A pregnant tabby cat came to her foster home through Animal Welfare League of Arlington in Virginia. At around two years old, she was extremely friendly towards people, confident and immediately felt at home.
She befriended the resident cat and dogs and especially grew fond of Kona, a cat-adoring canine whose favorite thing in the world is being a nanny for kittens. The tabby, named Freckles, sauntered up to Kona and wiped her face all over her.
A few weeks later, Freckles brought six beautiful, healthy kittens into the world. She dove into mommy duties and dedicated every second to caring for her babies, day in and day out.
Whenever her foster mom, Asa, came into the room, she gifted her the sweetest purrs and head bumps. “Six hungry babies is a lot but she has been doing amazing with taking care of them all,” Asa told Love Meow.
Kona the kitten-nanny-extraordinaire overheard the babies coming from the foster room. Her eyes lit up and tail went into happy mode, knowing there were new babies awaiting her affection.
Just like Freckles, Kona was rescued as a mother who raised her puppies until they were big enough for adoption. She found her forever home with Asa, her foster mom then, and has been mothering other animals in need ever since.
The sweet canine anxiously waited to see the kittens from the moment she heard their cries.
“She ‘accidentally’ met one of them quite early on. Freckles used to move the babies around a lot between the nests and my bathroom. One time, she had left one alone in the bathroom for more than a few minutes,” Asa shared with Love Meow.
“Kona was mindlessly following me in that direction. When she saw the baby, she started wagging her tail. She kept looking back and forth between the kitten and me as if to say, ‘Mom, look! I found a baby!’”
Freckles noticed the “uninvited” guest and immediately gestured at Kona to “come back another time, maybe.”
With other resident animals, the kittens were completely off limits by the mama, but somehow Kona had earned a pass a few times into the kitty cave to hang out with Freckles and her demanding babies.