PAWS Chicago News item | PAWS Chicago

Fairytale Endings for a Former Stray and Her Babies

Jul 16, 2024

Kitten season brings countless new moms and their litters into our city impoundment facility during the most vulnerable moments of their lives, just like Rapunzel and her little princes and princesses.

Springtime sees a huge influx of stray moms and their brand-new babies due to mating season in warmer temperatures. Stray life is hard enough without a handful of defenseless little ones depending on you to find food and water, and a safe place to spend the night.  

Each week, scores of them end up each week at Chicago Animal Care & Control (CACC), the city impoundment facility, where they can be transferred for rescue and given a safe place to get their kittens big and strong. PAWS Chicago got to be the knight in shining armor for Rapunzel and her seven babies: Aladdin, Jasmine, Phillip, Charming, Erica, Tiana, and Aurora. After making sure everyone was healthy, they moved into one of our amazing foster homes for a quiet, private environment to focus on the very important task of gaining weight.  

During the first two months of kittens’ lives, it’s incredibly important that they continuously put on a lot of weight. Foster families help track this progress each week to make sure no one is falling behind in getting the crucial nutrients they need to thrive. Mom can also get too caught up in caring for her little ones that her own health starts to suffer, so it’s equally important that she keeps her belly full.  

Food can truly be lifesaving care in these instances, and these families go through a lot of it during these two months. That's why we’re incredibly thankful for our feeding partner, Purina, for providing all the food for every cat in our care!  

All that hard work has paid off for Rapunzel and the kittens, who have since found loving families!  

Foster homes are a crucial part of saving cats like Rapunzel, especially during kitten season. If you’re interested in the endless entertainment that is kitty families, we need you now! 

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