The two young cats that were abandoned at the Jasper Elementary School March 17 鈥渁re doing excellent,鈥� according to their temporary foster mom, Karen Dyck.
Simon and Linus, as Dyck has named the castaways, are still 鈥渁 little sniffly,鈥� but are eating well and running around playing with her other pets.
Just like the two kittens abandoned at the school last December, these new cats suffer from feline upper-respiratory syndrome and were found with eat mites.
Those facts, along with the cats鈥� colouring, suggest they are almost certainly from the same mother who birthed the previous pair of orphan kittens.
And while the little fur balls are recovering nicely, Dyck said she鈥檚 had a hard time finding homes for them. In fact, she said, Wallace, one of the two kittens discovered last December, still lives with her as well.
Recently, Dyck has attempted to reach out to the person or people responsible for abandoning the cats. In a post on the Jasper Buy, Sell and Trade Facebook page, she urged whoever ditched the kittens to come to her for help.
Promising to keep the person鈥檚 identity a secret, she offered to help them spay the cat that keeps having babies, just to help them out of what she feels must be a difficult situation.
鈥淚f I was that person I would be pretty shut down鈥擨 would be embarrassed and insecure,鈥� she said.
鈥淲e all do different things for different reasons, and sometimes when things are overwhelming 鈥� your frame of mind is different.鈥�
She urged the community to follow her lead, and offer its help and support to whomever is leaving the cats.
鈥淲e have to be a little more accepting, and a little less judgmental,鈥� she said.
Since the cats have come into her care, Dyck has been raising money through donations and bottle drives to get them all the shots they need. She said she has commitments from some community members to donate more money should someone come forward and ask her for help.
She added that she keeps a crate on her front porch, and if the person is worried about being identified, he or she can simply leave their cat in the crate, and she will take care of it.
鈥淚鈥檓 hoping they鈥檒l just reach out,鈥� she said.
聽Trevor Nichols
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