TRANSKRIPT 🔗
WEBVTT
00:00:00.959 --> 00:00:07.280
Hannah's haven, we kitty save it, no matter the story, we'll get them through.
00:00:07.599 --> 00:00:13.519
Hannah's haven, we kitty save it, no matter the story, that's what we do.
00:00:13.839 --> 00:00:17.359
We rescue rehabilitate and rehabilitable cats and kittens.
00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:23.760
Texas 108422 98492 to find out more.
00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:33.439
Thanks everybody for coming back for another episode of the Catatude Diaries.
00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:41.039
As you might have learnt from last episode, we introduced one of our very young mamas, Simone.
00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:46.240
This episode is going to tell you a little bit more about her story.
00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:52.399
This one's called Two Little Girls, Two Different Roads.
00:00:53.520 --> 00:01:05.280
Now I've had to write this all down because I wanted to get it right and I didn't want to miss anything out because both stories are very important and both deserve being told.
00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:09.599
So I have a story that I need to share.
00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:11.280
Actually, I have two.
00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:17.840
And while their stories are very different, they're connected in a way that I haven't been able to stop thinking about.
00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:23.200
Two little girls, both pregnant when they were still kittens themselves.
00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:27.519
One has been given the opportunity to remain a kitten.
00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:30.239
The other became a mother.
00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:36.159
And somewhere between those two stories is a conversation that I think we desperately need to have.
00:01:36.879 --> 00:01:40.400
Because I want you to ask yourself something as you listen.
00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:42.959
What would you have done?
00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:58.959
Not what do you think you would do, not what do you believe is the right thing, but what do you actually do if you were standing in my shoes looking at those little girls, knowing that whatever decision you made would change their lives.
00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:02.560
I want you to think of that because I've had to.
00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:05.599
Story one.
00:02:06.930 --> 00:02:11.810
It's one of those stories that make you hate yourself, the world, and everyone in it.
00:02:12.080 --> 00:02:18.879
Sometimes there are cases that come through the door and immediately make you second guess everything that you thought you knew.
00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:22.719
We had a kitten come into care that was barely five months old.
00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:28.159
She was tiny, underweight, and desperately needing to be fattened up.
00:02:28.479 --> 00:02:32.879
She settled in beautifully and quickly became a favorite with anyone who met her.
00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:38.240
She was sweet and affectionate and everything a kitten her age should be.
00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:43.439
She also had a big belly full of worms, which explained why she was so skinny.
00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:46.080
Or so we thought.
00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:55.439
After being with us for just over a week, we started to become suspicious of that belly because instead of getting smaller, it was getting bigger.
00:02:56.319 --> 00:03:01.439
This little girl who was barely five months old was pregnant.
00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:07.680
Spay abort is never a conversation that we want to have.
00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:12.479
And there are a lot of people with a lot of opinions on the subject, and I understand that.
00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:16.960
Before I was educated on the topic, I was one of those people.
00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:20.479
I had strong opinions, and I was against it too.
00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:26.479
But then I was confronted with the reality of it in a particularly difficult case back in 2023.
00:03:27.360 --> 00:03:32.719
Before we could make a decision, that cat became critically unwell and needed emergency surgery.
00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:37.599
And in that situation, the decision had essentially been made for us.
00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:39.919
This time was different.
00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:42.879
This little girl was still a baby herself.
00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:46.479
She had so much growing and developing left to do.
00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:55.199
She should have been playing, exploring, and learning about the world around her, not preparing to give birth and raise babies on her own.
00:03:55.759 --> 00:04:02.879
She didn't need to go through the physical demands of pregnancy, birth, and motherhood at an age when she was still growing herself.
00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:06.080
I knew what the right decision was.
00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:09.759
But I still cried all the way home.
00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:12.319
And it wasn't just about the surgery.
00:04:12.479 --> 00:04:15.919
I cried for what she'd already been through in such a short life.
00:04:16.079 --> 00:04:24.160
I cried because somewhere along the way this tiny, innocent little girl had been put in a position that she should never have been put into.
00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:26.879
And she deserved better.
