Unexpected Rescue of Orphaned Kittens
The other day, Joseph Cinnante noticed an unusual sound emerging from behind his home. As a full-time dog trainer and father, he’s accustomed to plenty of noise, but this particular sound was unlike anything he’d heard before.
“The cries were so faint, they almost sounded fake,” he reflected. “At first, I thought maybe they were birds or something similar.”
Cinnante, along with a friend, ventured outside despite a hailstorm to trace the source of the cries. It wasn’t until he got closer that the mystery started to unravel.
“As I approached, it became clear: That’s definitely a kitten crying,” he recalled.
Just minutes later, Cinnante and his friend discovered a tiny, rain-drenched orange kitten hiding beneath some heavy foliage on a hill. Cinnante felt puzzled. His own cat, Keely, had recently given birth to three kittens, safely tucked away indoors. So, who was this little one?
“Initially, I thought, ‘How did her kitten end up all the way out here?!’ But then I realized this one was older, with open eyes and stripes,” he explained.
The duo took the orange kitten inside to warm him up and continued their search. Just ten minutes later, they stumbled upon two more kittens in need of help.
“They were in a hole not far from where we found the orange one,” Cinnante said.
After rescuing the first three kittens, they heard more faint sounds coming from further up the hill. An hour later, they discovered a fourth kitten struggling to survive alone.
Cinnante scanned the area for signs of a mother cat—perhaps one of his neighbor’s barn cats—but found nothing. With the kittens too young to fend for themselves without their mother, it was a relief there was someone at home willing to care for them.
When Cinnante brought the four found kittens home, Keely was nursing her three. Initially, she seemed hesitant.
“You could tell she was confused and not completely comfortable with the new babies,” he noted. “But after a little time and patience, she accepted them as her own.”
For Cinnante, the arrival of these kittens felt almost like fate. As someone dedicated to rescuing shelter dogs slated for euthanasia, he was taken aback by the turn of events, especially since he had just started a non-profit aimed at helping more animals in need.
“The week we found these babies, we had launched our non-profit, and I took it as a sign that we were on the right path,” Cinnante shared.
Thanks to Cinnante’s compassion, these kittens now have a second chance at life. A few weeks post-rescue, they’re thriving and ready for adoption. He’s actively looking for the perfect homes for them and is hopeful they will soon find loving families. Until then, he continues to admire Keely’s nurturing spirit toward both her biological and adopted kittens.
“She’s been an incredible mom to all of them,” Cinnante said.
