NEED TO KNOW
- Victorian foster carer Deb Hargraves has rescued and cared for more than 300 abandoned kittens.
- She transformed her home into a kitten ICU, caring for vulnerable newborns around the clock.
- Deb specialises in orphaned neonatal kittens that need feeding every few hours to survive.
- She hopes her story encourages more responsible pet ownership and supports foster care for rescue cats.
Hearing tiny cries coming from the incubator beside her bed, Deb Hargraves gently scoops up a fragile newborn kitten. Weighing barely more than a bar of soap at just 100g, the tiny fur baby is completely dependent on Deb to survive.
“It’s OK, little one,” Deb whispers, preparing a pipette filled with special kitten formula.
While most people are tucked up in bed, the 64-year-old is beginning a night shift – feeding, cleaning and comforting abandoned kittens in desperate need of care.
“It’s like having babies again,” Deb tells New Idea. “Except my babies actually slept through!”
Based in Ringwood North, VIC, Deb has transformed her home into a kitten hospital, complete with an “ICU room” in her bedroom for the most vulnerable newborns.
In 2019, after spending years caring for others – including children and in aged care – Deb turned her compassion to animals.
First she became a wildlife rescuer, then, in January 2023, she contacted the Cat Protection Society of Victoria (CPSV) and offered to foster kittens.
“The staff were so warm,” Deb recalls. “Within days, my first little bundle arrived and then I just couldn’t stop.”
The Cat Protection Society of Victoria relies on donations for its foster care program and volunteers like Deb help rescue, rehabilitate and rehome cats and kittens until they’re ready for adoption.
Specialising in neonates – newborn kittens without their mums – Deb now takes on the toughest cases. Some arrive just days old after being dumped, abandoned or surrendered.
“They need warmth before anything else,” Deb explains.
The tiniest babies are placed in an incubator where Deb monitors their temperature and gives round-the-clock care, with bottles, baths, medication and cuddles every few hours.
At any given time, Deb –dubbed the ‘kitten whisperer’ – can have up to eight foster kittens in her care. But it’s a family affair, with her partner Nigel, 71, and daughter Kylie, 44, chipping in too.
Even Deb’s own five cats help out, especially Snoopy, who has appointed himself ‘foster dad’.
“Every kitten that comes in has to get a bath from him,” Deb says with a laugh. “It’s like their initiation!”
Once the kittens reach five weeks, they graduate from the incubators into the spare room, which has been transformed into a nursery where they learn to play, explore and prepare for life with their forever families.
“We want them happy and social,” Deb explains.
While Deb has saved more than 300 kittens, it also comes with heartbreak. Deb admits she cries over the ones that don’t make it.
“Even if they’ve only been with me a short time, I still shed a tear,” she says.
And saying goodbye when kittens leave for adoption isn’t easy either. In fact, three of Deb’s cats are ‘foster fails’ – kittens she simply couldn’t part with.
Usually though, once they reach 12 weeks or one kilo, Deb sends them off with a goodie bag of toys, baby photos and a card explaining their little personalities.
With kitten numbers rising due to unwanted litters and cats not being desexed, Deb hopes her work encourages more people to be responsible pet owners.
“Cats aren’t disposable, they’re a lifetime commitment,” Deb says.
And despite the sleepless nights, Deb says every moment is worth it.
“Cats don’t care what you look like, what you wear or what kind of day you’ve had. They just love you for you,” she says. “All animals deserve a chance at life. I’m fortunate I get to give them one.”
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