Three small kittens rescued after being abandoned in Sheffield woods

A caring dog walker and a cat lover helped saved the lives of three cats found abandoned in woodland

Three small kittens were found and rescued after appearing to have been abandoned by their owner at a Sheffield park.

Cat-CHING, a non-profit charity based in Sheffield, which helps homeless cats, was alerted to the discovery by a local dog walker, Liz.

Liz was walking through Ecclesall Woods when she spotted five small kittens all alone.

She was able to secure one of the kittens within minutes and later called Lauren James-Thompson - the founder of Cat-CHING - as she dropped off her dog at home.

Lauren James-Thompson - the founder of Cat-CHING - helped save the lives of three kittens.placeholder image
Lauren James-Thompson - the founder of Cat-CHING - helped save the lives of three kittens. | Lauren James-Thompson - Cat-CHING

Recalling the day's events, Lauren said: ”I got a message at 11am Sunday morning and then I got straight into my car to try and help them.

“Liz had managed to secure one of the cats before driving home and then came back to help look for the remaining four.

“Unfortunately, when we came back one of the kittens had died and we suspect it might have been killed by another dog.”

Another of the kittens was spotted peeking its head around a tree and was retrieved by Lauren. She also managed to catch another cat in a towel after it fell from a tree at a height of around 30ft.

Lauren added: “It was screaming like mad but we couldn’t see where it was until we looked up and heard it from the top of the tree. I think what happened is a dog attacked its sibling and it must have fled the scene to get away from the danger.

Lauren managed to save one of the kittens by catching it in a towel as it fell from the top of a tree.placeholder image
Lauren managed to save one of the kittens by catching it in a towel as it fell from the top of a tree. | Lauren James-Thompson

“It was getting stressed by hearing its sibling crying and looked nervous like it was about to jump. It was shaking but thankfully I managed to catch it as it fell from the tree by using a big towel.”

Lauren successfully returned three of the kittens to a foster home, but the one remaining sibling was unfortunately already dead by the time they found it.

The three siblings are now relaxing back in their foster home after being rescued by Lauren and Liz.placeholder image
The three siblings are now relaxing back in their foster home after being rescued by Lauren and Liz. | Lauren James-Thompson

In a post on Facebook, Cat-CHING said: “These kittens are not feral, they were not born outside and based on the condition of their coats and nails they clearly hadn’t been outside long at all. We suspect these kittens were dumped.”

The surviving kittens have been named Aspen, Ranger and Squirrel - with the latter being the one that was rescued from a tree.

Cat-Ching is a small, home-based rescue in Sheffield. It was founded in 2019 by Lauren.placeholder image
Cat-Ching is a small, home-based rescue in Sheffield. It was founded in 2019 by Lauren. | Lauren James-Thompson

The charity has set up a fundraiser for the trio, which has so far raised over £160 with 17 people donating.

Lauren explains that they will use that money to get the kittens neutered and microchipped before being rehomed.

Commenting on the post, Elsa Robinson said: “What beautiful little babies! How anybody could abandon them is beyond me. Glad these three are now in safe hands.”

Fiona Brown added: “Well done Lauren! They are so beautiful and little fluff balls.”

Kristy Robinson commented: “Oh they are absolute beauties. Thank goodness you found them and RIP to the other two precious little ones.”

Sue 'Weatherhead' Tomlinson said: “You do such amazing work. Thank you for rescuing these babies.”

Michelle Reid added: “They are gorgeous and well done for saving them.”

Michelle Louise said: “Bless them, they are beautiful kittens.”

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