Ordeal of kittens trapped in narrow drainpipe

The three - named Joseph, Noah and Magdalena - were just three weeks old when they were found huddled in a four-inch wide rainwater pipe, with their three littermates and feral mother close by.

Now eight-weeks-old, the black-and-white siblings are all looking for new owners after recovering from their ordeal at Cats Protection’s National Cat Adoption Centre, in Chelwood Gate.

The kittens were taken to the centre after being rescued from the drainpipe in Essex.

Rescuer Alison Gambles, who works for Cats Protection in the county, said: “We had a report from a local resident who could hear meowing coming from the drain in the ground, beneath the guttering and under the grate. I went to have a look and found three of the kittens with their mother hiding under the flowerbeds.

“A while later, there was still the sound of meowing and after a lot of rummaging around we found three more inside the drainpipe, one of which was almost wedged inside the U-bend. As the kittens had just reached the age when they could crawl, we can only guess that they had been born under the surrounding shrubbery and had fallen into the drain.

“The mother had been a feral stray and was only aged around six months herself. She was clearly a devoted mother and although she couldn’t reach into the drain to get her kittens out, she hadn’t left them.

“She had done a terrific job raising six kittens, as they were in remarkably good condition. They all needed flea treatment and lots of socialising to get them used to people, but now they are all happy, healthy kittens.

“Stray female cats will always do their best to find a safe, quiet hiding spot to have their kittens, and that’s what their mother had tried to do. It is very lucky there had not been significant rainfall, as the water from the guttering could easily have drowned them. And it was fortunate that a local resident had heard them, as they would have soon become dehydrated and would not have survived if left for much longer.”