Moma cat

Jennifer Vanderau
Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter

(6/2025) I witnessed a phenomenon this week at the shelter that was just so amazing, I had to share.

We are basically in what is called kitten season. That is the time of year when shelters get a whole lot of kittens coming in the doors. Adult cats are out sowing their wild oats and they bring us the results.

It basically means we are overrun with kittens.

We have some kittens who come in without a mother and others who come in with a mother.

Recently, we had some really little kittens come into the shelter without their mama and we tried to bottle feed them. One of them wasn’t doing too well on the bottle and we knew we needed a feline to help.

Well, we have one mother who is feeding two kittens right now and we named her Mama. What can I say? Some days we’re not all that original.

We figured we would see if she might like a third baby.

Keep in mind, this is a kitten who isn’t hers and isn’t even the same age as her babies.

We knew it was a long shot and we might need to have another plan, but we crossed our fingers and introduced her to the kitten.

When we brought the baby in, he or she was crying. (I say he or she because sometimes it’s tough to tell whether really little kittens are male or female.) We occasionally have to wait until they are older to be certain.

It was so poignant to see that in the beginning, Mama looked around – almost frantic – in an effort to find out what baby was in need. You could almost tell she was worried it was one of hers that was making the noise. We put the little kitten in with her and at first, we weren’t sure either of them knew what they should do.

The little baby continued to cry and Mama sniffed his or her head for a bit and we all held our breath.

Eventually, though, the little one started to nose around and find a source of milk. Mama settled back against the blanket and I swear she gave us a look that seemed to say, "I got this."

I have to tell you, it absolutely choked me up to watch this mama cat take the baby into her litter. I’m not joking. She was feeding the baby just like he or she was her own. It was almost overwhelming to witness the altruism and true benevolence.

Mothers, in general, regardless of the species, really are amazing creatures.

I feel for the mama cats at the shelter, actually. They always look so tired and they have this expression on their faces that seems to say, "Can you get me away from these hooligans?"

Despite the exhaustion, they are always there for their kittens.

Over the years, I’ve seen some really amazing mama cats at the shelter in terms of caring for their babies.

Mama is definitely one of those. She’s not only feeding for her own offspring, but someone else’s.

Animals really are incredibly amazing. I remember a few years ago I saw a show, I think it was on Animal Planet, about a snake, a mouse and a bird who all lived together in the same terrarium. They were natural prey and predator, and yet they coexisted quite happily.

It reminded me a little of the animated movie Zootopia, but that’s a subject for another column.

Sometimes I think the only place you can truly find something like that is in the animal world.

We can learn so many lessons from our four-legged friends.

Mama definitely taught me that families can be blood, but they can also be made. Heck, I know some human families who don’t speak to one another for one reason or another and here is a cat not only nursing her own kittens, but another one as well.

Some days at the shelter can be incredibly tough. We struggle sometimes when we hear the bad stories about animals being abused and neglected.

But then there are the days when a mama cat helps a random kitten and we’re reminded why we do this job.

It’s not all bad.

And sometimes the good actually reminds us what it is to be human.

Thank you, Mama, for being a true source of unconditional love for all creatures. You’ve done more us lowly humans than you will ever really know.

Jennifer Vanderau is the Publications and Promotions Consultant for the Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter and can be reached at cvascomm@cvas-pets.org. The shelter accepts both monetary and pet supply donations. For more information, call the shelter at 263-5791 or visit the website www.cvas-pets.org. CVAS also operates a thrift store in Chambersburg. Help support the animals at the shelter by donating to or shopping at the store.