00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:32.959
After surgery, we learnt just how serious her situation had been.
00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:45.120
Her tiny body was carrying multiple developing kittens, and there were significant concerns about the space available for them to continue growing and for the complications that could follow.
00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:53.199
What we had already known was a dangerous situation for such a young kitten turned out to be even more concerning than we initially realized.
00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:58.720
She was still early in her pregnancy, but her body had already started to change.
00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:07.600
It was important that she was given the opportunity to heal both physically and mentally before we started looking for a forever home.
00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:11.920
She should never have been put in that position in the first place.
00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:17.439
Today,
Load full transcript
this sweet, affectionate little girl is almost ready for the next chapter.
00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:20.480
She's playing again and she's exploring.
00:05:20.639 --> 00:05:24.480
She's being silly and doing all the things that kittens are supposed to do.
00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:28.959
And she's being a kitten because that's what she is.
00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:34.319
But what if we'd made a different choice?
00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:37.360
And I want you to imagine something.
00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:43.120
Imagine that instead of proceeding with surgery, we'd decided to let that continue.
00:05:45.279 --> 00:05:54.079
Imagine that we'd waited that we'd watched her belly grow, prepared a nesting box, and waited for the day she became a mother.
00:05:55.839 --> 00:06:03.279
Would that have been the kind of decision that would we have been giving those unborn kittens a chance at life?
00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:12.639
Or would we have been asking a little girl to sacrifice her own childhood for babies she was never supposed to be carrying at her age?
00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:16.720
It's a difficult question, isn't it?
00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:21.839
And it's easy to have an answer when you're not the one responsible for what comes next.
00:06:22.160 --> 00:06:24.959
But here's where the story takes a turn.
00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:31.439
Because while she was recovering from her surgery, another little girl was about to come into our lives.
00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:37.120
And she was going to show us exactly what motherhood can look like when you're still a baby yourself.
00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:47.439
And this is where Simone's story continues.
00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:53.759
And if you listened to the previous episode, you already know how she came into care.
00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:59.519
But there's also things about Simone's story that we didn't know when she first arrived.
00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:03.600
Some things that have changed the way that we've had to look at her.
00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:09.680
It was late October when she arrived with five newborn kittens.
00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:10.800
Five.
00:07:11.519 --> 00:07:14.079
She'd given birth to them in a closet.
00:07:14.639 --> 00:07:19.439
And the circumstances surrounding their arrival were nothing short of ridiculous.
00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:25.680
There was a very real possibility that those babies were going to be separated from their mother.
00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:33.439
Now anyone who knows me knows exactly how I feel about unnecessarily separating newborn kittens from their mum.
00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:39.759
And anyone who listened to the previous episode knows how that particular situation unfolded.
00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:44.000
And let's just say it wasn't one of humanity's finest moments.
00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:48.079
At the time we were already close to new intake.
00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:54.480
We were financially stretched, overwhelmed, and struggling to keep up with the animals already depending on us.
00:07:54.720 --> 00:08:01.199
But there are some situations where you don't have the luxury of sitting down and working out whether you can afford to help.
00:08:01.439 --> 00:08:06.399
You just know that if you don't do something, the consequences could be devastating.
00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:08.959
And this was one of those.
00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:12.160
So Simone and her five babies came into care.
00:08:12.879 --> 00:08:26.639
Six more lives, six more mouths to feed, six more reasons to worry, and another very young mum who at the time we believed was approximately twelve months old.
00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:33.440
Yes, she's young, but not unusually young, or so we thought.
00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:40.080
As we got to know Simone, we started noticing little things, things that didn't quite make sense.
00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:45.600
She was affectionate and she was playful and she wanted attention.
00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:53.919
And sometimes when we watched her with the babies, she seemed almost confused about what she was supposed to be doing.
00:08:54.240 --> 00:08:59.679
Now, before anyone jumps to conclusions, I'm not suggesting that every young mother behaves this way.
00:08:59.919 --> 00:09:02.559
Or that an older mother can't struggle too.
00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:08.639
I've seen experienced mums who need help and first-time mothers who seem to know exactly what they're doing.
