I have always been an animal lover. From the time I was an infant, I can’t remember my life without being surrounded by animals. Growing up, we had every pet imaginable. Fish, hamsters, rabbits, a turtle, a frog, more cats than I can count, dogs, parakeets and I think that about covers it?! We were also notorious for bringing home stray animals. My sister Kristi brought home a rabbit once that she rescued from the side of the road. The poor baby was being chased by a dog. It wasn’t until years later we found out it was actually a wild hare. I’m not even kidding!

Well, this past Summer, my sister had a stray cat that had kittens in her backyard. We quickly became obsessed with these little guys. We even took them to the vet numerous times when we suspected they were not doing as great as we would have liked. We had fully nursed them back to health and were waiting for the 8 week mark to adopt them out to their new homes. At about 7 weeks, the kittens all vanished one night. We were devastated. We looked at shelters, asked the neighbors if they had seen them, but they were nowhere to be found.

In the meantime, we had planned that we were going to try and trap the strays that were living in my sisters backyard. Yes, it’s easier said than done. In the meantime, there were two new litters of kittens born one day apart. Concerned about their safety, as we still had no idea what happened to the first batch of kittens, we became increasingly paranoid. To the point that we tried to trap the mom and her kittens and bring them inside. It was impossible. The mother was so scared and untamed, that we couldn’t keep her in the cage.

People will say I saved their lives, but the truth is, they saved mine.-Jen

Fast forward a few weeks. After losing track of the two litters of kittens multiple times because the Mom’s kept moving them, we thought we finally had a handle on the situation. We had called numerous shelters. etc and had been told the kittens needed to stay with their mothers as long as possible or they would not make it. So that was the plan.

Early one morning, everything changed. My sister went out in the backyard to feed the adult cats and found two coyotes in her backyard. One litter of kittens were gone and the adult cats were all hiding in the trees. We now knew the fate of the kittens. My sister was horrified. We knew immediately, that in order to save the remaining four kittens lives, I would have to take them in. We had tried trapping the Mom along with them, but she was too wild to bring along. We felt terrible at the thought of separating these babies form their mother, but It was the only chance these little guys had to live.

I took the kittens home, all of which happened to be boys. I started bottle feeding them every few hours, They were only around 3 weeks at the time. It was extremely hard, but also one of the most rewarding things I have ever done in my life. I honestly can’t even begin to describe the feeling. I also knew that I couldn’t keep them, but I had no idea how hard it would be to adopt them out when they were finally old enough to go to their forever homes. They were my four boys! Max, Oliver, Charlie and Scout. Well, time flew by quickly and it was time for them to be adopted. I was able to get my Mom and my Dad to each take one. The third home didn’t work out as planned so I ended up keeping both Max and Oliver.

My little guys are now 5 months old and have already changed my life. Soon enough, I will tell you my story of the past few years. When people tell me I saved these kitten’s lives, I always reply. “No, they saved mine.” It’s the truth. At what has been one of my darkest times, they came into my life and gave me hope. I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to be a foster mom and ultimately Max and Oliver’s forever Mom! I can’t imagine my life without them-