Walking home from work one evening in Limassol, Cyprus, Oksana Krasan never imagined she would stumble upon a scene that would tug so strongly at her heart. Just a few steps from her apartment building, she noticed a crowd of neighbors huddled around a cardboard box left by the roadside. At first, she assumed it might be filled with discarded items — but then she heard it: faint, heartbreaking cries that didn’t belong to objects.
When she peeked inside, she froze. Nestled together in the box were three newborn kittens, their tiny bodies shaking as they wailed for help. Their eyes were still closed, a sign that they were no more than a week old. These babies were far too young to survive on their own.
“Clearly someone threw them away there, because they still had their eyes closed,” Krasan later wrote in a Facebook post. “They were very weak and were desperately crying.”
The group of onlookers searched the surrounding area for a mother cat, hoping she might return, but there was no sign of her. It became painfully clear that the kittens had been abandoned.
A Difficult Choice With No Easy Answer
The crowd lingered, trying to decide what to do. Some pitied the kittens, but no one was prepared to bring them home. Hours slipped by, and the fragile babies remained in the box, their cries echoing down the street.
For Krasan, the moment turned into an inner battle. She knew what it meant to care for kittens so young — the sleepless nights, the constant feeding, the fear of losing them. Still, as time passed and no one stepped forward, the sound of their desperate meows grew harder to bear.
Finally, she made her choice. “I couldn’t listen to them suffering any longer,” she said. She gently lifted the tiny kittens from the box, cradling them against her chest. They were no longer abandoned — they had someone willing to fight for them.
Learning the Role of a Surrogate Mom
Krasan’s first stop was a local veterinary clinic, where she purchased a special kitten formula designed to replace a mother cat’s milk. She asked the vet and other rescuers for guidance, determined to give the kittens the best possible chance.
Back home, she turned her bathroom into a safe haven. She lined a box with blankets to keep them warm and set up a strict feeding schedule. Every few hours, day and night, the kittens needed to be bottle-fed. Krasan enlisted the help of a friend to share the responsibility, but the workload was still exhausting.
There were moments of worry — were they eating enough? Were they gaining weight? Each feeding session came with its own challenges, but the kittens slowly began to grow stronger.
Caring for the little ones extended beyond meals. Krasan had to gently stimulate their tiny bellies after each feeding to help them relieve themselves, a job their mother would normally handle. As they got a little older, she introduced them to a litter box, teaching them step by step how to use it.
“Since I decided to take them, I couldn’t let them down,” Krasan explained. “I had to do everything I could for them to find a loving family.”
Watching Them Blossom Into Playful Kittens
The early days were filled with worry, but soon the kittens began to thrive. Their eyes opened wide to reveal curious gazes, and their little legs grew strong enough to wobble around. With every passing day, their personalities bloomed.
“They are very playful, as all kittens [are], and very sweet,” Krasan said proudly.
One kitten loved chasing shadows across the wall, while another preferred curling up in Krasan’s lap after feeding. The third seemed to be the boldest of the bunch, always the first to explore new corners of the bathroom.
Krasan delighted in these small milestones. The kittens, who once lay weak and abandoned in a box, now filled her home with energy, mischief, and laughter. Each tiny victory reminded her why she had stepped in that day — because every life, no matter how small, deserves a chance.
Finding the Families They Deserve
As the kittens grew, Krasan knew she had to think about their future. She loved them dearly, but she couldn’t keep all three herself. They needed forever homes where they would be cherished, safe, and never abandoned again.
She began sharing updates and photos on Facebook, showing the kittens’ progress and their playful personalities. The response was overwhelming — dozens of people reached out, eager to adopt. But Krasan wasn’t about to hand them over lightly.
“I got quite a lot of responses,” she explained. “I’m gonna make home checks to make sure they are gonna end up in good hands.”
Her priority wasn’t speed, but quality. She wanted families who understood the responsibility of caring for a pet and who would provide love for the kittens’ entire lives. For Krasan, this wasn’t about simply finding homes — it was about finding the right homes.
Until then, the kittens continued to thrive in her care, climbing, tumbling, and filling her bathroom with joyful chaos. Their journey from abandonment to safety became a story of resilience — and of one woman’s refusal to walk away.
The Bigger Picture: Compassion That Changes Lives
Stories like these shine a light on a larger issue: the heartbreaking frequency of pet abandonment. Across the world, countless animals are discarded when they are no longer wanted. Many never get the second chance that Krasan’s kittens did.
But her story also offers hope. It shows how one person’s decision to act, rather than look away, can completely alter the course of a life. Three tiny kittens who had no chance on their own are now healthy, playful, and on their way to finding homes where they’ll be loved forever.
For Krasan, the experience was exhausting but profoundly rewarding. The kittens gave her sleepless nights, but in return, they offered her unconditional trust and a reminder of the power of kindness.
Every rescued life, no matter how small, sends a ripple through the world — a message that compassion matters, and that even in moments of cruelty, humanity can choose love instead.
