She Thought She Heard Her Daughter Crying. Turns Out It Was a Newborn Kitten in Need of Help (Exclusive)
When Cindy Gahr went to grab her mail, she never thought she would come across a baby kitten seeking help
Cindy Gahr
Cindy Gahr and the baby kitten she foundCindy Gahr found a newborn kitten in her front yard and quickly sprang into action to save it
She documented her rescue on TikTok, hoping to seek support and advice from the community
This wasn't Gahr's first time helping animals: she has cared for stray cats and rescued newborn kittens in the past
When Cindy Gahr stepped outside her house to grab the mail, she heard a faint cry.
“At first, I thought it was my daughter since she was inside,” Gahr recalls to PEOPLE. “But it was a distinct cry, so I stepped back into my front yard and kept looking. That’s when I found it — right next to a huge heating unit box, just inches away from being squished.”
The source of the sound was a newborn kitten, still attached to its placenta, which was dried and stuck to a rock. “I was startled, surprised, sad and shocked,” Gahr reflects. “All I wanted to do was get him inside quickly because it was so cold outside.”
She documented the discovery in a TikTok video that has since gone viral, capturing the raw moment she found the helpless kitten and sprang into action. “I just found this poor baby outside my house,” she says in her video. “The placenta is stuck to this rock, and I gotta cut it. I haven’t done this in a while.”
Gahr's experience caring for newborn kittens five years ago came rushing back as she worked to save the tiny creature's life. She knew exactly what steps to take: cutting the dried placenta, keeping the kitten warm with a heating pad and blanket and bottle-feeding it with milk replacement powder.
“I burped him and stimulated him to get him to poop and pee,” she explains. Despite her efforts, Gahr knew the odds were stacked against the kitten. A local animal rescue advised her to find a nursing cat for better survival chances — but warned bluntly that the kitten likely wouldn’t make it.
The timing couldn’t have been worse for Gahr, who was preparing for an out-of-state trip. With contractors working on her home and last-minute packing to do, caring for the kitten added another layer of stress.
“It complicated things a lot,” she admits. “I had people working on my home and still had to pack and buy things my parents had asked for — but those two things went out the window.”
Ultimately, Gahr arranged for a foster cat mom to care for the kitten while she traveled. However, tragedy struck before she left. In an emotional update video, Gahr shared that the kitten had died despite initially latching onto a foster cat and appearing to thrive.
Cindy Gahr
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“The little baby did not make it,” Gahr shares in the follow-up clip. “When I dropped him off on Tuesday, he latched on the mama cat that was going to feed him, I thought everything was good … but as I got there Wednesday morning to drop off milk, she let me know that he was gone.”
The loss hit hard, even though Gahr had prepared herself for this possibility. Looking back on the experience, Gahr said there wasn’t much more she could have done, given the circumstances.
“The one thing I would’ve done differently would be stepping outside sooner. I really did try my best,” she shares.
Gahr's compassion for stray animals isn’t new, as she regularly leaves food out for neighborhood cats and has three pets of her own — all rescues. Her current cat was found as a newborn in her backyard on the Fourth of July years ago.
"Ever since then, I’ve cared more for my pets and any stray animals I come across,” Gahr adds.
While Gahr hoped her TikTok would garner helpful advice — and lead to a happier outcome — she is grateful for the outpouring of support she received from strangers online, she adds.
Read the original article on People
