Tiny darling Ariel is unable to nurse properly, so he needs supplemental feeds around the clock with specialized milk. He fell ill when he was eight days old and he continues to be frail… although you wouldn’t know it from his meow!

My name is Felicity, and I LOVE fostering kittens. I specialize in newborns and orphans, including those born to anti-human cats living wild or on the streets. Ariel’s mum Miranda is deeply opposed to humans (although she is also weirdly affectionate to me and precisely one other human she has chosen to trust).

I run Magical Moggies Canberra Cat Fostering, and Ariel and his siblings Antonio, Prospero, and Stephano are all in my care until their vet work is complete (including desexing) and they move to their forever homes.

Newborn kittens are always incredibly fragile, but Ariel has had two near-death experiences so far. The emergency vet and I discussed what could be causing his health issues and ultimately concluded that it’s better to wait and see if he grows out of them in time rather than putting him through tests or medications that could make him even weaker. So I keep him warm and feed him, and I wait to see if he's going to live.

I spend so much time with Ariel that he will leave his mother to come to the sound of my voice, and now he purrs for me at every feed.

I can’t guarantee he’s going to survive his first fortnight, but I THINK he will have a long and happy life. He is slowly regaining the weight and energy he lost from being sick. I can usually get him to stay awake for a minute or two while feeding him, which is an improvement.

My main source of funds is my own job, which is limited due to the fact I'm disabled by chronic illness. My family is not well off (being disabled is very expensive, and we're all neurodiverse too). it's very tricky to foster kittens while also earning enough to pay for the fostering!

I’m not going to lie: Kitten fostering is a lot of work. But even during the 2:00am and 4:00am feeds, I could never willingly contemplate an existence that didn’t include precious tiny lives like Ariel.

If you want to know more, including a detailed financial breakdown of the cost of raising this feline family (plus my very big dreams), you can go to this blog entry.

Thank you so much for joining me and dozens of others cheering for baby Ariel and hoping he's going to get better and have a wonderful long life.