Athena, the cat who was lost at the Ottawa Airport for 11 days, has 5 kittens
Athena and her kittens. (Furry Tales Cat Rescue/Instagram)
A pregnant cat that was flown to Ottawa for a better life, but later went missing at the airport, has had her kittens.
Athena came to Ottawa via the Furry Tales Cat Rescue on March 21, but managed to escape her carrier. It took 11 days to find her, but she was eventually located. She was quite hungry but still pregnant.
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On Friday, Furry Tales announced Athena had given birth to five kittens.
"We are so excited to share that Athena has welcomed five beautiful and healthy kittens into our Furry Tales Cat Rescue family," the rescue said on Instagram. "She was an absolute warrior delivering all five of her babies in only 45 minutes! Words cannot express how relieved we are that Athena was able to have her babies safe, warm, dry and inside with her foster right there for support."
The rescue again thanked everyone who helped in the search for Athena after she escaped. Volunteers and experts spent nearly two weeks searching the airport grounds and handing out flyers, hoping to find Athena before she gave birth. A trapper set traps, bait and food, hoping to find the cat, and then a "kind soul" contacted the organization on April 2 to say Athena had been found.
Athena the cat was found at the Ottawa airport after being lost for 11 days. (Leah Larocque/CTV News Ottawa)
"Athena was saved from living in a junkyard in Manitoba where vet care and foster homes just aren't available. It broke our hearts to think she had lived through all that just to be lost when she had just arrived to a better life," said Furry Tales. "This is why we rescue — we can't save everyone but sometimes miracles happen when we continue to show up."
It will be some time before the newborn kittens are old enough to be adopted. Furry Tales says to keep following its social media feeds "to watch these cuties grow and eventually start the search for their forever families."
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