When the truck reached its destination it was discovered that there were five newborn kittens inside one of the hay bales that were being transported.

The newborn kittens were just days old, in fact they still had their umbilical cords attached. Sadly, there was no way that they would be able to track down the mother as the truck had already travelled hundreds of miles.

The driver acted quickly and contacted the SPCA in Richmond, Virginia. They took charge of the kittens and began to search for a foster home. They were given a collective name of the “hay bale kittens.”

They contacted Sara Sewell who had fostered many newborn kittens before and luckily she was able to take them in. She knew that caring for such young kittens was a round-the-clock job.

Kittens as young as this need to be fed every two hours, you also need to be their mom by rubbing their bellies to get their digestive system working properly – and then of course you need to clean up the poop!

Sara explained that another important factor was warmth, if newborn kittens are cold they will not eat, and you also need to make sure that the milk is the correct temperature.

Keeping an eye on their weight is also important, it shows that they are feeding properly and will show if there are any health issues.

All of Sara’s family chipped in with taking care of the newborn kittens, it is a constant process that lasts for around eight weeks.