Mama put them in there to keep them safe ❤️
In early April, Kamila Muxitake got an unexpected phone call from someone at Home Depot. The employee said a customer had passed along Muxitake’s name because they knew she worked with St. Francis Society Animal Rescue, and the store hoped she might be able to help with an urgent situation.
A stray mother cat had chosen a flower pot in the garden section as the place to care for her newborn kittens. Staff members had been giving the family food and even placed a sign on the pot so customers would leave them alone. Still, they knew the cats needed a safer place, and Muxitake agreed to step in.
When she arrived, the mother cat was stretched out nearby, looking calm. Since Muxitake has plenty of experience trapping cats as part of the rescue’s work with stray populations, she expected the process to be fairly simple. She prepared a trap with food inside, and the hungry cat walked right in — but then the plan hit a snag when the trap door failed to shut.
According to the rescue, it was far from ideal. Muxitake quickly asked everyone nearby to stay quiet and give her space. Then, to avoid making noise, she slipped off her shoes and carefully moved behind the trap, closing it by hand once the cat was fully inside. The people watching broke into cheers when she succeeded.
With the mother safely contained, Muxitake turned her attention to the flower pot. Inside, she found a bundle of tiny, wriggling kittens. The whole family was taken into the rescue’s care, where they were checked over and found to be healthy and doing well.
Rescue staff said the kittens appeared to be about three weeks old, and their excellent condition showed that their mother had been taking very good care of them. They also noted that the mom had quite an appetite, which made sense given how much effort she was putting into feeding her babies.
Not long afterward, the rescue received another litter of kittens who had been left without a mother. Because this cat had already shown herself to be such a devoted parent, the team introduced the orphaned kittens to her. She accepted them immediately and began nursing, grooming, and protecting them as if they were her own.
The mother cat and her kittens have not been officially named yet, though some of the customers who saw the rescue suggested choosing flower-themed names in honor of where they were found.
Once the mother finishes caring for the kittens and the babies are big enough, the rescue plans to have them all spayed or neutered, vaccinated, microchipped, and eventually placed in adoptive homes.