Toodles the stray cat was living in a mobile home park when she got into a fight with a dog and needed assistance. She was hurried to the shelter by Anne Arundel County Animal Care & Control worker Mindy Brocato, a local resident.
However, everyone was able to see that she was a new mother when Toodles showed up in early April.
Once Toodles was safe, the search for her family began.
“Toodles was lactating and clearly had recently had kittens,” Chris Weinstein, a board member of Friends of Anne Arundel County Animal Care & Control, told The Dodo. “Mindy alerted her neighbors to be on the lookout for kittens. Five were found under a mobile home and Mindy rushed them to the shelter.”
The mother cat meowed with delight as the first kitten was delicately put on Toodles’ bed by a shelter staffer. The remaining kittens, who were around two weeks old, climbed up on their mother, squeaking incessantly, and started to suckle.
The heartwarming reunion may be seen here:
That night, Toodles and her little family were transported to a foster home for more personalized care. But even though Toodles had her kittens back, it still seemed as if something was bothering her.
A few days later, a sixth kitten was discovered crying for her mom in the insulation of the same mobile home where the rest were found. Brocato rushed the kitten, now named Percy, to reunite with the rest of her family.
The kitty immediately dove in for a meal “Shelter posted something on Facebook. “Toodles, too? The foster parent reports that she appears “far more at ease now that this NEW baby has come.”
Toodles is being the greatest mother she can be and is overjoyed to be back with her kittens in their cozy home. Weinstein said, “Toodles, who is estimated to be around 2 years old, has been’such a nice mama.’” The kittens have flourished because she is an excellent mother.
Soon, the entire family will be spayed and neutered and microchipped and will go home with their adopters.
But the very first one to find a family was Toodles herself: “Toodles and Percy were the first to find a home — together,” Weinstein said. “That warms all our hearts, as the moms so often are the last to be adopted.”
