JPG Magazine: Stories: Photo Essay: Stray kittens.

Stray kittens.

By Steff Wood

12 May 2008

Last year I visited Tunisia on holiday with my family. I am a naturally shy person and spent most of my time reading by the pool, or taking photos on the beach, till I heard a young child telling his Mother about the kittens he had found. I was immediately curious and asked him if he would take me to see them. Me, the child and his father went for a walk to see if there really were kittens, and we found a stray mother, who had recently given birth to 6 adorable kittens, which were about a week old.

They couldn't stand up properly, and instead dragged themselves about, mewing quietly. The mother was very thin, and afraid. We immediately got her food and milk, the kittens were too small to eat anything but their mothers milk, so she needed her energy up. I stayed with her for about an hour, bringing her more milk. She became very trusting and knew me.

I visited her three times a day for the two weeks I was there, bringing her food and milk, and as she got healthier so did her kittens. These photos were all taken in my last few days there. They could now walk well, and were becoming very adventurous, they were very curious about my camera! One of them in particular, the black one in the photos, was very brave and tried to paw my lens on a few occasions.

I was very wary of leaving them for any period of time, as the time for my holiday to end drew closer I was very worried about what would happen to them. I made some friends who had just arrived and made sure they were aware of them. Then on my last day, I went to say goodbye and they were gone. I panicked, concerned that a larger animal had come and hurt them, or something worse. My brother and I looked for them for an hour till I bus came to take us to the airport. My parents called for me, telling me we had to go, I did not want to leave till I knew what had happened.

Then I heard a miaw. The little guy with black fur crept out of a basement window miawing. I crept closer and peeked inside. It was one of the staff quarters rooms. There was a small bed made for the cats, and all were sleeping happily save for my little friend who had come to say goodbye. A member of staff had taken them in after discovering them because of the attention I gave them.

I left my holiday happy.