After quite a while of pathetic mewing and crying from the distressed felines, several members of our dedicated staff determined (after a lot of telephoning and even a call for help on Twitter, thanks @jzinn3 and @KeithFoster) the mother cat had abandoned her babies for whatever reason, and they needed rescuing.

The Roanoker ad coordinator Eryn Lester holds one of the tiny kittens just after it was pulled from under our boardwalk.

Three Leisure Publishing employees strained to reach the wee little babies. Their mother had deposited them in a very difficult spot to reach (naturally) under a section of stairs. The only access was a hole “just” big enough for either your arm, or head, but not both. After much craning and feeling around, kitten #1 was pulled free. He was rushed inside where our cadre of kitten-lovers began the process of warming it up and cooing over its cries.

Two Leisure employees remained. Our circulation manager and web strategist. Armed with a flashlight and zero fear of spiders, they braved the darkness and pulled kitten #2 out (later to be named Lee Pubbles).

The Roanoker advertising services manager Jenny Dorsey feeding a rescued kitten.

Day Two

We’re sad to report that the two wee kittens, although they received impeccable care from our staff and Angels of Assisi, didn’t survive being left in the cold for so long.

The first baby, who seemed the stronger of the two, passed away this morning.

Lee Pubbles also unfortunately didn’t make it.

We’re extremely grateful though to the staff of Angels of Assisi who provided a mother cat with a current litter to be his surrogate as well as life-support care to the second kitten. And also to the staff of Vets to Cats and Dr. Kimberly Jessup who selflessly provided kitten formula, formula dispensers and printed instructions to feed the babies right after their rescue.