plk!!!
By alaskanray
@alaskanray (4636)
United States
June 23, 2011 10:49am CST
My daughter brought home a kitten yesterday that she had found in the alley behind our house. The poor thing was starving! He was so weak, I worried that he might not make it. We tried to get some food down him but he didn't eat enough to keep a mouse alive, much less a kitten.
Last night he dove off my bed and I didn't see him for a while so I looked over the edge of the bed and there he was all stretched out on the floor right where he had jumped off. He was limp as a rag when I picked him up and was soaked in his own pee.
Poor little thing. I put him in a box overnight. I didn't know if he would even survive the night but decided that if he did, I'd run him out to the vet's this morning. Well, on the way to the vet's he passed a stool and the vet's assistant told me he was just in the final stages of passing. Whatever happened, he just could not survive it.
This is not an uncommon thing around here, for a feral kitten to die. Many starve to death, others fall prey to predators or disease. Few survive to adulthood.
I try to do what I can. Chester, Smoky and Misty are all rescued kittens that I took in out of feral litters. I have fostered many more over the past three years. It still breaks my heart when I lose one. 
2 people like this
7 responses
@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
23 Jun 11
I know exactly how you feel. I'm so sorry.
2 people like this
@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
24 Jun 11
I know, hon. It's breaking mine, too.
1 person likes this
@louievill (28851)
• Philippines
23 Jun 11
hello, when I find abandoned kittens like that, what I do is feed it using a small 5cc or 10cc syringe, well the concoction is usually milk but I also fortify it with a cheap multivitamin rich in the B complex called "tiki-tiki", it's made from rice bran and very sweet and tasty, poor families here give it to malnourished children. Anyway you can make your own formulation but the trick is you need something to force it into him drop by drop at first then gradually increasing if you find that he or she likes it, the secret is to prevent dehydration before it sets in. I wrap the kitten in towel and wear gloves to prevent the cat from scratching my hand and ask somebody to force open the mouth and pray that she would be strong enough if it needs to be transported to the vet. I also use a cloth soaked in lukewarm water to clean the eyes and other dirty parts similar to how her mother would lick her kittens. Good luck in what you are doing and I'm pretty sure someone above is watching and would reward you for being kind to animals
2 people like this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
24 Jun 11
Thanks for your kind wishes. I did try to get a little yogurt down him. I don't think it was the starvation that got him, though. He may have injured himself when he fell off the bed. He was drinking water earlier in the day. But I will never know what killed him...poor little thing.
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
24 Jun 11
Thanks, Elic. I know, like a doctor, I have to come to terms with the fact that I cannot save them all. It's not easy.
1 person likes this
@ladybug565 (2216)
• United States
23 Jun 11
That happened to us recently we found an adult cat in a dumpster in town but it was so skinny and sick and it didnt make it through the night. I know how you feel it was heartbreaking. I am the same way I have 3 rescues now and have had many in the past also.
Im sorry that the kitten didnt make it. just remember the ones you have been able to save and know that you did your best.
1 person likes this
@ladybug565 (2216)
• United States
25 Jun 11
yes, I think you are right there are so many. I just rescued a cat today and she is pregnant, she was abandoned when her owner moved. left her and a little beagle pup. we were able to find a home for the beagle pretty quick. After the lady left the landlord threw the cat out and tied the dog up outside when the dog got loose she said she hopes it got hit by a car. I was really angry! if I didnt take the cat in the kittens would have been ferrel if they even survive and no matter how many times I tell myself I cant save them all I know that may be true but I sure can try!
1 person likes this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
26 Jun 11
That's all any of us can do, my friend. I have friends here who laugh at my efforts but I don't expect to solve the entire problem, just make things a little better for those I can reach. I have seen good results for my efforts, too. When we moved here, the feral cats in the neighborhood were more than I could count. Now we are down to maybe two or three.
Over the past three years I have rescued roughly a dozen cats and kittens, spayed/neutered 8 and found homes for all but the three I kept. I think I have made a difference in my little corner of the world and no matter what the calloused folk here think, I feel I have accomplished some good here...and that feels good!
@Loen210 (1540)
• United States
25 Jun 11
Oh Dear Alaskanray,
Thank you so much (to your daughter too, of course) for finding and taking in this kitten. I have to say that I started reading up till the part when he "dove off" your bed, and you found him sprawled out, I was so hapy thinking that he had relaxed and made himself at home...until I continued. Made me so sad and wishful and tugging at the heart. Poor thing.
Thank you for sharing this with us. Bless the little soul.
1 person likes this
@Loen210 (1540)
• United States
26 Jun 11
Good for you, and sad that more aren't active. Though it doesn't mean that everyone likely treat their pets with percect caution and care, my neighborhood his packed with loving pets - dogs, cats all around.
I haven[t found many strays except for one who, bless him, was definitely "LOST" or thrown out by another. We found him, an older cat, who had FIV+, took us a long tim eto be able to touch him without gettign scratched, and then eventually housed him, he lived happily for many years with us and the other cats, without passing it on to the others.
1 person likes this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
26 Jun 11
Good for you! There can never be too many responsible pet owners in the world...or too much compassion and caring!
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
26 Jun 11
I live in a community that is not as compassionate toward animals as I am and it is hard to see so many of these cats without homes and no one doing anything about it. I can't just stand by and let them die like that. I have to do something, no matter how much derision I face from my friends who cannot fathom or ever even see themselves caring so much for the animals around us.
It is difficult to see so many people who just don't care about the cats and dogs here in the town. Irresponsible pet owners and such drive me up the wall. But I just do what I can and pray that I make some small difference in the world.
It is difficult to see so many people who just don't care about the cats and dogs here in the town. Irresponsible pet owners and such drive me up the wall. But I just do what I can and pray that I make some small difference in the world. @babychane (39)
•
24 Jun 11
ohh so sad. I love kittens/cats. It's really hard to see that your pet is dying and you couldn't do anything about him. All we can do is pray for little kitten. That's nice that you even adopt cats. Good job!
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
24 Jun 11
The place I live in doesn't have any animal control or rescue shelters so I have been doing what I can to remedy the feral cat problem we have here. Too many folks around here fail to spay/neuter and don't care about the results which is a lot of unwanted cats. Some of them just dump the litters...some dump them here in the trailer park, some dump them at the dump. Some folks even put them in a sack and throw them in the river! 
I have always been too tender hearted and living here with all these ranchers and farmers who don't see cats as pets but as livestock is hard on my sensibilities.
I have always been too tender hearted and living here with all these ranchers and farmers who don't see cats as pets but as livestock is hard on my sensibilities.
@RitterSport (2451)
• Lippstadt, Germany
23 Jun 11
this would break my heart too mainly as he still was so small and just had started the adventure called life.
But you did everything to make sure he was taken care of and you tried to feed him and get him to the vet. You are a gem.
1 person likes this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
23 Jun 11
Thanks. We lack any animal control in this town...even in the entire county...and so I am on my own with these little ones. It is hard to be surrounded by so many people who just don't care...they don't even spay/neuter their own pets!
