Kittens found hidden in Land Rover bin store saved by Exeter garage team
The kittens, named after characters from The Sound of Music, were found in a damaged box in the bin store of a Land Rover garage in Exeter and are now being cared for at the Cats Protection Devon Cat Centre.
Seven kittens found huddled in a box in the bin store of a Land Rover garage in Exeter have been saved by staff, and the technician who discovered them hopes to adopt two.
Vehicle technician Mike Dixon found the litter at Vertu Land Rover Exeter on Matford Way when he moved a pile of cardboard. The kittens’ mother ran out, leaving the young litter quietly together inside a box.
Mr Dixon said the mother had been seen in the area for a few weeks, but nobody had thought anything of it. “We certainly didn’t realise she’d brought her kittens in for safety,” he said.
His colleague Beth Cupper, a workshop controller, has a degree in animal conservation and has worked at a number of zoos. Together they moved the kittens from the damaged box into a sturdier one, which they placed back in the bin store, and asked the rest of the team to keep away.
Ms Cupper said she tore up pieces of the old box to insulate the new one, so that the scent would encourage the mother to return, and left strong-smelling tuna to tempt her back. The area was kept quiet and undisturbed, but after five hours the mother had not returned.
Ms Cupper took the kittens to St David’s Veterinary Hospital, playing Taylor Swift on the journey “to make sure they grow up with good music taste!”. The vets found they were about three to four weeks old and hand-reared them, providing round-the-clock care until they were old enough to start eating solid food.
They were then passed to Cats Protection Devon Cat Centre, where staff and volunteers have been teaching them what their mother would have taught them, including toileting, playing, hunting and socialising, so that they grow into confident cats.
There are three females and four males, all named after characters from The Sound of Music: Bridget, Von Trapp, Marta, Gretl, Fred, Louis and Kurt.
Centre manager Mark Magee said the kittens were “very lucky to be found when they were”. The centre does not know whether the mother gave birth on site or moved the litter there for safety, but it hopes she will return. If she does, it will work with the garage team to humanely trap her and have her neutered, and possibly rehomed if appropriate.
Mr Magee said the mother had done a great job, as the kittens were in good health apart from needing worming. “They are a lively, friendly litter of kittens and will make brilliant family companions,” he said.
The centre relies on donations and has set up a £1,000 JustGiving appeal to cover the cost of the kittens’ care at justgiving.com/page/cats-protection-devon-cat-centre-landroverkittens. Any money raised above the target will go to other cats at the centre.
The kittens are now 10 weeks old and will soon be ready for rehoming. Like all Cats Protection cats, they will go to their new homes neutered, microchipped, vaccinated and up to date with flea and worm treatments, with four weeks of free PetPlan insurance for their owners.
Mr Dixon hopes to adopt two of them, having set his heart on them when he first spotted them beneath the cardboard. The others will be listed at cats.org.uk/devon when they are ready for new homes.