00:09:08.879 --> 00:09:10.879
Every cat is different.
00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:14.399
But Simone was making us curious.
00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:16.799
Then we discovered something.
00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:19.279
She wasn't twelve months old.
00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:21.440
She's eight months old.
00:09:21.919 --> 00:09:28.960
Which means when she became pregnant, she was likely only five to six months old.
00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:31.600
Sound familiar?
00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:38.720
Our first kitty was barely five months old when we discovered her pregnancy.
00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:42.559
Simone was likely around a similar age when she conceived.
00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:54.240
Two little girls, almost exactly the same stage of their lives, except one pregnancy ended, and the other resulted in five kittens.
00:09:54.559 --> 00:09:58.639
Suddenly the similarities between them were impossible to ignore.
00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:06.240
And I found myself looking at Simone differently, because I wasn't just looking at a mother with five babies anymore.
00:10:06.559 --> 00:10:10.000
I was looking at a kitten who had become a mother.
00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:13.360
Now I need to explain something.
00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:17.600
Simone loves her babies, and I have absolutely no doubt about that.
00:10:17.919 --> 00:10:23.039
She feeds them, she settles with them, she responds to them when they cry.
00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:26.720
But some of her behavior has been a little unusual.
00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:35.600
Over the past few days, we've watched her pick up the kittens and move them
around in ways that have made us kind of cringe and a bit wary.
00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:41.600
And sometimes she'll grab one, move it around roughly, trill, and then go back to get another.
00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:44.720
To her, they're little toys.
00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:46.720
And they squeak.
00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:53.440
But then she'll lie down, they'll find their way to her, and then everyone settles for a feed.
00:10:53.679 --> 00:10:56.960
It's almost like watching two different sides of her.
00:10:57.440 --> 00:11:03.759
One moment she's being a mother, and the next she's behaving like a kitten that wants to play.
00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:11.519
And I can't help wonder whether those two instincts are competing with each other because she is still so young.
00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:16.080
She's still at an age where she should be playing and exploring and learning.
00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:21.360
But instead, she's responsible for five completely dependent little lives.
00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:24.639
And that's the responsibility she didn't choose.
00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:28.159
There's also the nesting.
00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:38.159
Some nights she'd move them into the litter tray, dirty or not, because for whatever reason, in her little head, she thought that was a better choice.
00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:42.000
She had a proper nesting box available.
00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:46.000
For some reason it just wasn't what she wanted.
00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:52.399
But watching her repeatedly choose the litter tray made me realize that something wasn't quite right.
00:11:52.720 --> 00:11:56.320
Maybe she was looking somewhere that she felt more secure.
00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:01.360
Maybe there was something about her environment that she wasn't comfortable with.
00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:02.960
I don't know.
00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:04.720
And that's the thing.
00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:06.320
I can't ask her.
00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:10.720
I can't sit down and say, Simone sweetheart, what are you doing?
00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:18.240
Well, actually I can, and I do frequently, but she's not particularly forthcoming with an explanation.
00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:26.639
So I just sit and watch and I observe and I try and help her and make changes because that's what rescue is.
00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:38.159
It's not just putting food in a bowl and cleaning out the litter tray, it's noticing the things that aren't quite right, it's asking questions, and sometimes it's admitting that you don't have all the answers.
00:12:39.413 --> 00:12:45.253
Simone's babies needed additional care right from the beginning because they were tiny.
00:12:46.080 --> 00:12:53.600
And two of them have conditions with their legs, which means they haven't been able to do what they're meant to do.
00:12:53.759 --> 00:12:55.440
They're not in the right position.
00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:01.840
We also needed to provide supplement feeds to help support them all.
00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:03.840
Now I want
to be very clear.
00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:12.240
I'm not saying that Simone's age caused these issues, because that'd be an assumption, and we don't have the evidence to back that claim.
00:13:12.559 --> 00:13:21.200
But what I can tell you is that raising five newborn kittens is demanding for anyone, even for a healthy, mature mum.
00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:26.559
And when the mother herself is still growing, it's something that deserves particular attention.
