Ipswich: Lucky escape for trio of five-week-old kittens thrown out with the rubbish

THESE tiny kittens have already used up a few of their nines lives – after a lucky escape from a rubbish dump.

It is believed the two males and one female were dumped in a bin before refuse collectors unwittingly brought them to the Foxhall Household Waste and Recycling Centre, where they were discovered.

Despite their ordeal, all three are in good health.

According to Colin Burch, 30, a supervisor at the Foxhall Road site, the kittens were found “huddled up in the waste” by site operative Geoff Marsh on Tuesday morning.

“They almost got scooped up with the digger, so they’re very lucky kittens,” he said. “We’re not quite sure where they came from.”

Workers at the site contacted Ipswich Cats Protection and branch coordinator David Smith came to collect the kittens to take them into foster care.

He said: “Where the dustcarts discard all the rubbish, they found these three kittens in the rubbish.

“They think one way they could have got there is if they were dumped in a wheely bin.”

David, 64, has been with the charity for ten years and fosters cats with his wife Sheila.

The kittens were taken to a vet to be checked over and are in perfect health. They’re estimated to be five weeks old and almost certainly from the same litter.

They will be staying with David and Sheila until they reach nine weeks old, when they will be fully vaccinated and micro-chipped and ready to go to a new home.

In honour of where they were found, the female tortoiseshell and white kitten has been named Dusty, the ginger and white boy dubbed Rusty and the black and white boy called Scrappy.

Abandoned kittens are an increasingly common problem for Ipswich Cats Protection and David believes the cause is pet owners not getting their cats neutered and ending up with unwanted litters.

“It’s a very sad thing, but it’s happening all the time now,” he said. “This is the second lot I’ve rescued within a fortnight. I rescued another three little male tabbies from Hadleigh Road Industrial Estate, they were found in a cardboard box.

“I think some people think if they let cats breed, they can sell the kittens. But the chances are slim when charities are struggling to find homes even for young healthy cats.

“We’re always looking for new homes for cats in care – old ones and new.”

David and Sheila also foster two other male cats – Barnes and Liszt – and there are another seven fosterers in the area with around 26 cats in care in Ipswich at the moment.

To find out more about giving a cat a good home, visit ipswich.cats.org.uk or call 08453 712069.