5 Conjoined Kittens Born in AZ Animal Rescue, 3 Little Lives Still Hang in the Balance
When Little Whiskers Animal Rescue in Maricopa, Arizona, agreed to take in a momma cat and her babies, they didn’t expect what they were brought instead: over 29 cats of all ages, including some that were pregnant.
The sheer number of cats was staggering, but just a few days after they were brought in, a new problem came to light.
On April 1, one of the cats gave birth to a tangle of kittens — five of them, joined by the skin on their stomachs, possibly a result of inbreeding.
Despite the date of the post, the story was sadly not a joke, and the rescue made a plea for help on its Facebook page.
“These kittens are in critical condition!” the rescue wrote. “We’ve rushed them to the vet this morning 5 of the kittens were all conjoined to each other by the skin in the belly.
“All 5 of these kittens shared a placenta as well as one very tiny cord! 2 of the kittens have a conjoined body. We’ve seen a lot of crazy things but this is probably one of the most out there ones yet!”
“Mom and babies are at the vet now working to see how to separate them and if they’re viable. While at the vet mom decided she wasn’t done and started having more kittens!” the post continued.
“This is a very big unexpected expense on the rescue and any help would be deeply appreciated! We are fighting for these little ones and mama to pull through this.”
[firefly_poll]
The kittens, referred to as the “April Fools’ Quintuplets,” couldn’t stay joined together, but the operation would be tedious and dangerous with no guarantee any of the five would make it.
In the process, the smallest of the five kittens had to have half of one of its legs amputated.
“Our vet did an amazing job and they defeat the odds so far!” the rescue added in an update later that same day. “We are pretty concerned about one of our little ones who had a foot amputated. He’s extremely tiny and is struggling.
“What a rough first day at life!”
On April 4, they gave a sad update. Two kittens, including “little foot,” hadn’t made it.
“We have a update to give … it’s been a long weekend of ups and downs,” they shared. “Our hearts are beyond crushed to notify that the 2 sweet peas who were still at the vet passed away at the vet hospital.”
“[W]e will provide more updates as they come. We never expected this to blow up as big as it did and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Please send babies and mama many postive thoughts and good vibes!”
For now, the other three kittens are holding on, and the single kitten that was born after the quintuplets is doing well, as is the momma cat — though the rescue did mention that she was tired and stressed out (what cat wouldn’t be after all that?).
Momma cat is also taking care of the remaining babies and feeding them, but volunteers are supplementing to make sure the kittens get what they need. So far the rescue has received over $2,300 in donations to help with the little feline family’s care, and they promised to keep followers updated through the Facebook page.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
