The Critteraid Animal Sanctuary in Summerland is in the care of five very young kittens after their mother passed away.

Lori Huot-Stewart, president of the Critteraid, said a few days back they had been notified that there was a cat that had tragically been hit by a car. Upon their investigation, they noticed that the deceased was a nursing mama.

"The incident happened in our vicinity of our sanctuary so we were aggressively searching, but we found nothing," she added.

"Six days later, our early pasture crew spotted skinny, dirty little scruffy fluffies in our hay shed. The coincidence of being Mother's Day, and then choosing our sanctuary, and all the heightened maternal instincts of the day instantly bonded us to collect and save these babies."

The five kittens have gone through so much, Huot-Stewart said, from knowing their mama was looking after them to being alone and fending for themselves at barely four weeks old, and finally navigating over two miles of terrain.

"We want to assure them for the first time that they're safe," she said.

The kitties are not quite ready to go to homes, as they need to be loved a little bit more at the moment, but will be available for adoption later on.

"To the unknown, unnamed homeless mama who lost her life, I somehow believe you guided your babies to us. Happy Mother's Day sweet mama cat, please rest and know that we have your babies, they are safe and they will be loved."

In the meantime, help Critteraid with the cost of caring for the kitties by donating online here.

Photo: Contributed