Nature is full of abundance.

Her fecundancy  is bountiful, how else to provide for the future?

All beings have one imperative, and that is the biological one, to reproduce.  Within that "special purpose" there is abundance in numbers. 
When a Momma Kitty has her heat she mates as often as she can. in her litter she has insured her ability to procreate with many, often there is a little one that is called the "runt". it is not her choice,  just nature.

Our Paper Bag kitties were so young & so small when first discovered. Even though we fed & pooped them diligently, they began to suckle upon each other, which is not a good thing as it leads to infection plus other problems. But very common.  Despite  all intervention the littlest one, always referred to as "little, little kittie" waned.

Our Dear Kitty Loving Friend took them to bed with her to attend to their needs, before dawn we were awoken to her sobs of finding Little Little Kitty's stiff body & spirit gone.
 In the dark before light we buried her in the fruit grove & gave thanks for her spirit.
Amidst our cries &  sobs, we all hugged in agreement that these kitties would carry on!
One lost, the rest of the litter survives.

This spring a fresh batch of kittens were discovered on the side of the road to Zoni, neatly secured in a paper bag, maybe about a week old, FCA was summoned to help.

Neonatal kittens need to be bottle fed every couple of hours, like any newborn.  This is not only a transformative and extremely powerful experience it is also beautiful beyond description (when they are thriving & eagerly eating). The freshness of life and it's very intrinsic basic needs are so profoundly important & immediate that it drastically rearranges your priorities.  While caring for these wee ones it also brings up emotions that invites much existential conversation amongst everyone you encounter.

In the second or so week of life the kitten's ears pop up! When they are suckling on the mother or bottle their ears wiggle back and forth, talk about a reward for diligence!

After nursing the mother cat stimulates her kittens by licking them to excrete their waste, with bottle fed kittens you do it by swabbing their genitals with a moistened cotton ball or towel, and viola! Such excitement & relief! Repeat every 2 hours!

Kittens are always looking to cuddle and suckle, sometimes they "nurse" on each other, which is not desirable as it can lead to infection.  But you cannot separate them as they need the warmth, comfort and nest time with their siblings.

When one of the kittens became weak & lethargic due to suckling FCA resources were used to escort and transport these kitties to a main island veterinarian for examinations, overnight evaluations and medications.  A clever configuration of little kitty collars controlled this behavior by our beloved Dr.Cruz!

photo credit: Sue Klumb

Certainly better than the sock skirts & kitty koosies we tried to fashion!

Fortunately FCA had many kind-hearted family, friends & folks who stepped up to help these kitties early on with round the clock care to get them through their critical first few weeks.

FCA is deeply honored & thrilled to announce it's new relationship with North Shore Animal League America (NSALA)!
Sound the trumpets!

NSALA is the world's largest no kill animal rescue & adoption organization, located in Port Washington, NY (Long Island). They will now begin to accept some of our Culebra animals that we cannot place into homes elsewhere.

This is very good news as we are are often short on fosters and despite all of our very hard work at spaying & neutering (more on that later), there always seem to be  more kittens, puppies, cats & dogs than we can handle,  so it certainly lightens our load of placing animals into their forever homes, but we still arrange the travel crate, transportation (to main island and airline to the US), veterinary visits for a clean bill of health, travel certificates, etc. All of this is done with the donations that you, kind reader and donor, allow us to do.  FCA generates and pays for everything via donated dollars.

This partnership has been a goal of FCA's for several years, and we have Holly Giordano Lyons & Lori Novis to thank for this connection.

FCA has relationships with many great organizations and fosters among them are Robbie Hendricks Douyard, Island Dog, All Sato Rescue, Save A Gato, PuertoRico Alliance for Companion Animals, Silvia Carreno, and we rely & appreciate all that every one does.

And great new is that the Paper Bag Kitties were our delivery to NSALA to find their happy home!

Imagine the possibilities!