited she actually jumped up and down. “Do you mean it? We can take them home?”
“Hold on! Slow down a minute. I’m only talking about us looking after them until there’s space for them with a foster carer. Since it’s an emergency. And I said I’d have to talk to your mum about it. There’s no point getting excited just yet.”
“I know.” Lily’s voice was shaking. Those tiny kittens, hers to look after! If only Mum would say yes! She watched eagerly as Dad called home.
“Sarah, it’s me. Yes, I called them but there’s a problem – apparently they’re really full. The lady I spoke to earlier on didn’t realize but all their kitten fosterers have got litters of kittens. No, we’re not going to leave them, listen! What do you think about us looking after them for a bit? The shelter manager – she’s the one I just spoke to – said she’d send someone out to help us take them home. They’ll bring some kitten formula and some information sheets on how to care for them if we agree.”
He went quiet for a bit and Lily pressed closer. She could hear her mum’s voice squeaking in the background and she wished Dad had put the speaker on.
“Yes, I know, the shelter manager mentioned that. I can’t say I’m happy about getting up in the middle of the night but I feel responsible for them. They’re so little—”
“Dad, what’s the matter?” Lily interrupted. “What’s Mum saying? Why can’t we do it?”
“Because they’re so young they’ll need hand-rearing, Lily. Mum isn’t sure we’ll be up to it – we’d have to get up in the middle of the night, probably.”
Lily grabbed his arm. “But I could help! Couldn’t I? It’s the summer holidays, I don’t mind. Dad, please! It’s like we were meant to find them – we came along just at the right time. We can’t give up on them now!”
Dad sighed. “Did you hear all that?” he said into the phone. “Yes, I know. Maybe she is old enough to help out. You know how much she loves cats!”
“OK.” Dad smiled at Lily. “Yes, I’ll call the shelter back and tell them.” He ended the call and laughed. “Wow. This was definitely not what I was expecting when we came out for a walk this morning.”
“We’ll put them in here,” Amy explained, showing Lily and Dad a cardboard travel box that she’d brought with her. She seemed really nice, Lily thought. She’d told them she remembered Hugo from the shelter and that he’d grown into such a handsome, well-behaved dog.
“I’ve put a hot-water bottle in for them, wrapped up in some towels. If they’ve been without their mum all day, they’ll be getting really cold. Kittens this young can’t control their own temperature, you see. They need their mum’s body heat to keep them warm. Even though it’s been so hot today, if we leave them here overnight without her, they’re at risk of hypothermia – that’s getting too cold to survive.”
“How old do you think they are?” Lily asked, leaning over to look at the kittens. They were still moving – squirming around and nuzzling at each other – but she was sure they weren’t as lively as they had been when they first saw them.
“Hard to say exactly. Maybe two to three weeks? Their eyes are open but they don’t look big enough to be walking yet. Soon though.”
“They don’t look as bright as they did this morning,” Dad said.
“I was thinking that, too.” Lily bit her lip. “Oh no, maybe we waited for too long for their mum to come back.”
Amy shook her head. “I don’t think so. I know it sounds hard but the best person to look after them is definitely their mum – she’s built for feeding them, cleaning them, keeping them warm. If we take them away from her, we’re giving the kittens second-best. Do you see what I mean? So if there’d been any chance that their mum was going to come back and care for them, it was better to let her.”
“Dad thinks she might have been run over,” Lily said, gazing down at the kittens.
Amy nodded. “It’s possible, I’m afraid. Or she may just not have been able to feed them. Either way, I think we have to assume she’s not coming back.”
She opened the travel box and gently reached in to pick up one of the tabby kittens. Hugo whined and Amy laughed. “You’re such a good boy, aren’t you? Are you taking over from their mum, Hugo?”
She put the kitten gently into the box and Hugo nosed at the cardboard flaps, clearly making sure that the kitten was all right. “We wouldn’t usually put foster kittens with a family who had a dog but this is a bit of an emergency. Now, I’ll come back to the house with you, if that’s OK, and help you set up a safe pen to keep them in.”
Amy picked up the other tabby kitten and Lily watched anxiously as the white kitten gave a feeble mew. The kitten looked so little, left all on his own. “Can I pick this one up?” Lily whispered. He was hardly moving.
“Sure.”
Lily picked up the tiny kitten – he wasn’t much bigger than her cupped hands – and carefully moved him over to the box. He squirmed around and gave another squeaky breath of a mew but then he cuddled up next to the two tabby kittens again, snuggling against the warmth of the hot-water bottle.
Lily looked up at Dad with shining eyes. “Let’s take them home.”
Amy came back to the house to help settle the kittens in. She brought in a big box of equipment from her car – special kitten formula milk and kitten bottles and a litter tray. She explained that the kittens would need feeding about every four hours. “It’s a lot of work,” she said, looking round at them all. “Are you really sure you can manage?”
Mum was reading the instruction sheets, looking rather anxious. “Oh my goodness, I hadn’t even thought about sterilizing,” she murmured. “But I suppose it’s just like feeding a baby. Have we still got the old sterilizer in the loft?”
Dad grinned. “Yes. Now aren’t you grateful that I never sorted all that stuff out to go to the charity shop? I’ll go and get it. We need to give them a feed as soon as possible, don’t we?”
“Yes, that would be great.” Amy looked pleased. “Having a sterilizer will definitely make things easier. Oh!” Amy turned round from the table. Hugo had nudged open the kitchen door and marched in, looking determined.
“Sorry, I’ll take him out again.” Mum shook her head. “No, Hugo. You need to stay away from the kittens. It’s going to be tricky keeping him out, he’s used to having his basket and his food bowls in here.”