Kind-hearted Royal Navy sailors serving at the UK Naval Support Facility spotted a litter of kittens and immediately set out to rescue the tiny fluff-balls.
A mother cat gone, five crying kittens, estimated to be around three weeks old, were left underneath a shipping container, fending for themselves in the sweltering 40°C heat.
The friendly sailors fostered the felines and bottle-fed them between their shifts while searching for a loving home for them.
Petty Officer Kirsty Scott, one of the sailors who also became a carer for the kittens, stated that “We knew the mother, whom we fondly named ‘Michelle’.” She added, “When we discovered her kittens, we were upset to find she had passed away, and they were left to fend for themselves. They would come running out crying from the shipping containers at the sight of personnel looking for food; there was no way we could leave them suffering.”
Despite providing care to the best of their abilities, unfortunately, one of the kittens passed away shortly after. The rest of the litter, however, began to thrive after passing their initial medical check-ups.
Bidding farewell to the kittens was bittersweet, but luckily all four of the remaining fur babies found their forever home.
Lieutenant Nathan Boal, who serves in the Royal Navy’s operational headquarters in Bahrain, expressed that “It was impossible to ignore the desperate cries of five tiny kittens knowing they wouldn’t survive one day on their own in the punishing heat – they were too young even to eat or drink by themselves.” He added that “I witnessed the caring side of our sailors as well as incredible teamwork to save these helpless animals and I’m relieved that our efforts saved them. Alongside managing the challenges operational deployments can bring, these sailors showed incredible empathy in making time for animals desperate for help, and no doubt this will be an enduring memory of their time in Bahrain.”
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