Shea Prior first observed a stray cat prowling through her yard a few months ago, and she was overjoyed when she eventually came near enough for Prior to feed her. She’d been feeding her for a few days when she realized the cat was producing milk, indicating that she had kittens nearby.
“I was petting her and went to pick her up and that’s when I realized she had milk in and had been nursing some babies,” Prior told The Dodo.
Prior was both excited and concerned, and wanted to help the mama cat and her kittens if she could. She looked around but didn’t see any kittens, and offhandedly asked the mama cat where they were.
“I started telling her to show me to her babies, and that I bet her babies were so pretty,” Prior wrote in a post on Facebook.
The next day, Prior went into her yard to water the plants and saw the mama cat running toward her — and this time, she wasn’t alone.
“She came running up to me and rubbed on my leg while making her little croaking noise she does,” Prior said. “She led me over to my shed and I looked and saw a couple little fluffballs staring back at me. She flopped over on her side and started calling to them to come out and see me.”
Prior had earned the trust of the mom cat, who knew she would help keep her family safe, and she was overjoyed to show out her five little babies to her.
The kittens were initially afraid to come out of hiding, but when their mother reassured them, they eventually gained the courage to come out and greet Prior.
“One of the little gray ones was super brave and came up to me with his little pointy tail held up high in the air and let me pet him immediately,” Prior said. “Eventually, after about 10 to 15 minutes, they had all come up to me and let me hold them and pet them.”
As soon as she’d met the entire family, Prior knew she had to help them, and was able to get them all safely inside her house. Within days, she’d found homes for all five kittens once they’re old enough to be adopted — and decided to adopt the mama cat herself.
Prior is so grateful that the mama cat was brave enough to bring her family to her, and now they’ll all have the best forever homes very soon.
