Kimberlee Ferris and her husband made the decision the week before last to look through their storage unit in the basement of their home in Naples, Italy. They were expecting to see some dust bunnies and cobwebs on top of their boxes when they opened the door, but instead, they were taken aback by the presence of another person.
According to what Ferris shared with The Dodo, “When my husband opened the cage, a momma cat ran out.” After that, he opened a package, and inside were several little kittens.
The couple, who live in an apartment building with 11 other apartments, had never seen a cat or a litter of kittens in their basement before. In fact, they had no idea that there was even a storage place in the basement. Following their hunt for hints as to how she gained access to the house, they discovered an entrance that went to their backyard.
As they investigated the entrance to their storage closet, they came to the conclusion that the door had only a hair’s breadth of room between the bars, which was sufficient for the mother cat to get through. She eventually made her way inside the closed closet, where she calmly gave birth to her children at some point in time.
The couple had no idea how long the kittens had been there, but when they were discovered, all of them were in excellent condition.
Ferris said that the kittens seemed to be in good condition and had received enough care. “They’re just teeny-tiny babies,” the speaker said.
Ferris was able to detect that the mother cat was regularly checking on her kittens, so she tried not to disturb them too much out of concern for their well-being. At the very least, she was aware that they need a bed that was more hospitable than the box in which they were discovered.
“I made them a better shelter with a second cat carrier we had and some extra blankets,” said Ferris.
Ferris and her husband focused their attention on the mother cat after they had ensured that the kittens had found a comfortable home in their new sanctuary. They want to take the kittens to the local veterinarian, but they were aware that in order to do so, they would first need to earn their mother’s confidence.
A little more than a week has passed since Ferris and her husband made the first discovery of the kittens, and they are still making efforts to get the approval of the mother cat. They have not given up despite the fact that the procedure has been challenging thus far.
“Right now, the plan is to try to continue to gain Mom’s trust and let her care for them,” Ferris said. “The goal is to let her take care of them.” If we are successful in capturing her, we will take her and the puppies into our home, supposing that we are able to locate a foster parent.
The couple has high expectations that they will be able to find homes for the kittens via the local trap-neuter-return program once they are mature enough to spend time apart from their mother.
Ferris and her husband are going to continue doing all in their power to win the confidence of the mother cat while also taking care of her babies for the time being. They were completely taken aback when they discovered a cute little family living in their storage unit, but they are more than glad to shower them with unconditional love until each member of the family is ready to find a home of their own.