by Elisa Black-Taylor
(USA)
Cat with identity crisis
Bianca the cat and her three kittens, Blaze (a gray muted calico girl), Casper (a white male) and Shimmer (a tortie girl) all ended up in a cage on death row in Greenville, SC. This is the shelter I rescue from, so this story really caught my interest.
You'll understand in a moment why I titled this story The Mother Cat Who Wasn't.
All three kittens are facing malnutrition, intestinal worms, and a severe upper respiratory infection. They are currently under the care of North Greenville Veterinary Hospital in Greenville, SC.
Abby's Animal Angels, the rescue group who pulled the mama and her kittens are hand feeding the kittens with a syringe and administering eye as well as oral antibiotics. Little Blaze is the worst of the three and may lose an eye to the infection. The kittens are making a lot of progress and can now eat a little on their own.
Now for the clincher and why this cat family stuck in my mind! Bianco is a MALE cat!! This has come as a shock to everyone and has warranted a name change. Bianco is now Blanco. He cares for and washes up his litter of kittens. Blanco obviously loves his babies, gently cleaning them and keeping them warm as they nap.
With all of the negativity out there about male cats harming the litter, I just had to share this story with the readers here. Everyone wants to know why the shelter didn't catch it that Bianco was really Blanco. I guess he was pulling off such a good mothering act no one thought to look. Female cats nursing a litter aren't candidates for spaying at the shelter and are "fixed" after the kittens are weaned.
Having no mother does explain why the kittens were so malnourished and underweight for their age.
There are lots of bills piling up for Blanco and his little family. Not only for treatment being done now, but for vetting and spay/neuter once the kittens are well enough and old enough to have it done.
Those wishing to help this unusual cat family out financially may make a payment to North Greenville Veterinary Hospital at (864)244-8281 or through a chipin set up at -- this URL no longer works sorry.
I'd like to remind everyone unfamiliar with rescues that this is what rescues do. The conditions of these kittens isn't unusual. Most of the ones I've rescued from this shelter had URI's. Rescues take it upon themselves to give round the clock care if it's needed in order to save a kitten or cat.
I'd also like to add not identifying Blanco as a boy is also not unusual. I've rescued three from this shelter who were sexed wrong on their paperwork. There's so much going on in a shelter with so many dumping their pets off like garbage that sometimes things are overlooked.
Sorry Bianca-I mean Blanco! I'm glad everything's been figured out now.
Have any of the readers here ever had a daddy cat who took care of the kittens? Is this really that unusual? I raised hairless rats several years ago and the babies were always cared for my the daddy. Mama was only there for food. Naps and grooming were daddy rats job.
Blanco, you deserve every luxury imaginable for being such a good daddy to these babies.
Elisa