00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:37.759
Because every feed, every interrupted rest, and every demand that those babies place on her body is happening still while she has growing and developing to do of her own.
00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:42.720
And sometimes I watch her and I wonder how much of this she actually understands.
00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:58.000
Not in a human way, of course, but whether she feels overwhelmed, whether she's exhausted, whether she's just trying to work out what to do next, and whether given the opportunity, she'd rather be chasing a toy across the floor.
00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:02.080
Now I want to ask you something.
00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:04.879
Remember the question I asked you at the beginning?
00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:06.960
What would you have done?
00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:09.919
Now let's go back to the kitty in story one.
00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:12.480
She was barely five months old.
00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:17.200
She was underweight, carrying multiple developing kittens.
00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:23.200
You knew there would be significant risks associated with continuing the pregnancy.
00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:28.720
You also knew that terminating that pregnancy means that those kittens will never be born.
00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:31.039
What would you do?
00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:36.799
Would you proceed with the surgery or would you let the pregnancy continue?
00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:41.120
And before you answer, I also want you to think about Simone.
00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:45.120
Because Simone is living on the other side of that decision.
00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:46.399
She's here.
00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:48.399
Her babies are here.
00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:55.840
They're alive and they're being cared for, and we're doing everything we can to give them the best possible start.
00:14:56.159 --> 00:14:59.840
But the fact is that Simone is still a kitten.
00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:04.720
She doesn't suddenly become a fully developed adult because she's given birth.
00:15:05.039 --> 00:15:10.080
And the fact that she has five babies doesn't mean she stops needing care herself.
00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:13.759
Now imagine that she hadn't come into rescue.
00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:30.639
Imagine that there wasn't someone watching her behavior, someone noticing where she was putting the babies, someone checking whether they were feeding properly, someone monitoring, someone providing the additional milk when it was needed.
00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:35.120
What would her experience of motherhood have looked like then?
00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:37.120
We don't know.
00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:43.679
And I don't want to pretend that we do, but I do know that having support makes an enormous difference.
00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:46.000
And that difference matters.
00:15:46.799 --> 00:15:51.360
Now we've seen so many young mums come through our doors this year.
00:15:51.600 --> 00:15:54.159
And do you know what they all have in common?
00:15:55.039 --> 00:15:56.080
Struggle.
00:15:56.480 --> 00:15:59.039
They need help, they need extra support.
00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:07.039
Some struggle to produce enough milk, some become overwhelmed, and others are simply exhausted by the demands of raising their babies.
00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:12.960
Because they're still babies themselves, yet they're forced to raise more of their own.
00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:17.919
And these are the ones that we call lucky because they've made it into care.
00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:23.120
They have someone watching over them, helping them and making sure they have everything they need.
00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:36.720
And most importantly, when their babies are weaned and they're ready, they will be de-sexed and they'll never have to endure another pregnancy or raise another little because the cycle ends with us.
00:16:45.475 --> 00:16:57.679
I want you to think about the mothers that we never meet, The ones giving birth underneath houses, in sheds, in abandoned buildings, in backyards.
00:16:58.159 --> 00:17:02.240
The ones trying to keep their babies warm when the weather turns cold.
00:17:02.559 --> 00:17:07.039
The ones searching for food while their newborns wait for them to return.
00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:13.519
The ones who are sick and injured or malnourished or just simply too young to cope.
00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:18.079
And the ones whose babies don't survive.
00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:20.880
We don't get to see their stories.
00:17:21.440 --> 00:17:24.640
We don't get the happy photographs.
00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:28.079
We don't get to celebrate their milestones.
00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:31.440
Sometimes we don't even know they exist.
00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:38.240
And yet somewhere out there, there's another little Simone becoming pregnant.
00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:43.759
Another little Simone having to give birth.
00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:46.799
And the cycle just keeps going.
00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:51.920
I've debated sharing this story for so many reasons.
00:17:52.400 --> 00:17:59.039
One of them because the strong feelings and misconceptions and opinions surrounding the spay abort procedures.
00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:03.359
And I know there will be people who disagree with the decisions that we made.
00:18:03.599 --> 00:18:08.000
And I know there will be people who say that we should have let nature take its course.
