Their Wonder Turns To Worry When They Realize What Was Hiding Under Boat

Cabin In The Woods 

Bachelor parties are notorious for how wild they are. They are usually spent drinking, partying, and bonding for one last time, before the bachelor becomes a married man.

But one group of friends decided to spend their bachelor party at an isolated cabin in the woods. One of the guys decided to take his dog along, and before they knew it, things took an unexpected turn.

Surprise Start

When they arrived at the cabin, they had barely had time to unpack and get settled in before the dog started to sniff around. Suddenly, picking up a scent, she charged off into the distance.

Naturally, they ran after her to see where she was going. What they found, however, would change their weekend plans entirely.

Sense Of Smell

Any dog owner knows how acute a dog’s sense of smell is. Dog owners also know this all-too-familiar and worrying scenario: once a dog picks up a scent, it will rush off to follow it.

And the best we can do is to try to keep up… and hope they don’t get into trouble before we reach them.

Change Of Plans

No one thought anything would happen if they brought a dog along to the cabin in the woods. The men never imagined that one simple act would change their plans and their entire weekend.

While they might never have planned this, in the end, none of them would change a thing. So what exactly happened?

Dashing Off

When one of the friends mentioned that they were bringing their dog along for the trip, not one of the guys had an issue with the man’s best friend joining them.

However, as soon as they arrived, she surprised them all by rushing off without warning. Her owner was perplexed… she had never behaved like this before!

Playing Catch-Up

The men ran after her but she’d already disappeared. After searching and calling, they finally found her, though she was behaving extremely oddly.

The dog seemed to be fixated on a specific metal boat that had been stowed on land. It was upturned but she seemed to want to see what was under it. She wouldn’t leave it alone.

Recovery

After the men took a few minutes to catch their breath, they tried to pull her away from the boat she was so transfixed by, hoping to return to the cabin and continue with their bachelor party.

However, no matter how much they tried to coax her away, the dog refused to move away from the upturned vessel.

Laser-Focused

The dog was 100% focused on the boat and completely ignored the group of friends. She just kept whining and circling the boat, pawing it and trying to lift it with her snout, sniffing underneath it intently.

It was clear that there was something under the boat that had her attention, but what could it be?

Big Reveal

There was no way that the friends were going to abandon the dog, and her strange behavior was now starting to make them curious as well. So, one of the men – who was also the dog’s owner — slowly approached the boat and slowly flipped it over.

Soon, they came face-to-face with an unexpected sight that made them jump!

Unusual Act

Under the boat lay a few kittens. That is why the dog had acted so strangely, she had picked up the scent of the abandoned kittens. The men couldn’t believe she had sensed that they were there and had led them straight to the helpless animals.

They had called her, but she refused to leave until they found them.

Questions

But what had happened? How long the poor kittens had been stuck under the boat remained a mystery. And whether the tiny kittens had been abandoned by their mother or if their mother had passed away, it was impossible to tell.

But the group of men knew that they had to do something!

In Shape

The men dropped to their knees and inspected the kittens. No matter what the answers to the mysteries were, the good news was that the kittens were not only in good health but, thankfully, they seemed to be in good shape still.

In fact, the little balls of fluff seemed to be as healthy as kittens who lived in loving homes.

Cats And Dogs

Normally, when you think of cats and dogs together, you picture fights, chases, and general chaos. And, even more surprisingly, this particular dog had never met a cat before.

So the men were amazed to see that, instead of chasing them, the dog seemed to be absolutely crazy about their adorable and furry little rescues.

Mom Mode

The dog instantly began to fuss over the kittens. It was clear that her maternal instincts had kicked in and she was focused on caring for the kittens as if they had been her own pups.

On top of that, the kittens didn’t hesitate to walk up to the dog as if they were old friends.

Bath Time

Then, the dog started to lick and bathe the kittens, cleaning the dirt from their fur. When the men lifted up the boat, the kittens’ eyes widened in amazement as they saw the big forest around them.

The men knew that the dog that they had brought along for their trip had certainly saved them from a more unpleasant fate!

Taking Them Home

Now, the only question was what to do with the kittens. The men decided that since they had enough provisions, they would take them back to the cabin and give them a proper meal.

The dog walked proudly beside the men as if she knew the enormity of what she had done for the helpless kittens.

A Warm Meal

The group of friends had intended to make burgers and hotdogs for dinner, but they quickly realized that that was exactly what the kittens needed — meat. They prepared a huge bowl of hamburger meat for their little rescues and watched them happily tuck in.

The dog who had found them also received some meat scraps as a reward– after all, she had earned it!

