'Miracle kitties' found in taped-up box on Covington train tracks get adopted

Victoria Moorwood, Cincinnati Enquirer
Updated ·2 min read
3

Five kittens left for dead in Covington are finding their forever homes.

A Covington man found a taped-up box of kittens on train tracks in December. A post about the kittens on Facebook found its way to volunteers with Stray Haven, a network of volunteer fosters in Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky and Indiana.

One volunteer took in the kittens, but realized something was wrong.

A Northern Kentucky volunteer cat foster took in five kittens, four of which have cerebellar hypoplasia.
A Northern Kentucky volunteer cat foster took in five kittens, four of which have cerebellar hypoplasia.

Four of the five kittens have cerebellar hypoplasia, or wobbly cat syndrome, a neurological disorder that causes balance and coordination issues in cats. The disorder usually occurs when the mother contracts feline parvovirus during pregnancy, altering the formation of the kittens' cerebellum.

Shelly Conner, the volunteer cat coordinator for Stray Haven, took in the kittens at her Florence home Dec. 6.

"It's kind of rare to have that many in a litter. And at that point they seemed to be on the really extreme end of CH (cerebellar hypoplasia)," she told The Enquirer.

The kittens were found in a taped-up box on Covington train tracks in early December.
The kittens were found in a taped-up box on Covington train tracks in early December.

The kittens were around six weeks old, but very small. Conner fed them water through a syringe and set up a makeshift home for them in her bathroom. She reached out to Just Cats Rescue in Akron, Ohio, which could give them the support they needed.

But then they started to improve.

"In about three weeks time, they went from couldn't do anything by themselves to eating, drinking, playing – it was just amazing to see," she said, calling them "miracle kitties."

There's no cure for cerebellar hypoplasia, but the kittens will continue to get stronger and bigger. The disorder won't worsen.

Rocky Road and Chunky Monkey, the only kitten without cerebellar hypoplasia, have been locally adopted.
Rocky Road and Chunky Monkey, the only kitten without cerebellar hypoplasia, have been locally adopted.

Four of the cats, Pistachio, Sherbet, Rocky Road and Chunky Monkey – the only one without cerebellar hypoplasia – have been adopted locally. Just one, Cherry Garcia, remains with Conner. She said the cats' names were inspired by ice cream flavors.

Posts about the kittens received widespread attention on Facebook. Conner said she's heard from interested adopters around the country, but she's looking for a local adopter, and one that would make a good home for playful Cherry.

"They (the kittens) have no clue that there's anything wrong with them," she said. "They're happy. They play. They're normal, just wobbly."

Stray Haven began fostering cats in 2022. The organization facilitated 1,290 adoptions last year: 341 cats and 949 dogs, Conner said.

Local adopters can meet Cherry, and other kitties, at the My Furry Valentine adoption event Feb. 17-18 at the Sharonville Convention Center.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Kittens left for dead in taped-up box on train tracks get adopted