# We lost a kitten



## AmberD (Dec 29, 2003)

Tuesday night, our feral "momma cat" surprised us by bringing 4 4-week old kittens to live under our front porch. We planned to capture them in a week or so when they were weaned so that we could socialize them and hopefully find them forever homes. So we did our best to secure the porch so the kittens couldn't get out too easily, though they figured out how.

Two came out a lot. One we started calling Rascal because she was always getting out and running off. The other we called Biter, because he bites. Rascal was the only girl, and she was our favorite (probably because she was the one we knew best).

When we went to bed last night, we had no idea it was supposed to rain, but it poured. And this morning, we checked on the kittens, and everyone seemed okay. But this afternoon, 3 came out, and Rascal did not. That was alarming because Rascal was always the first out. I called, and I felt around, and finally Rascal crawled to me. She was not well.

I took her in, wrapped her in a towel, and put her on a heating pad. I rubbed her up and down to stimulate circulation. For awhile, I seemed to be making progress. She would sit up, or turn around. Then she fell back to sleep, and she never really woke up. She suddenly gasped a couple times and died. We tried CPR, but with no luck.

We brought in the other 3 today - we're not letting that happen to them. They're adjusting well, even eating a bit of canned food mixed with formula. They'll go to the vet tomorrow for their fleas, and whatever else they can do for such young babies.

I'm so happy to have the other three in and safe, but I feel so bad about Rascal. I've not had anything die practically in my arms before. I wish we'd have known


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

That's heartbreaking for you, Amber. Poor little Rascal probably had a defect that wasn't obvious.  Nevertheless, I'm so glad you have taken the babies inside. It would be nice if mother cat could help take care of them, but they can manage with a good variety of cat food. Can you catch mother cat? Would you have to have a trap, or is she a stray? Please keep us updated.


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## AmberD (Dec 29, 2003)

Jeanie,

We've tried to catch this cat for years now. Technically, she _belongs_ to someone a few doors down the road. Their next-door neighbors (who we're friends with) say they have many cats, some of which are indoors, others out. Momma Cat is an outdoor cat, and is constantly pregnant or with kittens. She brought her last litter (5 kittens) over to our house this summer while I was in Arkansas (around the same time I was dealing with my own litter of strays). They were too skittish for my family to touch, but they fed them. They still come over now and then for extra food.

This litter is the first one we've had access to before they were too wild. We had already planned on taking them in to get them adopted, but we did want to wait until they were weaned. After Rascal died, we couldn't wait any longer.

They'll be five weeks old on Tuesday ( born Sept. 28 ), and they're already doing an awesome job eating canned food and formula off a plate. They're playful and are starting to enjoy our approach. 

We've tried to let Momma Cat in three times now. She wants to so badly, because she can hear her kittens, but she's just too afraid. And the fact is that if we were to get her in with her kittens, she wouldn't let us touch them, especially since they're in a Labrador-sized dog cage. 

We want very much to capture her and get her fixed. She's entirely feral, absolutely no-touch, but we'd like to spare her from going through this over and over again, even if she is not ours.


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

What a shame. Of course you can't take her if she belongs to someone else. It must be sad to know that she is there, listening to her babies call. Sometimes life can be hard. I know it upsets you too.


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## ikari1222 (Sep 24, 2004)

Hmmm...too bad you couldn't just take her to the vet and tell them you trapped a feral. If she is completely hands off, it could pass as believable, unless she has a collar on and won't let you near her to take it off. Then again, if you did do this and the "owner" found out, the word may get out from the vet that you brought it in, which could start trouble. Of course you could pass it off as you didn't know it was hers, and so on. This is probably what I would do, because I don't know how much patience I'd have with an ignorant cat owner.

Diplomacy may work too. Perhaps confronting the "owner" (to put the term loosely), that they need to get their outdoors cat fixed would be an idea. Tell this person(s) that you have been taking in the cat's kittens and had one recently die on you, because the cat is bringing them to your home. I don't know if this is a nuisance in your eyes, taking in the kittens, but this "owner" needs to own up. Let this person know that is problematic, they may not know that this is happening. Just be cool about it.


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## zoeae (Feb 21, 2005)

this is all very sad and it is true that the owner of the cat might get upset if you were to get her fixed without their knowledge, but if you confront them about the babies, i would also worry that they might stake a claim to them also. i would not say anything about the babies and give them a fighting chance at a great life, since the owner of the mother cat is totally without regard for her.


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