Tiny kittens rescued from boiling water pipes on the road to recovery

Tiny kittens rescued from boiling water pipes on the road to recovery

Two tiny black kittens have survived despite becoming wedged alongside boiling water pipes which ran behind a shed in Truro.

Bill and Barb, as the kittens have now been named, were sheltering in the shed when they were startled and shot down a pipe which contained heating pipes for the main property.

The five-week-old pair were due to be collected along with their mother who was going to be neutered as part of ongoing work by Cats Protection Cornwall Cat Centre with a semi-feral colony on the site.

Jasmine Nevitte, the centre's receptionist, assists with Trap-Neuter-Return in feral colonies in her free time. She says: "I have been working with a gentleman to neuter all the cats in a semi-feral colony that live in his garden. When I went to collect the kittens from the shed, unbeknown to either of us there was a pipe in the back corner of the shed behind some boxes with the water heating pipes running through them. When I entered the shed the two kittens shot down the pipe and got stuck, tangled in some cables. I managed to get the first kitten, Barb, but behind her the second kitten, Bill, had gone in head-first and got totally stuck behind and under the boiling hot water pipes."

With no way for Bill to get himself out and no way to swiftly cool the pipes, it was a race against time to get the young cat out before he suffered serious burns or died.

Jasmine adds: "I could just about reach Bill's back legs but the pipes were so hot I couldn't keep my arm down the outer pipe for very long. As time went on we got increasingly worried that the kitten was going to die from the temperature of the pipes resting on his tiny body and neck."

After some quick problem-solving, Jasmine donned some insulated but flexible work gloves and a soft-shell jacket which protected her enough to pull the hot pipes back, up and away from the kitten.

She explains: "I managed to keep my arm down the pipe long enough to get a grip on Bill's back-end and release his head from under the pipe. I could then untangle his legs from the cables and pull him up. We took both kittens straight to the vets and amazingly Barb didn't have any significant burns. Unfortunately, Bill's little bottom was more badly burnt than we initially thought, and he will need close monitoring, daily bathing and is on antibiotics and pain relief.

"Although understandably shaken up from their ordeal, both kittens are doing well and behaving like typical, playful kittens. They are gradually adjusting to life with indoor comforts and getting used to humans."

The kittens are receiving round-the-clock care and gentle socialisation so that they can be rehomed when they are old enough.

Adult cats in feral colonies like the one where Bill and Barb lived have had little or no human interaction during their formative earliest weeks. As a result, they are extremely fearful of humans, making them unsuitable for a domestic home or for spending time in care at the adoption centre. However, kittens who are under six weeks of age have not yet fully developed their fear response and can learn to trust humans, enjoy home comforts and ultimately live a domesticated life rather than one in the wild.

Further information about the needs of kittens can be found at www.cats.org.uk/kitten-socialisation

If anybody would like to send the kittens a gift, the centre has a wishlist including everything from food to toys which can be found at https://bit.ly/GiftsForCornwallCats

The kittens' details will be posted on Cornwall Cat Centre's website when they are fully recovered and old enough to go to new homes. To keep an eye out for them and to find out about other cats needing homes visit www.cats.org.uk/cornwall