00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:12.640
And once upon a time, I might have been one of them.
00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:20.079
But experience changes your perspective, education changes your
understanding.
00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:29.039
And sometimes being confronted with the reality of a situation forces you to reconsider everything that you thought you knew.
00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:34.079
This isn't about whether you agree with pregnancy termination.
00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:39.920
This is about why a kitten who was barely five months old was pregnant in the first place.
00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:43.119
That's the conversation that we need to be having.
00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:45.599
Because her story isn't rare.
00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:48.960
This is happening every single day.
00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:54.400
And until we start doing better by the animals who depend on us is going to keep happening.
00:18:55.200 --> 00:19:01.920
We are already bursting at the seams with unplanned, unwanted, and discarded kittens and mothers.
00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:04.559
Rescues are exhausted.
00:19:04.880 --> 00:19:13.359
Carers are overwhelmed, and veterinary clinics and shelters are struggling to keep up, and the cycle just keeps continuing.
00:19:13.599 --> 00:19:20.079
There are more pregnancies, more kittens, and more animals needing homes that there simply aren't any for.
00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:25.039
It doesn't have to be this way because we can do better.
00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:27.599
We need to do better.
00:19:29.279 --> 00:19:33.680
Now I'm going to tell you the name of the kitten from story one.
00:19:34.400 --> 00:19:36.000
And that's little Mariska.
00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:41.279
You all know her, we've shown you her picture before.
00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:45.759
And she's playful, she's affectionate, she's discovering the world.
00:19:46.079 --> 00:19:49.279
But she doesn't have five babies depending on her.
00:19:49.519 --> 00:19:51.920
She doesn't have to worry about feeding them.
00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:56.000
She doesn't have to go through birth or the physical demands of raising a litter.
00:19:56.559 --> 00:19:58.559
She gets to be a kitten.
00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:08.000
And then I look at Simone and I see her laying with her five babies, and I see them feeding, and I see her cleaning them.
00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:15.920
And I see these moments when she wants to come and play, when she's restless, when she's doing things that leave me scratching my head.
00:20:16.160 --> 00:20:24.559
And I think about how close these two little girls are in age, and how easily their circumstances could have been reversed.
00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:31.200
Mariska could have been the mother of five, and Simone could have been the kitten recovering from surgery.
00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:33.440
And yet here they are.
00:20:34.160 --> 00:20:39.920
Two completely different experiences, neither of which should have been necessary.
00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:43.039
And I think that's the part that gets me.
00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:48.559
Because neither of these little girls did anything wrong.
00:20:48.799 --> 00:20:54.319
They didn't make irresponsible decisions and they didn't choose to become pregnant.
00:20:54.640 --> 00:20:58.160
They were simply cats doing what nature designed them to do.
00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:05.759
And somewhere along the way, the humans responsible for preventing these situations failed them.
00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:09.200
That's where the responsibility belongs.
00:21:09.599 --> 00:21:17.200
Not with Mariska, not with Simone, and certainly not with their babies.
00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:26.880
If you take anything away from this story, let it be this DeSex your pets.
00:21:27.599 --> 00:21:34.960
Not when they've had their first litter, not when you decide that you've had enough kittens, not when you finally get around to it.
00:21:35.519 --> 00:21:39.119
Talk to your vet about the appropriate age and timing.
00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:47.440
Because by the time you realize that your little girl is pregnant, you might already be facing decisions that you never imagined you'd have to make.
00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:51.039
And those decisions can be heartbreaking.
00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:59.759
I know because I've made them and I've cried over them, and I've questioned myself long after the paperwork has been signed.
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.599
And the surgery is finished.
00:22:03.359 --> 00:22:06.559
But I've also sat beside young mums who are struggling.
00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:08.880
I've helped feed their babies.
00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:11.680
I've watched them become overwhelmed.
00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:20.640
And I've seen what happens when animals are left to reproduce without anyone taking responsibility for the consequences.
00:22:21.759 --> 00:22:24.880
I don't want to have to keep having these conversations.
00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:28.240
I don't want to keep seeing kittens becoming mothers.
