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For the past month or so there has been a stray, and scrawny but pregnant cat hanging around my house. She is maybe 1 year old and is the sweetest cat in the world. Very loving and very cute. From the minute I knew she was a stray I took pictures and tried finding someone to adopt her but I had no luck. I think being pregnant is a huge reason.
She finally had her kittens last week. Only 1 survived. For the past 3 nights the mom has been getting beat up bad by other neighborhood cats. She had deep abscesses on her back but she is a fighter so she still takes good care of the surviving kitten.
Ever since she has started being abused by other cats I have been calling every no kill shelter around but none will take her in. Some said no room, others said no due to her kitten, others said no because she's hurt, other's said no flat out.
I don't have anywhere to keep her or I would have in a heartbeat. I have an 800 sq foot house with a very territorial Bengal cat and a 1 year old son. To top matters off it has been really hot and she has been looking worse every day.
Today I took the cat and her kitten that's barely a week old to a local shelter that is not no kill. It absolutely broke my heart and I am very torn and distraught by this but she was not making it work where she was. I know she will probably be euthanized in the very near future. I just ran out of options and I think she was suffering here more than she will in the shelter, as long as she may spend there.
I absolutely HATE and DESPISE whomever put this cat out to fend for itself and forced me into this situation. I really don't have a question. I just needed to let it out and see if anyone has been through anything similar. I kind of hate myself right now.
How heartbreaking. I applaud you for doing all that you could, which is way more than most people would do! It is possible she could be put in a foster home if she's friendly.
I think many of us here have situations where we felt we could have/should have done something differently. A few years ago, I found a friendly stray in our neighborhood and called the local humane society (that is low kill) to have it picked up. Then last fall our oldest went missing, and I learned a lot! Now I wish I would have knocked on neighbors' doors to see if he was lost, before having the cat picked up. :-(
We do the best we can at that time. At least this kitty is no longer on the streets, uncared for.
Try not to beat yourself up too much. Sometimes we are just not in a position to be able to help, no matter how much we want to. I'm sure many of us have similar stories we could tell. At the very least, you cared enough to get her off the streets, which will prevent a slow, lingering death from starvation or worse from another predator. I'm sad for the cat & her kitten, and for the situation you were faced with.
Peace be with you.
Please, please don't be so hard on yourself. You did everything you reasonably could. I agree with you and the previous posters--in this heat (I'm in SoCal too, so I know!), the cat and kitten would be suffering outside, and it was a bad situation all around. Taking them to the shelter was the right thing to do. I know that cat rescues regularly go to the shelters and take out friendly cats that have a good chance of being adoptable, and they often take kittens to foster as well. My youngest cat was taken from the Orange County Animal Shelter along with two siblings, at 3 weeks old, and raised by a foster. The chances are good that the kitten, at least, will survive. Maybe the mother too! There is actually more hope for them being where they are now, than being on the street.
Take care of yourself and thanks for caring about the kitties.
You did the right thing. She and her kitten were dying a slow agonizing death. If they are taken straight to the back room, well, if there's no one to care for them, it's a mercy, in my opinion. You may not have saved their lives, but you certainly have saved them much suffering, it was a very courageous loving thing you did.
PS I just read Saibot's post. It's wonderful, and hopefully that will happen for those two, too.
We just can't save all the cats. Best we can do is contribute as we can to spay/neuter clinics - events and educate people in our circle so that they don't contribute to the problem, and I have paid for a few neutering procedures because it wasn't happening and the kitty was going outside.
Sometimes we have to say "no" to new cats for the good of the pets we already have.
You did a great thing, OP and did the best you could. It's hard, but try not to feel bad about it. There is a good chance she will be adopted. She is a new mom, and new moms stick together Her darling kitten surely will, also. You have your own family to think about.
Try not to beat yourself up too much. Sometimes we are just not in a position to be able to help, no matter how much we want to. I'm sure many of us have similar stories we could tell. At the very least, you cared enough to get her off the streets, which will prevent a slow, lingering death from starvation or worse from another predator. I'm sad for the cat & her kitten, and for the situation you were faced with.
Peace be with you.
I agree with catdad7x. Sometimes we really can't help due to situations. I really hope for the best for the cat and her kitten. But, please don't beat yourself up over it. ::hug::
I wish we could save them all, but we can't. It breaks my heart, too.
The cat and her kitten probably didn't have a chance if you'd left them alone. The shelter might house them both at least for a few weeks until the kitten is a little older, and the kitten will have a good chance of being adopted.
Our kill shelter employees and volunteers helped me learn how to tame Bobbles. The shelter doesn't automatically kill unless a cat doesn't pass the health test or temperament test. The health test is far beyond having abscesses. They keep and treat cats with infections. I doubt your kill shelter would kill a nursing mother if it's a shelter that tries to keep the ones it can. In my experience, the people who work and volunteers at shelters have hearts, and one very well might take them home to recuperate. There's always hope.
I rescued a cat and took it to a kill shelter based on the advice of a shelter volunteer who works at Petco. It took 2-1/2 months, but he got adopted. I received an email with pictures from his new forever home. So, not all kill shelters are bad.
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Her darling kitten surely will, also. You have your own family to think about.
I really hope for the best for the cat and her kitten. But, please don't beat yourself up over it. ::hug::
