A Grueling Week-Long Stray Kitten Rescue in South Bermondsey
On Saturday, CatCuddles’ volunteers entered the sixth day of a grueling and intense rescue operation, culminating in a successful outcome just as hopes reached their lowest ebb.
It started with an urgent enquiry received late last Sunday. A member of the public had spied five very young kittens and their mother on the steep, overgrown bank bordering South Bermondsey train station. Used as a dumping ground by many, the muddy bank was littered with beer cans and other unpleasant debris, and its overgrowth - which included an abundance of stinging nettles - disguised hazards such as broken bottles and barbed wire. And though it was guarded by a tall fence, the bank sat adjacent to a busy path, putting the vulnerable kittens in full view of passers-by, both from the station & nearby Millwall football stadium.
Volunteers were on the scene within a few hours, & were relieved to be provided access to the area - albeit via a very treacherous climb - by a pizza restaurant, who’s ‘garden’ backed onto the bank. It was quickly obvious that whilst the kittens - being very young and therefore not very cautious - would be easy to round up, the wary mother cat would be trickier. At CatCuddles we consider it important to rescue mother cats before removing stray kittens entirely, to prevent them from moving on and becoming pregnant again within weeks.
Though volunteers stayed for hours that night, they were unable to get mum. A single kitten was taken however as his eyes were visibly leaking discharge.
In the following days, every spare moment was spent ‘staking out’ the area, trying to lure mum into one of our specialised cat traps. Shifts could last as long as eight hours, often running late into the evening, in freezing weather and torrential rain, with the bank becoming muddier and even more treacherous. But whilst every angle was exhausted, mum still stubbornly refused to be caught. Gradually more kittens were taken to safety as, unlike their parent, they entered our traps without hesitation. They were each riddled with fleas, eye discharge and had among the worst worm infestations we’ve ever seen.
On the fifth day, as exhaustion was beginning to set in for the team, the situation reached fever pitch. Near midnight it was discovered that the single remaining kitten was visibly lethargic with a cloudy eye. Volunteers were then in a bind; remove the kitten and risk mum leaving the area - or leave him in the cold in poor condition, with a fox lurking nearby?
We volunteers tried so hard that night to get mum so as to avoid making this awful decision, staying 'til the early hours of the morning, but as ever, she evaded capture. We left with heavy hearts, to return early the next morning - Saturday - short on sleep and patience.
A long day with no success dragged on. As the shift reached its tenth hour, hope for a successful outcome was almost gone.
And then the moment came - a click! The sound of the cat trap snapping closed, with one very annoyed mother cat inside! Ecstatic doesn’t quite cover what was felt in that moment - the moment that not only six lives were saved, but hundreds of unborn kittens were also spared.
Mum was taken straight to our fostering hub, to be reunited with her kittens after parasite treatment and spaying. Plans are being made to go back to trap the suspected father cat and other at-risk strays spotted in the area - but only after volunteers have had a good long rest!