00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:33.279
I don't want to keep making decisions about pregnancies that never should have happened.
00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:40.640
And I don't want another little girl to go through what Marissa or Simone had to experience.
00:22:42.319 --> 00:22:51.920
And just like her namesake, Detective Olivia Benson from the Law and Order series, we fight for the ones that don't have a voice.
00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:58.880
And Simone, she's the little black kitten who gave birth to five babies in a closet.
00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:03.920
The little girl whose story brought so many people to our page.
00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:12.240
The little girl who has no idea that people have been talking about her, worrying about her, and following her baby's progress.
00:23:12.640 --> 00:23:15.119
She's just doing the best that she can.
00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:18.559
And we're going to keep doing the best that we can for her.
00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:21.200
Because that's what she deserves.
00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:29.279
And when those babies are grown and no longer need her, Simone will finally have the opportunity to be Simone the kitten again.
00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:37.279
No more pregnancies, no more litters, no
more tiny babies depending on her for survival.
00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:43.359
Just a little girl who deserves to be loved and cared for, exactly like Mariska.
00:23:46.960 --> 00:23:49.440
I want to leave you with one final thought.
00:23:50.079 --> 00:23:54.559
We talk a lot about saving lives in rescue, and rightly so.
00:23:55.680 --> 00:24:01.279
But sometimes saving a life means making a decision that other people won't understand.
00:24:02.079 --> 00:24:05.759
Sometimes it means stepping in before something goes wrong.
00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:11.440
Sometimes it means helping a mother raise babies that she was never ready to have.
00:24:12.160 --> 00:24:17.359
And sometimes it means making sure those babies are never conceived in the first place.
00:24:18.079 --> 00:24:22.400
Not everyone will agree with every decision that we make, and that's okay.
00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:31.440
But I hope that after hearing these stories, you'll understand why we have to make them because I've looked into the eyes of both of these little girls.
00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:41.839
I've held them, I've worried about them, and I've cried for them, and I've seen two very different sides of the same problem.
00:24:43.920 --> 00:24:54.400
Two kittens, two pregnancies, two different outcomes, and neither should have been pregnant in the first place.
00:24:55.839 --> 00:25:04.720
Both ended up at Hannes Haven, and they've got two stories on two different roads.
00:25:06.628 --> 00:25:09.429
Their stories don't have to be repeated.
00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:13.519
We can change what happens to the next little girl.
00:25:13.839 --> 00:25:21.359
We can change what happens to the next generation, we can change the trajectory.
00:25:27.165 --> 00:25:37.200
We need to rewrite our history This one keeps repeating.
00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:47.119
Too many stayed silent, too many left and never come back.
00:25:48.799 --> 00:25:56.799
But imagine if we could have changed that to generations with timelines much the same.
00:25:56.960 --> 00:26:02.400
Except this isn't reversed, and it's not a game for generations.
00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:11.440
The same pattern, the same silence, the same heartbreak.
00:26:12.319 --> 00:26:17.359
Somehow we gotta change the trajectory.
00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:30.319
Same kind of problems, stories like books, but not everything is the same, especially looks.
00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:34.400
See the while the waters between us.
00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:38.079
No ships strong enough to survive.
00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:43.200
But fight in the same battles, just at very different times.
00:26:43.519 --> 00:26:54.079
For generations, the same pattern, the same silence, the same heartbreak.
00:26:54.880 --> 00:27:02.720
Somehow we gotta change trajectory, trajectory, trajectory.
00:27:04.160 --> 00:27:12.960
When history is repeated, we are with the same game.
00:27:13.599 --> 00:27:21.279
Why don't you take the lessons you learned and set a different trajectory?
00:27:21.599 --> 00:27:22.880
Trajectory.
00:27:24.401 --> 00:27:29.040
we still don't talk our own mothers the same.
00:27:29.760 --> 00:27:34.401
When will they learn it's time to switch up the game?
00:27:36.560 --> 00:27:47.441
Four generations, the same pattern, the same silence, the same heartbreak.
00:27:48.319 --> 00:27:53.359
Somehow we gotta change trajectory.