One night Dee, an Alley Animals volunteer, was crossing from one alley into another when she saw a small lump in the middle of the road. As the headlights hit it, Dee realized the lump had a pair of eyes so she got out to help what she thought was an injured kitten. She opened a can of food and approached cautiously -- she didn't want the animal to run away. But as soon as she threw a bit of food toward this lump, it divided; two kittens sprang at the food as if they hadn't eaten in days. These two kittens had been clinging so tightly to each other that they appeared to be one body. Dee grabbed both and put them in a carrier with lots of food.

The babies looked grayish orange. Looking more closely you could see they were being eaten alive by fleas; the orange color was dried blood from the fleas, and the grayish color was street dirt. After three hours of bathing, combing, and flea dipping them, we now had two scrawny white kittens who looked anemic from the flea infestation.

After a few weeks of living in a safe (flea-free) environment and eating the way growing kittens need to, they have regained a healthy skin color and a happy attitude toward life. Most probably the boys are brothers and we hope very much to find someone willing to provide a home for the pair so that they might live out their future together; without a single hint to remind them of days past, when they had nothing but each other to cling to against a hard world.