Pet of the Month: 4 Kuwait Kittens

This month’s featured pets include four rescued kittens from Kuwait City, presented by Austin Pets Alive!

Last spring, Burhan Girgin got an urgent call: four kittens were trapped in a manhole near his apartment in Kuwait City, where Girgin was living while on deployment with the Army Corps of Engineers.

Burhan, two coworkers and two maintenance workers from the apartment building rushed to the scene. They rescued three of the kittens — skinny, with no mother in sight.

The kittens weren’t allowed in the apartment building, but the maintenance workers put together an enclosure in the building’s mechanical room. They fed the kittens formula with a syringe and kept them alive.

Photo courtesy of APA

The fourth kitten remained elusive. For three days, Girgin and his friends tried to get him out, knowing with each day his chances of survival grew dimmer. On the fourth day, they got him out with a bucket and food.

This kitten was the size of Girgin’s hand, had an eye infection and was even skinnier than the others. Girgin took the kittens to the vet for treatment and shots. He and his friends fed the kittens and taught them how to use a litter box and showed them trust and love while spending five months in the mechanical room with them.

Girgin, who is Turkish, gave the kittens Turkish names: Minoş, meaning “cute little thing”; Tarçin, meaning cinnamon; and Aziz, meaning “powerful, saint.” The fourth kitten to be rescued was named Kismet.

In August, it came time for Burhan to return home to Austin. The kittens came with him to his small condo. He realized the kindest thing he could do is find them a different home.

Find out more information on APA’s website: https://www.austinpetsalive.org/