Four kittens rescued after mother killed in Outwell

An animal charity is caring for four three-week-old kittens which were rescued after their mother was killed on a village road at the weekend.

Officials from the Downham area's Cats Protection branch say they were alerted on Saturday by a member of the public who had found them in his garden in Outwell.

Centre manager Lindsey Tempest said: “Sadly, one of them, the kittens’ mum, had been found dead in Stow Road that morning.

"He had seen her moving some kittens under a bush a few days before and he was desperate for our help.

“We told him to bring the kittens straight to us and, within a very short time he returned with four tiny kittens in a cardboard box.

"Amazingly, they were clean, warm and a good weight. They’d obviously had their breakfast with mum just before she tragically ventured onto the road, so they had a fighting chance.”

The charity is only accepting emergency cases currently because of the coronavirus crisis and the young age of the tabby kittens posed a particular challenge as they need to be hand-reared.

Miss Tempest said: “Normally this would not be an issue but we are working on a skeleton staff during lockdown and didn’t have anyone here to help.

"Thankfully, our neighbouring Dereham Adoption Centre arranged to take them in and just a few hours later they were safely snuggled up, receiving around the clock care from one of their team.”

The kittens will remain in the charity's care until after lockdown is completed and they are well enough to be re-homed.