Animal 411

‘This Was My Cue’: New Canaan Woman Adopts Two of Pregnant Stray’s Kittens

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After losing her beloved cat Mimi at nearly 15 years old last March, Marian Murphy knew her house needed cats. She’d had cats since moving to New Canaan more than 40 years ago, but planned to travel overseas in 2021 and wanted to wait to find her next one. Then the delta variant of COVID-19 virus emerged, making travel difficult.
Murphy read about a pregnant stray cat in New Canaan that gave birth to five healthy kittens—a feline named “Elsa,” since she was discovered on Cross Street at the time the tropical storm of that name that struck Connecticut—and “knew this was my cue.”

“Not only would I be able to get two kittens back to New Canaan where they were conceived but more importantly, my mother’s name had been Elsa also,” Murphy told NewCanaanite.com in an email. “She had passed away in April 2019 and I have not had a chance to see the family since then. Thus in my mind, Elsa’s kittens would create a bridge between my life here and what I had left behind.”

She contacted Warren-based Sophia L’Orange Kitten Rescue, which had taken in Elsa, and for several weeks kept track of the growing litter, eventually adopting a male (whom she named Tigger) and a female (Piccola).

Animal 411

‘Very Blessed and Lucky’: Pregnant Stray Cat Is Rescued, Gives Birth to Five Healthy Kittens

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The pregnant stray cat that local authorities and residents of the Vitti Street neighborhood have been trying to help gave birth Monday to a healthy litter of five kittens, officials say. Named ‘Elsa’ by Animal Control Officer Allyson Halm after she survived the heavy wind and rain storm with that name earlier this month, the young cat was finally caught two weeks ago and managed to survive thanks to a Warren-based rescue organization. 

Halm said she was feeling “very blessed and lucky that the stars were aligned the angels were watching.”

“This cat was very, very lucky to get off the streets,” she said. “And it’s probably her first litter because she is a young animal. And it will be her last litter, and kittens will be properly placed.”

The kittens “look fabulous,” Halm said. Elsa was not faring well during a state-mandated seven-day hold at the New Canaan Police Department animal shelter, Halm said.