June 12, 2018: Just a normal day like always – at least, that’s what we thought at that time. A kitten as small as a mole was brought in. Eyes closed, feeling cold, barely moving. About an hour later, another kitten, same condition, was brought in by another family. Apparently, a teacher at school found kittens and distributed them between the children, leaving the mother alone without her babies and the kittens without the milk, warmth and love of their mother. We took them in and started the day- and night routine; feeding every 2 to 3 hours, massaging and rubbing their belly, keeping them warm, giving them all of our love. It is difficult to keep kittens alive at this age, as they really need their mother’s milk to protect them from viruses and parasites.
Days passed by, and there they were, still alive and drinking little by little. The whole team had sleepless nights, and days taking care of the kittens. The kittens would sleep at our apartment and we would take them to the clinic for a couple of hours during the day.
For a couple of weeks, the old owners of the cats came to visit them. And then suddenly, from one day to another they stopped coming. They were too busy and didn’t have time. We tried very hard to look for good owners who wanted to adopt them. Noah, the Siamese one, was easy. Everyone wants the white one, because she is ‘so pretty’. But Nena? Noah and Nena had grown up together, slept together, ate together, and played together. We would never separate them, not in a hundred years. So we narrowed the people we addressed for adoption to just a few we trust. Fatima already has a house full of animals (2 cats, 12 dogs, 2 pigs, chickens, …), and Sarah has her 16 cats. Rene and Mayra, have already adopted a lot of abandoned animals that were brought into the clinic, and couldn’t take any more. Neither could animal lover Carlos, as the circumstances didn’t allow him to adopt the 2 kittens.
So here we are after 12 weeks. Stella and Justin can’t just leave them behind here, not knowing where they would be going. So they made a decision: Noah and Nena are moving to Belgium with them!! It’s a loooong way to go. As the rabies vaccine can’t be administered here on the Island, we have to take them to the mainland. 30 days later, a blood test for the rabies antibody titers needs to be send to an official laboratory. Afterwards they (and thus Stella and Justin) need to stay in Ecuador for an additional 3 months, for their quarantine. They have a long and pricey journey ahead of them. Stella and Justin cancelled our next volunteer project in Ecuador, but it’s all worth it if they manage to take these cuties to Belgium.
Please help us get these kittens to Belguim by donating:
https://darwinanimal.bsd.net/page/contribute/help-stella-and-justin-bring-Nena-and-Noah-home-