Five newborn kittens survived what likely will be the longest and scariest ride of their lives Tuesday night – a trip to Sea-Tac International Airport and back in the front end of a Bellair Airporter shuttle.
Left by their mother in the undercarriage of the bus, the two females and three males cried as the bus returned to its Ferndale yard after the round trip.
The mews were loud enough for the bus driver to hear. After the front bumper and a wheel were removed, the kittens were found, scared but safe.
“It’s just amazing, just incredibly amazing,” said Mary Deguzman, a Bellair dispatcher who took in the kittens.
Deguzman, 36, of Bellingham and her daughter, Marijo, 23, brought them home around 1 a.m. Wednesday to join their six cats and dog. They stayed up several more hours feeding the tiny black balls of fur from a 2-ounce bottle.
“I just kept feeding them and feeding them,” Deguzman said. “They ate so much they had milk coming out their noses.”
Deguzman estimates the kittens are about two days old. Their eyes are still shut and their umbilical cords are still attached.
“They’re all greasy from being inside the bus,” Deguzman said, folding an oil-stained white towel the kittens had been sleeping on.
Marijo, who also works for the transport company, said they planned to bring the kittens to work Wednesday night, in hopes the mother would be near the bus yard and hear the kittens’ cries. If the mother cat didn’t return Wednesday night, Deguzman planned to bring the kittens home and raise them herself.
“I will most gladly bring them home,” she said. “I’ll raise them up enough and then give them away.”
The Deguzmans have a lot of experience with kittens. They have rescued two other litters of kittens, and their own cats have given birth before. In fact, one of their cats is due within the next couple of days, and Deguzman hopes she can introduce the orphaned kittens into that litter.
“It’s just sad because I know she’s out there somewhere looking for her babies, but either way they’re in good hands.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
