A stray cat moved out from under a porch and in with kind people. The next morning, they woke up to kittens in the office.

Cleo the cat and her kittensWilma

Cleo, a young stray cat, was alone and wary when she first sought shelter under the porch of a home. The resident noticed her one day and began providing food and slowly befriended her.

“About a month ago, they suspected she was pregnant and contacted Eliannie Animal Rescue to get her into foster care. Cleo was tame enough at that point that she’d go into their house for brief amounts of time,” Wilma, a foster volunteer of the rescue, shared with Love meow.

They secured the cat into a crate and brought her to Wilma on a Friday afternoon. Cleo was nervous but quickly eased into being petted.

CleoWilma

Cleo seemed pleased with her new space, a quiet, comfortable room with boundless food and all the amenities. “I could feel babies in her belly but didn’t think she was giving birth imminently.”

That night, Wilma went to bed after checking on Cleo, having little idea what was about to unfold the next day.

She was a young cat when she was rescued as a strayWilma

“I woke up on Saturday morning and heard kittens crying in my office.”

Cleo had given birth to two kittens on the base of a cat tree. Wilma raced to set up a nest and helped the mama move her babies in. She stayed with Cleo, offering support and encouraging words, until the last kitten was born.

The day after arriving in foster care, Cleo gave birth to her kittensWilma

“By the time she was finished, she trusted me. She has no problem with me handling her babies and seems to know she’s in a safe place.”