Around one in the morning, a Good Samaritan in England, eager to get home from work and into bed as soon as possible, heard strange noises coming from a single shoebox that was sitting in an alleyway. They went over to investigate, opened up the shoebox — and discovered the tiniest kitten inside, no more than a day old.
The kitten was so tiny it appeared she had only just been born, and her umbilical cord was still attached. She hadn’t even opened her eyes yet, and the person who found her knew she needed medical attention as soon as possible.
They contacted the RSPCA, and inspector Liz Wheeler rushed out to collect the kitten and took her straight to the RSPCA’s Putney Animal Hospital in London.
In a news statement, Wheeler stated that the child was “much too young to be apart from her mother.” “We believe she is just a day or two old, and some of her umbilical chord was still attached. She will now require constant feeding and hand-rearing.
Staff members at the animal hospital decided to name the tiny kitten Grace, and quickly set about giving her the best care possible. It’s difficult for a kitten that young to thrive without the care of her mother, but the dedicated staff at the animal hospital are determined to do everything they can to make sure that tiny Grace pulls through.
Grace is so small that she fits completely in the palm of a person’s hand, and it’s hard to believe that such an itty-bitty creature could have survived on her own in that shoebox, even just for a little while.
Little Grace is incredibly lucky that she was found when she was, and now her rescuers are trying to figure out who could have abandoned her like that.
According to Wheeler, “There is never a reason to abandon an animal like this since there are always alternative solutions accessible to folks who may be having a hard time managing their pets.”
“It’s terribly terrible to leave a vulnerable animal like Grace behind, and we’re seeking for information to try to find out how she ended up being abandoned,” the statement reads.
The biggest clue the RSPCA has is the shoebox that Grace was abandoned in, which held a pair of Adidas Superstar J sneakers in size 5. They’re also urging anyone who may have seen something to come forward, so they can try and prevent a similar situation from happening again.
“Sadly, we do see lots of abandoned animals at this time of year, especially kittens,” Wheeler said.
While it may take some time before little Grace is ready for adoption, she is receiving all the love and care she needs from her rescuers and should only become stronger over time.
