THREE kittens found abandoned in a cardboard box next to Canvey Lake have been taken in by a vet.

The seven-week-old kittens were found dumped in the pouring rain by the side of the lake by a member of the public.

They took the soaking wet kittens to Riverside vets, on Canvey, before Rayleigh, Castle Point and District Cats Protection took them in.

It appealed for someone to foster them as the charity is desperately short of space and Nikki Harris, a vet at the Benfleet branch of Riverside, volunteered to look after them.

Now the tiny kittens are looking for a new owner to adopt them.

A spokeswoman for Cats Protection said it had seen a lot of cats and kittens abandoned recently, and needed more people to adopt them.

She said: “They were freezing cold and shivering, they were in a really poor way. It was chucking it down with rain.

“The vet is fostering them because we haven’t got any spaces left for them to go anywhere.”

But there is a happy ending for some abandoned animals, after two cats found dumped outside McDonald’s on Canvey this weekend have been given a new home.

The two black tom cats were found outside the fast food restaurant and after an appeal on the Cats Protection website they were adopted yesterday.

If you can adopt a cat, or for more information, call Yvonne, homing officer, on 01268 750831, or go to www.catsrayleigh. terapad.com