WITH the severity of the bushfire north of Hill End, three little kittens without their mother should have perished.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Instead, they beat the odds and are now recovering in the safe hands of the team at Stewart Street Veterinary Hospital.
The three kittens - one male and two female - were found on Thursday by firefighters from the Kelso Fire and Rescue NSW brigade, who had been deployed to the Alpha Road fire.
In a Facebook post, the brigade said the kittens' mother was killed in the fire, but the kittens were spotted "hiding in a blackened and burnt area of the fire and were scooped up by the crew".
They were later taken to Stewart Street Vets for treatment.
Vet nurse Paige Adams said it was very surprising that the kittens, which are estimated to be about five weeks old, had survived their ordeal.
"It would be so traumatic, and especially if they don't have their mum, so it's pretty amazing they are here and we're able to treat them and give them a second chance," she said.
She said they "presented pretty poorly" upon their arrival at the clinic, with the male kitten in particular suffering burns to his paws.
His fur and whiskers were also singed, meaning he would have come quite close to the flames.
"This little kitten that's got the bandages on is actually flyblown, so it looks like he's been like that for a number of days," Ms Adams said.
"When they first came in, we assessed the wounds, we've removed all of the maggots out of there, and we've redressed the wounds.
"They have been given a full check-over to assess the rest of their health and they've been given antibiotics as well, so if there's any infection starting to occur we can kind of stop it now.
"They've also had some pain relief."
Despite their injuries, the kittens have displayed very good temperaments.
"They've been really placid," Ms Adams said.
"I'm not sure where they originally came from, whether it was around a house or not, but you can tell they've had some sort of exposure to humans because we can handle them.
"They're obviously quite stressed, but there's been no sign of aggression or anything like that."
The kittens will remain at the vet and continue to be monitored.
When they have fully recovered, they will be put up for adoption through the clinic's rehoming program.
"If anyone's interested in adopting them in a couple of weeks, just come and approach us," Ms Adams said.
The rescue of the kittens is one of the nicer stories to come out of the terrible bushfires at Tambaroora, north of Hill End.
So far, the fire, which began on Sunday has burnt more through more than 16,000 hectares of rural land and destroyed multiple homes, as well as farm sheds and other property.
Hundreds of sheep and cattle have also been killed in the blaze.
Thanks to more favourable weather conditions on Thursday and Friday, the RFS have been able to gain some control of the fire and begin implementing containment strategies.
However, NSW RFS spokeswoman Angela Burford said time is of the essence as weather conditions are predicted to worsen next week.
"We downgraded at 8pm on Thursday night to 'advice' alert level, which is really good news, but in saying that, the fire is not out and it's not contained yet either," she said.
Damage assessments in the area are continuing.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.westernadvocate.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News