Pet food rep finds 5-day old kittens zip-tied, brings them to Helen Woodward center

One of the kittens now known as Frodo and Sam after being rescued and taken to the Helen Woodward Animal Center Photo courtesy of HWAC Two kittens located zip-tied were fighting for their lives Wednesday according to the Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe Signs though were encouraging for the two surviving orange tabbies dubbed Frodo and Sam They were determined along with two other kittens tied together beneath a cart at a Riverside shopping center according to animal center personnel The latter two suffering from unspecified injuries did not survive A rep for the Blue Buffalo pet food line located them and aware of the urgency of Frodo s and Sam s condition took them to the Woodward center Tuesday night We have a fully staffed curative unit and an extensive list of bottle baby fosters which meager facilities have so our rep drove them straight down to us noted Jessica Gercke communications director for the center The kittens still had their umbilical cords attached and were covered in fleas Health staff determined they were less than five days old and one had sustained considerable damage to a rear leg from the zip tie Despite their fragility though they took to bottle feeding fast That was our biggest concern at first Adoptions Director Kendall Schulz commented We were worried they hadn t eaten in hours and wouldn t eat The kittens now are recovering in foster care Finding fosters qualified to bottle feed is super essential because these little guys need to be fed every two hours Schulz explained Fortunately we have an extensive setup of qualified fosters who can drop everything and help out Anyone who wishes to donate to assist the kittens recovery can do so online