05/10/2026
Happy Mothers Day! We have a special mother to share with you today! Meet āthe Pepper familyā ā Sweet Bell; her little girl Shish*to; and boys Poblano, Piquillo, and Ghost Pepper. Bell is estimated at 2 years old, has been through a lot, yet remains incredibly affectionate and calm, and is a devoted young mama.
Until a couple months ago, Bell survived outside with a group of other cats. At the very beginning of this cold winter, Bell lost what may have been her first litter of kittens. In February, good samaritans found
Bell very pregnant yet again, and contacted Stay Wild to care for her.
When she arrived at her foster home, Bell was tired and undernourished ā despite her big belly her ribs were prominent and her hip bones protruded sharply ā and had a respiratory illness that along with the added pressure of kittens on her diaphragm made it difficult for her to breath or eat. Uncomfortable and unsure about her unfamiliar surroundings and human caregiver, Bell spent the first several hours under the bed in her cozy new room. Eventually concluding that the human whoād been dozing for two hours on the floor next to the bed was āa good one,ā Bell came out, touched her nose to her fosterās and curled up into the crook of her neck, then began to purr. As her foster cautiously stroked her bulging belly she promised Bell that sheād do everything possible to make sure Bellās babies survived this timeā¦
Three days later, Bell started to have a bit of bleeding and quiet restlessness. After several hours of increasingly significant bleeding and worrisome displays of distress that had Bellās foster again lying on the floor with her while in ongoing communication with Stay Wild, Bell pushed and an amniotic sack appearedā¦then sadly, progress ceased. No kitten appeared as it should have at that point, and Bell stopped showing signs of labor contractions. Her foster suspected a kitten was āstuckā in the birth canal and knew Bell needed help, and also that the rescue didnāt have funds to pay for an emergency vet visit, so she offered to pay for the after-hours vet charge.
Bellās foster brought her to Cornell, arriving around 10pm and thinking sheād likely need to pay an emergency fee of several hundred dollars for the veterinary staff to assist Bell with her stalled delivery. After hours of waiting before and after Bell was examined, her foster was brought in and told that poor Bell did in fact have a stillborn kitten preventing her from giving birth to the others, but they were not able to simply deliver the deceased kitten and move her labor along. Instead, to save both her life and the unborn kittens, Bell required an emergency C-section that would cost between $4,500-6,000. Shocked, but unable to forget her promise to Bell, her foster agreed.
11 hours after arriving, we were told that Bell was doing well and a mama to four healthy babies.
Now two months (and well over $5,000) later, Bellās foster say, āItās been a thrill to care for sweet Bell post-surgery and to help her raise her adorable ālittle peppersā the past couple months. Bell is an amazing cat and a devoted mom, and she and her four frisky little kittens deserve every dollar spent to save their lives and every bit of love and admiration they get.ā
Please consider helping to offset the cost of saving the lives of these 5 beautiful kitties that will all be incredible companions to their chosen humans. Shish*to, Poblano, Piquillo, and Ghost Pepper are now nearly old enough to leave Bell (and their foster āco-parentā š„°) for their forever homes. Shish*to and Poblano already have adoption applications in progress, weāre currently accepting applications to adopt Piquillo and Ghost, and Bell may be available for adoption once the baby peppers have new homes. ā¤ļø
Happy Mothers Day! We have a special mother to share with you today! Meet āthe Pepper familyāā¦ Jane George needs your support for Offset Bellās emergency care
