When a community cat gave birth to four kittens in Vanesa Diaz’s Palmdale, California, backyard last year, Vanesa, a registered veterinary technician with the ASPCA Los Angeles Foster Program, took immediate notice.

“The mother cat moved them to a neighbor’s yard, but I kept track of her,” says Vanesa.

Most kittens have the best chance of survival when left with mom, unless they are sick or injured. Once kittens can eat on their own, typically around four weeks, this can be a good time to bring them into a home to socialize and prepare them for adoption. After four weeks, Vanesa visited her neighbor, using a flashlight to locate the kittens in the corner of their backyard under a wood pallet.

“Tiny Iris was in poor condition,” says Vanesa, who often cares for sickly animals to give them a fighting chance. “Her eyes were swollen shut. Honestly, I didn’t think she’d survive.”

An Uphill Battle

Vanesa brought Iris and her siblings to her house. As she gently wiped Iris’ face, pus leaked from the kitten’s eyes.

“Her nose, which was hard to see, was covered and scabbed with abscesses and infection,” Vanesa says. “Her mouth was hard to open because fluid was starting to harden and had sealed it shut. She weighed just three ounces and kept rubbing her eyes.”

As Vanesa cleaned Iris’ face, the abscess burst. She took her to the ASPCA Waystation in Sun Valley, California, where a veterinarian prescribed medication to treat the infection. After a week and a half on Terramycin, an antibiotic ophthalmic ointment, Vanesa could finally see Iris’ eyeballs.

“Her inflammation went down, but her vision still wasn’t great; she would walk into walls,” Vanesa says. “But she played with her shadow and got along with my three cats.”

Vanesa syringe-fed Iris for seven weeks, mixing dry food with water.

“Her growth was stunted,” Vanesa says. “But once she hit eight weeks, she was climbing and using the litter box. She finally learned to be a cat.”

Finding Her Way in Foster Care

Vanesa fostered Iris and her littermates from September 3 to October 23. Iris’ three brothers, who were twice her size, were neutered at eight weeks, while Iris was spayed three months later. Vanesa eventually trapped the kittens’ mother so she could also be spayed and vaccinated, and then released her back where she was living, since she was thriving there.

At eight weeks and still not completely weaned, Iris was placed with Dr. Peyvand Silverman, an ASPCA volunteer foster caregiver who previously worked as a veterinarian for the ASPCA. After a month with Dr. Silverman and her family, Iris was eating on her own.

“We couldn’t resist her,” says Dr. Silverman. “Even though she couldn’t see well, she trusted us with her whole heart.”

Dr. Silverman placed Iris in a playpen in the center of a room where she could feel the presence of the entire family, including Ayla, her 11-year-old daughter.

“My family and I have fostered many cats; Iris is probably the fortieth in my lifespan,” Ayla says. “We bonded right away. She gave me so much love and was fond of our poodle, Lexi. Iris always fell asleep in my arms. Though she couldn’t see well, she found her way into my heart.”

In mid-November with 28 other cats, Iris was flown to the Dumb Friends League, an ASPCA adoption partner in Denver, Colorado.

A ‘Happy Connection’

Less than two weeks after arriving at the Dumb Friends League, Iris was adopted by David W., who reports that Iris has adjusted well.

Each year, the Dumb Friends League provides care and refuge to more than 47,000 pets and horses from across Colorado. The Dumb Friends League opened its doors to out-of-state cats from the ASPCA in November 2024 after being connected to our Relocation and Centralized Placement teams. Animal relocation efforts are a valuable lifesaving tool we use to transport adoptable pets from communities with high pet overpopulation to communities where there is a higher demand for adoption. In Colorado this year, shelters have more capacity for cats and kittens, so this is a win-win situation for both communities and many cats.

“We are inundated with cats in SoCal, so we’re grateful for the Dumb Friends League,” says Ariel Collins, director of operations for the ASPCA LA Feline Programs. “It’s nice their adoptions happen quickly, too.”

Though Iris has some vision, it’s poor at best. But she easily feels the love in her new home.

“We’ve made so many happy connections,” says Mary Sarah Fairweather, vice president of sheltering for the Dumb Friends League. “We look forward to continuing our partnership with the ASPCA in 2025 and making an even greater impact for cats of all shapes and sizes.”

From March to November, there is usually an influx of kittens born in Los Angeles. Many well-meaning animal lovers unintentionally orphan kittens by removing them from their mothers and bringing them to a shelter. Once an underage kitten arrives at a shelter, their strongest chance for survival is in a dedicated foster home. To learn about the best way to help kittens you may find outside, please review our interactive Found Kittens tool. The ASPCA needs fosters who can provide care and support for kittens until they are old enough to be adopted. We provide all the food, supplies and medical services, as well as all the support you can ask for — all we need from you is TLC. Click here for more information on how you can help.