Meet Apricot, one of the two abandoned kittens that was brought to Nashville Cat Rescue in Nashville, Tennessee.
Apricot was noticed by a kind family who had just moved in recently as they were doing construction work around their house and found the orphaned kitten abandoned in a wall.
Just like what you saw in the picture above, there’s something quite unusual about Apricot’s appearance as she may be what’s known as a genetic chimera cat, a rare natural occurrence.
But her condition didn't deter Kiki, a volunteer at the Nashville shelter from accepting the gorgeous kitten.
In fact, Kiki welcomed and brought her closer to Olive and Pickle, two rescued momma cats who’d just recently had their own babies.
Apricot was quickly accepted by their new moms and warmly welcomed into their shared litter.
According to Nashville Cat Rescue, “Pickle and Olive are two adult kitties that were trapped in a cat colony in the Greater Nashville area. The family that was working to assist this colony determined that the girls were friendly and also both pregnant! When they contacted the rescue, they had ask that the girls stay together, even when it was time for them to be adopted. It was a little bit of an adjustment when Pickle and Olive came to me. They were still a little shy and often greeted me with a hiss or growling. It was clear, however, that the girls loved each other and felt safe together. I spent as much time as I could with them, while still respecting their need for space. I even sat on the floor and worked on my laptop most days. I wanted to ensure as the babies came that they were comfortable with me assisting as needed, or just doing the simple necessities like weighing the kittens on a daily basis.”
“Pickle and Olive are such a joy to watch and their babies are undeniably cute. They swap babies and care for each other like they were their own.”
“Pickle was a bit more approachable than Olive and if I was petting on her, Olive would come in for some love. Within a few weeks of being here, Pickle gave birth to 6 babies, but unfortunately, 1 did not make it. While Pickle was doing the mommy things, Olive would try to still brush up against her in the playpen, but had no interest in meeting the babies. After about a week, I kept seeing Olive inside the playpen hanging out with the babies. She started to care for them like they were her own and interestingly became a little protective over them as I tried to weigh them, etc. A week after Pickle’s babies were born, I came into the girls’ room to find a new little baby—Olive’s first! She had another baby 24 hours after. With such a small litter size and the unusual time lapse between kittens, I took her to the vet to ensure everything was okay. She had to go in for an emergency C-section, which ultimately saved her life as there was a deceased baby still inside of her.”
“In addition to the babies they had, Olive and Pickle also accepted 2 babies whose mother, unfortunately, didn’t return for them”
“A new family had moved in just days before and had noticed some babies in a wall. After waiting for mom for quite a few hours, she didn’t return and they knew time was of the essence to get the babies to a nursing mom.”
“Apricot and Pretzel (we have a charcuterie theme) feel like they have always been here! They were accepted so fast by Pickle and Olive and fit right in with the other babies.”
“Moms and babies will all be available for adoption in a few weeks! Until then, they remain in a foster home with me!”
Comments
Post a Comment