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The meows of tiny, hungry mouths interrupt the predawn stillness. It’s 3 a.m., but Nancy Newman Miklos is already awake, her nurturing hands gently cradling the newest “bottle baby” orphans as she prepares their next feeding.
“You keep them warm and safe, and feed them,” Nancy says. “Baby kittens have to be fed every two to three hours that first week. You have to set an alarm for the feedings, even through the night. You want the little ones to be thriving.”
For Nancy, these overnight newborn kitten vigils have become a labor of love and an all-consuming passion over the past eleven plus years. In that time, she has opened her heart and home as a foster “mom” to an astonishing 155 orphaned kittens, providing them a second chance at life.
Her first experience came unexpectedly over a decade ago, when her young daughters spotted a tiny kitten, no bigger than a tennis ball, wobbling alone across the street.
“She was so spicy, spitting and hissing at us,” Nancy recalls. With no mother cat in sight, the family scooped up the feisty orphan. Unable to find a rescue to take her in during that notoriously busy “kitten season,” Nancy decided to temporarily foster the little one herself, never dreaming it would spark a lifelong mission.
That feisty foundling kitten was aptly named Hope by Nancy’s daughters - a fitting moniker as she marked the beginning of Nancy's fostering journey and unexpected new calling. Hope would also become Nancy's first official “foster fail” as the family grew too attached to let her go after opening their home and their hearts.
From those first anxious moments of frantically calling rescues to eventually becoming the go-to surrogate mother for orphaned litters, Nancy immersed herself in learning how to properly care for these fragile newborns. “It’s definitely a steep learning curve,” she admits warmly. But Nancy is now a seasoned kitten ICU nurse, calmly assessing each new intake and developing individualized care plans to nurse them back to health.
“This one litter didn’t want to eat - I tried everything, kitten milk formula, goat milk, tuna, baby food. Nothing worked,” she recounts. “Then I steamed some chicken, and they LOVED that. After two days, the whole litter was healthy and completely normal.”
Her expertise extends well beyond specialized diets and feedings. Nancy’s kitten nursery, once part of her garage, now overhauled with tiles and cozy heating, is fully equipped for round-the-clock care. The walls are plastered with photos of former fosters. The images capture the countless lives that have passed through her loving hands over the years – lives that would not have stood a chance without her devotion.
“What keeps me going is that I don’t want any of them to suffer outside,” Nancy says, her voice catching with emotion as she strokes a tiny fuzzy head. “I just can't bear it.” While undoubtedly rewarding, this all-consuming passion has required great personal sacrifice - emotional, physical, and financial.
In the eleven plus years, she lost two tiny charges despite her most heroic efforts. She has had to learn to set limits on her fostering to maintain balance and avoid burnout. But the losses never get easier. “I held this sick little kitty until he breathed his last breath,” Nancy shares, tears welling up as she recalls cradling a kitten in his final moments. “His entire body was consumed by a tumor. It was horrible. When the vet unplugged the anesthesia line... I cried for weeks, mourning. I thought I could never do it again.”
But then, inevitably, another litter in desperate need would arrive. “Someone else would call because they found more kittens,” she says, “so of course I had to help!”
It’s this unyielding spirit and profound empathy that has turned Nancy’s home into a literal lifeline for the tiniest, most vulnerable felines. Her husband John and daughters, as well as cat-loving friends and neighbors form her loyal support system as she nurtures each rescued life - ridding them of fleas and worms, feeding all hours of the day and night, litter box training, vaccinating, stimulating their playful instincts, constant socializing, and transporting them to and from vet appointments.
Nancy hopes more people will not only admire her devotion from afar, but will be inspired to take action themselves to combat rampant outdoor cat overpopulation through spaying/neutering and volunteering.
“I always encourage people who can’t foster to volunteer - one hour a week playing with the kittens is better than nothing,” Nancy says. Having extra caring hands to help socialize the kittens lightens the enormous responsibility of fosters and prepares the felines for adoption into loving homes.
So while the overnight lullabies of hungry orphaned kittens may rouse Nancy from slumber for years to come, her dream is that those cries for hope will steadily dwindle through community efforts. For now, her arms remain open as a nurturing embrace for each rescued orphan in need of a second chance.
If you are moved by Nancy's story and her dedication to saving lives, please consider supporting your community cat rescue efforts - whether it's volunteering to help spay/neuter outdoor cats, fostering, lending your talents to a shelter or rescue, and/or donating supplies and funds.
We all do what we can, when we can, to save one life at a time.
And some of us do SO MUCH!! Thank you, Nancy!!
If you would like more information on how to get involved with Dexter's Kitties,
please email us at dexterskitties@gmail.com
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