Pregnant cat survived 40 days alone and delivered kittens after owners were hospitalized due to coronavirus
A pregnant cat demonstrated true survival instincts when she managed to sustain herself more than 40 days in an apartment alone after the seven occupants of the house were hospitalized due to COVID-19 infection. She also ended up delivering a litter of kittens without any help.
The feline in question was a British Shorthair, named Le Le, who got pregnant before the coronavirus outbreak happened. She was forced to spend weeks on end in the apartment in Wuhan, where the first cases of the virus were reported. The pet owners shared the moving story of how the pregnant cat managed to survive on her own with Chinese media outlet Pear.
Before dashing to the hospital after being infected by the virus the owners made sure that the cat had access to two bags of food. Le Le rode out the ordeal by eating the cat food left for her and quenching her thirst by drinking water from a bowl, where his owner kept his pet fish and turtles.
The unidentified pet owner said one after the other, members of his family fell sick after being infected by the virus at the end of January. "All of us had to be hospitalized before the Chinese New Year (January 25)," he noted.
Although he knew that Le Le's due date was approaching, he chose not to hire a helper while he was away because the owner was not sure if his apartment had been contaminated by the virus. He "had to find a solution myself," he told reporters. "I need to be responsible for [the pet]."
As a result, he just prepared the house the best he could for Le Le to spend the next few weeks in. He opened two bags of cat food weighing 20 pounds. "I keep turtles and flowers on the balcony, and there is filtered water there safe for her to drink," he added. "She also knew how to use the cat toilet in our bathroom."
The owner also built a simple "delivery pad" for Le Le "in case I couldn't come back" in time for the cat's delivery. Lastly, he and his wife made sure that all the doors and windows of the house were shut except the bathroom and the balcony so that it allowed Le le to move around the house but not escape. "And after that, we have no idea what happened," he said.
The wife of the owner was discharged from the hospital after 40 days and she returned home to find Le Le safe and sound and an additional four kittens running around the house. She also discovered that Le Le had eaten all the fish in the bowl but had left the turtles alone.
The man is now home too and on his way to recovering from the virus. He said he was sad to see his pet cat had lost half her body weight in the 40 days that she had to survive with limited food. However, he vowed to take proper care of her and her kittens now that he was home with her.