Evening

On New Years day 2025, we took in Evening and her two kittens. A person who does TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return) in LA had posted on Facebook trying to find a rescue for Evening and her kittens. They were originally from a hoarding/neglect situation, with over 20+ cats and 2 dogs in a tiny apartment with all the windows boarded up. We didn’t know at the time how many cats were inside, because the owner had been untruthful with the TNR volunteers. Evening had originally had 4 kittens, and when one passed the owner wanted them out. Another passed shortly after, so they needed to come to a rescue that was familiar with neonatal kittens. Since neonatal kittens are Tiny Kitten Coven’s specialty, we stepped up and took them in.

Since it was New Years Day we named them for New Years Resolutions- mama Evening Walk, and Deep Clean (tabby) and Meal Prep (grey.)

Evening was sweet and lovely, but very very shy. She even had a scar on her neck and was very afraid of having her head or neck touched at first. She wanted to, but just wasn’t sure that she could trust humans.

Unfortunately the kittens were extremely underweight. They were almost 2 weeks old, but barely weighed what newborns should weigh. One was very weak and unable to nurse no matter how hard he tried. It wasn’t Evening’s fault, but she was way too young to be having kittens. She was only about 9 months old when they were born. Cats can go into heat and have kittens as young as 6 months of age, but since they are still growing themselves at that age, they are usually unable to support the kittens’ growth or provide enough nutrients either in the womb or once the kittens were born. That definitely seemed to be part of the problem with these kittens- why they were so small and weak. They also struggled with hypothermia, getting cold and lethargic even while being directly on a heat pad and snuggled up to Evening.

Sadly, despite all the extra feeding and care everyone was receiving, Deep Clean’s little body gave out a couple days after we got him. A day or two that, Meal Prep’s eyes very suddenly completely clouded over. We rushed to get a vet appointment, and between the hypothermia the other kittens were experiencing and the diagnosed uveitis in his eyes, the vet suspected toxoplasmosis.

Most adult cats that are exposed to toxoplasmosis clear it easily and are not contagious for long, even without treatment. Young kittens are more susceptible, though. We put Meal Prep on antibiotics, as well as Evening just in case she was carrying it still. Sadly it just wasn’t enough. Deep Clean slowly started to decline, and passed away in his sleep one afternoon, in his foster’s arms. We let Evening say good-bye, but she was so confused that all her babies were gone, and she couldn’t understand what happened.

Once she had finished her own course of antibiotics to make sure she was no longer carrying toxoplasmosis, we decided to pull another adult cat from the same hoarding situation so that Evening could have a friend, hoping this would help her through the loss of her kittens. Plus, there were 20 cats in that house, so it took a lot of rescues taking in a few cats each to get them all out!

Morning (full name Morning Yoga, to match the New Years Resolutions theme!) was even more shy than Evening. She is older, and had been in the house longer, so it took a lot of work to get her out of her shell. Morning didn’t want too much to do with Evening, but all the same Evening enjoyed the company and she finally really started coming out of her shell! Before, she had hidden whenever someone went in the room, and would purr if you dragged her out to pet her, but never came out on her own. Chasing her around got her very stressed, as well. But now, Evening was coming right up to people for pets! '

Once Evening was spayed and fully vetted, she was put up for adoption, and the most incredible family took her home. She is still a little skittish, but they’re being so patient with her and giving her the time she needs to learn that she’s in a safe place now and will not only never be neglected or hurt, but doesn’t have to have any litters of kittens now- she gets to enjoy her own kittenhood as her first birthday is still a ways away!