Very young kittens need milk from a mother cat ― or must be bottle-fed by human caretakers ― to survive. But the older kitten, who has since been named Binx, appeared nevertheless to be looking out for the “little ones” and trying to care for them “as best he could,” Fugate said.

The three younger kittens, estimated to be about 2 weeks old, are all male and have been named Ollie, Frankie and Ziggy.

It’s unknown what happened to the mother. But all four kittens are “doing great so far,” Fugate said, and are in the care of a foster home, where the youngest ones are being bottle-fed every few hours. Binx is still with them.

“They all went to a foster home together,” she said, “because how could we split them up?”