Over 2 dozen sick, injured kittens saved by Brevard County rescue during Hurricane Milton

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Updated  October 15, 2024 5:37pm EDT
FOX 35 Orlando
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Abandoned kittens saved during Hurricane Milton: How to help

An animal organization in Brevard County has had to rescue more than a dozen kittens abandoned during Hurricane Milton. FOX 35's Esther Bower learned how the kittens are doing, how many have been rescued, and how people can adopt them once healthy and ready.

MELBOURNE, Fla. - Over two dozen kittens were saved by a cat rescue on the Space Coast during Hurricane Milton.

Good Samaritans in Brevard County heard 30-plus babies crying during the storm and called the volunteer-run Kitten Angel Rescue to help. Fosters are now trying to nurse the young cats back to health. 

One of the rescued kittens, Ocean, has a broken pelvis and injured legs because a tree fell on him. Another is being incubated because of an upper respiratory infection due to being cold and wet for hours. 

All the saved kittens almost died during Hurricane Milton last week. 

"After the storm, we had a huge increase in phone calls. In the last five days, we took in 32 kittens," said the Kitten Angel Rescue founder, Nina Verruso. 

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Right now, all the cats are sick, injured, and needing round-the-clock care. 

"During Hurricane Milton, a lot of the kittens get misplaced," she said. "They lose their mom or their mom loses them."

Volunteers with Angel Kitten say all the cats are around five weeks old, and medical fosters are nursing them back to health. Some are being bottle-fed. Others require syringes. 

Good Samaritans in Brevard County heard 30-plus kittens crying during Hurricane Milton and called the volunteer-run Kitten Angel Rescue to help. 
Good Samaritans in Brevard County heard 30-plus kittens crying during Hurricane Milton and called the volunteer-run Kitten Angel Rescue to help. 
Good Samaritans in Brevard County heard 30-plus kittens crying during Hurricane Milton and called the volunteer-run Kitten Angel Rescue to help. 
Good Samaritans in Brevard County heard 30-plus kittens crying during Hurricane Milton and called the volunteer-run Kitten Angel Rescue to help. 

Some, like Ocean, still need critical surgery to fix those injured legs.

"Those are the ones that are left behind. The ones that are the weakest links, hurt or sick. Mom abandons them and goes off to take shelter. They’re left to fend for themselves," said Theresa Rienzo, the adoption coordinator for the rescue. 

Now, the non-profit is fundraising for all the kittens' medical bills. You can support them and find more information about donations they need on the non-profit's Facebook page.

The cats are with volunteers who’ve opened their homes and hearts to help the orphaned kittens. The rescues will all be fixed before they’re adopted. Thankfully, they’re still alive because people heard their cries for help.

"If they didn’t call us and just ignored it, none of the kittens would make it," concluded Rienzo. 

While the hurricane-surviving kittens still need extra care, the Kitten Angel Rescue has a pop-up adoption event on Saturday. They have tons of cats that need new homes. 

The event will be on Oct. 19 from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at 1586 Highland Ave. in Melbourne. You’re encouraged to fill out an adoption form on their Facebook page before coming out to take home a cat.

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