‘Super-resilient little survivors’: Rescue group caring for cats trapped in Abbotsford floods

Cats that were trapped in an Abbotsford home due to flooding are being cared for by a rescue group until they can be reunited with their humans, but volunteers are starting to worry about the long-term health of animals who spent days surrounded by contaminated water.

Tiny Kittens Rescue in Fort Langley specializes in caring for feral cats, which is why they were able to get into and recuse three that the owners had to leave behind on a farm that served as an animal sanctuary.

Indy, Dodger, and Jazzy were rescued on November 21. Sadly, Jazzy has since passed away.

“Their story is actually really sad. They were trapped in a house that flooded and some really great people went out and were able to get most of the animals out. But these guys — being quite feral — it’s really hard to catch them in a catastrophe situation. So they stayed in the house, and it was about four days they were without food because nobody could get anywhere close, it was just so flooded,” explains Shelly Roche.

“We’d been able to rescue three, but then the third one we weren’t quite in time. So we tried really hard but couldn’t save her.”

Roche says Indy and Dodger were obviously traumatized. They were dehydrated and had not eaten in days when they were found.

“They were both terrified. You could just feel the trauma, the fear. Just knowing what they had survived, it was really hard,” she says.

“It’s really hard to see you that kind of suffering, and we try so hard to alleviate it, but sometimes it takes a long time. Sometimes we don’t.”

The kitties have been given electrolytes, and had their injuries treated. They’ve been eating regularly, and have gained some weight.

But Roche says they’ve also displayed some troubling symptoms. One thing Roche has noticed is something called ataxia, which can causes an unsteady or wobbly gait. Sudden, spiking fevers have also been an issue.

“That started us down this path of thinking that we may see more animals coming up with exposures to toxins, or contaminants, strange bacteria — we just don’t know,” she says.

“We’re just trying to learn more about what they may have been exposed to. So that we are prepared in case more people start seeing this.”

Still, the pair are doing much better overall, according to Roche.

“They play a little bit at night, which is always really nice to see. But they definitely survived, they’re little survivors, super-resilient little survivors.”

The duo should be able to reunite with their family soon.

“We want to love them so much. But they don’t necessarily want love from us because they’re not used to a lot of humans. So we have the cameras which is really helpful. It helps us monitor their breathing and how they’re doing and their stress levels and so we’re able to keep it as low stress as possible. But it’s still not the same as being home.”

A live feed of the cats can be streamed on Youtube.