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Cardboard box kittens to be named after rescuers

Helen Burchell
BBC News, Peterborough
Vicki Heyden Three young kittens are sitting on a grey blanket in plush, white cat bed. The kitten at the back is grey and white, in the middle is an all-black kitten and at the front if a grey kitten with white tufts on its chest. All have blue eyesVicki Heyden
The kittens are eating well and gaining weight after their ordeal

Tiny abandoned kittens found in a cardboard box during a community litter pick are to be named after their rescuers.

The six little fluffballs were discovered on a path near Peterborough's Embankment area during the cleanup on 3 July by Peterborough Litter Wombles.

Volunteers from Peterborough Cat Rescue collected the kittens, which were only about three or four weeks old, and all are said to be gaining weight and doing well.

Fosterer for the charity, Vicki Heyden, said the grey and white and black kittens - two boys and four girls - are to be named after their Womble rescuers - Harry, Steve, Emma, Amy, Lisa and Ariana.

Peterborough Litter Wombles Six small kittens are at the bottom of a cardboard box. Four are grey and white and two are black. Some are cuddled up next to each other and there is dry food spread around the bottom of the boxPeterborough Litter Wombles
The six tiny kittens were found in a box by volunteers looking for an altogether different kind of litter
Peterborough Litter Wombles Six small kittens are in a cat carrier. Four are grey and white and two are black. There is a white towel or blanket with red spots on the bottom of the metal cratePeterborough Litter Wombles
The kittens are being looked after by a local charity

The Wombles group had been clearing litter from Bishops Road to the Embankment in the city when they came across the kittens.

Group member Harry Machin said it was "certainly the most unusual litter we have found for quite a while".

Although food had been left in the box, there was no water and fosterer Ms Heyden said the animals were underweight for their age.

One - a black female - weighed only 150g (5.3oz) and has been placed with a receptive nursing mother cat.

The other five are all being hand-reared by Ms Heyden and her partner at their home in Stamford, Lincolnshire.

All are now gaining weight and confidence and will be put up for adoption when they are ready.

"They squeak and want feeding all the time, but they are going from strength to strength," Ms Heyden said.

However, she expressed concern about the kittens' mother, who was not with the abandoned litter, and would now be "crying out and looking for her kittens because they usually stay with their mother until they are about nine weeks old".

Vicki Heyden A grey and white kitten is walking across a wooden or laminate floor. It has big blue eyes and there is a litter tray on the floor behind itVicki Heyden
The kittens are exploring their temporary home

She came up with the idea of naming them after their rescuers because she "thought if would be nice to reach out and give the litter pickers an update".

One of those involved has already applied to adopt her namesake kitten.

Mr Machin, one of the Wombles who found the kittens, said while he thought "Harry" was an unusual name for a kitten, "it was absolutely lovely that Vicki told us and it's very nice to get an update and know they've been fostered".

Peterborough Litter Wombles Five people - one male and four female are standing near an underpass. There are numerous bags of collected rubbish on the road in front of them and a yellow sign that says "volunteer litter pick in progress"Peterborough Litter Wombles
The group were out in early July when they discovered the kittens - left as litter on a path

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