Abandoned

After waiting around the spot where the kittens were found, the men quickly realized that the mother wasn’t coming back for her kittens. They had no choice but to take matters into their own hands.

It was decided that the first thing the men needed to do was take the kittens to a vet to make sure that there were no health issues.

A Checkup

The vet checked the kittens over and was astounded. He gave them a clean bill of health after numerous tests – just to be sure. The vet and the men were amazed that the kittens were in such good condition, especially given the circumstances and where they were found.

But there was more good news for these two lucky kittens…

Safe And Sound

Shortly after the trip to the vet, both kittens were adopted by two of the group! It was the perfect ending to an eventful weekend. Although the men had to change their plans, they were grateful that they were able to save two lives that day.

The men enjoyed each other’s company, celebrated a bachelor party, and went home with two brand-new family members! But none of the men ever expected their story to go viral.

Taking The Story To Reddit

One of the men uploaded the photos of the adorable kittens on a Reddit thread called “r/aww” with the title “A Boatload of Kittens.” 

The Reddit user’s online moniker is “Starting_right_meow,” and most netizens generally thought the story was delightfully wholesome. However, a few thought the whole situation could have been handled better.

What About Their Mother?

‘Any idea about their mother?’ one concerned user asked. And another pointed out that the kittens looked too young to be separated from their mom.

‘Yes, are they somewhere where you could put them back but keep an eye on them in case their mother doesn’t come back?’ the user asked, ‘They are so tiny, they could use having a mom around for at least a few more weeks I imagine.’ Had the men actually done the right thing?

Trap, Neuter, Release

One Reddit user pointed out that the men shouldn’t have taken the kittens away from their mother. Instead, they should have followed the TNR (trap, neuter, release) protocol – which is the system feral cat rescue groups use when they come across kittens without homes. 

‘You should call a trap neuter release group. They’ll use the kittens to get the mother to come back, trap her, let her nurse the kittens, spay her, and then release her. And then find homes for the kittens.’

The Mother Will Be Looking For Them

‘I know everyone here thinks it’s great that those kittens are being “rescued”, but the mother cat is certainly going to be looking for them (unless something has happened to her),’ the Redditor continued.

‘And the kittens look too young to be taken away from her. Plus that mom cat is going to go and make more babies, and just continue the cycle.’ It wasn’t long before more comments came flooding in to reprimand the men for taking the kittens in.

Online Judgement

Another user commented with disdain: ‘An adult wild cat would not approach you, especially if you have a dog with. Almost certainly, you just kitten-napped those things from a living mother. Oh humans, what a bunch of dumb ass***** we are.’

It wasn’t long before u/Starting_right_meow had to defend his position. But what is the right thing to do when you find abandoned kittens in the wild?

What To Do

According to the Alley Cat Allies’ blog, if you ever find kittens in the wild – no matter how tempting it may be to save them – you should ‘leave them be.’ 

According to the article, kittens who seem to be abandoned often have a mother who is out hunting nearby. However, there are exceptions to this rule.

Exceptions

If the kittens are over eight weeks old, the best thing to do is to have them sterilized and return them to where they were found. 

Alternatively, you can foster or adopt them. However, it’s important to make sure the mother is not coming back for her kittens – which is exactly what the men did. u/Starting_right_meow answered all the judgemental replies to defend his position.

Defending His Position

‘We waited around for the mother for quite a while. There was no sign of her. They were feral and we were worried that they might not make it through the cold weather and with winter just around the corner,’ u/Starting_right_meow replied. 

‘We took them to a vet and are following instructions to make sure they are properly taken care of. I know it would have probably been better to leave them for the mother, we couldn’t just leave them there with other things in mind. Try not to judge too harshly, I just wanted to try to help them.’

They Did The Right Thing

‘While people may think AWWW you’re taking the babies away from the mom, the reality of the situation is the kittens need to be taken inside and get the care they need,’ another user with 20 years of experience in rescuing feral kittens replied in agreement. 

‘Not to mention when nursing the mom expends a lot of energy just to care for them. hate to say it but she’s probably better off just looking after herself. Left alone to grow the kittens will just contribute to the feral cat population anyway.’

What Any Kind-Hearted Person Would Have Done

‘Thank you! The problem with the situation is we were at my camp. It’s in the middle of nowhere and we were only there for the weekend. I kept an eye out the whole time for her with no luck. I was worried about posting these pictures because I didn’t want to upset anyone,’ u/Starting_right_meow replied. 

‘I really just wanted to make sure these little guys had a chance and they would have been on my mind if we had left them. I dare anyone here to say they would have done differently. Look at how cute they are! You lie.’

In order to protect the privacy of those depicted, some names, locations, and identifying characteristics have been changed and are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblances to actual events, places, or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.