PALM HARBOR, FL — This story will make you say "awww".  Kittens are adorable even if you're not a cat fan but just imagine the excitement at the Suncoast Animal League when a pregnant cat in their care became a foster mom to wild bobcat kittens.

The mommy cat named Bobbi because of her bob-tail was given to the shelter when she was very pregnant.  On April 1st, she gave birth to six kittens.  Life is busy at the shelter.  Then someone found two kittens abandoned in a box and dropped them off to the shelter.  Bobbi gladly accepted the new additions as if they were her own.

But then came the call from Big Cat Rescue in Tampa about a hunter in Alabama who showed up at a vet's clinic with three newborn Bobcat kittens.  The hunter wanted the vet's staff to raise the creatures so he could give them as presents to his children. 

Fearing the hunter may have shot the mother bobcat, the clinicians searched for a suitable source for the bobcat kittens.  Someone who could raise the babies whose eyes were still closed and umbilical cords still attached.  The clinic contacted the Big Cat Rescue whose mission would be to rehabilitate the wild animals and release them back into their natural habitat.

The Big Cat Rescue needed the help of the Suncoast Animal League who just happened to have a pregnant cat named Bobbi.  Nursing cats are more likely to accept foster kittens so the bobcat kittens were introduced to Bobbi.  Her original six kittens were already feeding on solid food so she was able to accommodate the new additions.

Bobbi will only nurse the kittens for a while with very little human interaction so that their wild instincts remain intact.  Once they are older they will go back to the Big Cat Rescue for further rehabilitation.