I've found a newborn kitten in Lara Beach Turkey. What should I do?

[whatisdrowsybutawake]

Hi, posting here as I've tried every other avenue with no luck. This morning I found a newborn kitten outside our hotel in Lara Beach. It still has the cord attached to its belly so can't be more than a day old? Mother was nowhere to be seen, hotel staff looked everywhere and couldn't find her. We left kitten where we found it for ages but nothing. There were four other mother cats in the nearby area and we tried to merge kitten with those families but no joy, mothers rejected and hissed.

I took kitten to my hotel room and have fed it baby milk (I know not ideal but tried supermarket and there is no kitten milk). Couldn't find any condensed milk etc either as I've heard you can mix that up in an emergency. It's drinking and peeing as normal.

We leave tomorrow night, the local vet will not help as they can't commit to looking after a kitten so small. Reception unhelpful too. I've reached out to local groups on fb and nothing.

I don't suppose there are any mumsnetters in the area who would like to take the kitten when I leave? I'm honestly considering putting in my cardigan pocket and bringing back to UK but I know there's a hefty fine attached to that option if caught.. On hol with husband and 2 toddlers but managing to keep regularly feeding kitten, feels like having a newborn!

Picture below of course!

Unfortunately you’ll find there are two kinds of people in life, ones who actually care and ones who do not, the first type of people are the ones who make the world a better place.

I completely disagree.

While it sounds lovely that she took on full-time care of this kitten, she did so knowing she was going home in two days and unable to carry on long-term.

What do you think would have happened to this kitten when OP went home? It would have been left with hotel staff who would either have put it out of it's misery or left it alone to die naturally. A kitten that young would never have survived without ongoing care.

In fairness, it sounds like the OP was trying to buy some time looking after the kitten and suss out rescues/see if any local expats might be interested. I have to say I wouldn't have done that as I wouldn't take a kitten and put it down my top as I was once scratched very badly by a tiny kitten who followed us and wouldn't go home, it was happy and lovely til a loud noise spooked it and it ripped me and my top to pieces (I couldn't let go as it would have got squashed). I also wouldn't take in a feral cat due to fleas. I'm around feral cats a lot having a holiday home abroad and they are thousands, indeed hundreds of thousands of them all across the Med, especially in cities. For the most part they are survivors, they also survive immense cold and snow which I find incredible, but they go in basements, outhouses, or even sleep outside.

The OP probably wouldn't know that expats/rescues would be absolutely overrun with cats and kittens and so the chances of anyone taking it would be very low. Her intention was good and I'm not sure she caused any more considerable harm than the kitten would have had if left.

Disagree all you like.
Because at least she tried to help it, regardless of whether it survived or not and there are rescues who often will step in to help, she mentioned she was in contact with a rescue.
Doing something, is better than nothing at all.
We would never walk past a deprived or starving child in an under-developed country and say, well they’re going to die anyway. There are lots of humans that will lend a helping hand to humans and animals alike.

There are 100,000s thousands stray cats in this part of the world.

Wait until you hear about how some humans are living in parts of Turkey affected by the earthquake.

The handwringing over one kitten on this thread is mind blowing.

Yours sincerely,

A person working in the humanitarian sector (so yes, in reference to some PPs, I definitely ‘care’) and a vegan.

So, the 'whataboutery' has started.

I feel so sorry for the OP who just wanted some input and support, bet she's gutted she even asked.

You’re assuming that if people care about animals, they can’t care about both, what makes you think that’s the case? Most people who help animals, are also willing to help defenceless animals too.

Doing something, is better than nothing at all.

What humans see as "helping" and "lending a hand" isn't always the right thing by the animal, though.

Newborn animals should be with mum - that gives them the best chance of survival. If that's not possible (and sadly that's often the case with ferals), then they should be taken in by a rescue or foster who has the time, money and knowledge to care for them properly.

If neither of those options exist, then the kindest thing is probably humane euthanasia.

I know it's human instinct to help baby animals because of how cute and small and helpless they are, but they need more than baby milk and someone's pocket to sleep in - they need specialist care and without it, they stand even less chance than they would with mum in the wild.

So if it’s not right by the animal, are you saying the animal would prefer to die alone or be euthanised without at least helping it. I value all life and would help any animal in distress, I’ve taken a pigeon to a rehab centre before and they’re considered pests. I couldn’t imagine seeing a tiny kitten, alone and just think ‘There’s no point helping, it will just die anyway’ Most humans aren’t conditioned to think that way.

So if it’s not right by the animal, are you saying the animal would prefer to die alone or be euthanised without at least helping it.

Yes, euthanasia is ultimately kinder than taking a newborn animal away from it's mother knowing you don't have the means to actually keep it alive.

I value all life and would help any animal in distress, I’ve taken a pigeon to a rehab centre before and they’re considered pests.

Sometimes human intervention does more harm than good, though. It's all very well saying you value life but sometimes that means leaving well alone and letting the mother do the work (unless you're an expert who can provide the required care).

I couldn’t imagine seeing a tiny kitten, alone and just think ‘There’s no point helping, it will just die anyway’ Most humans aren’t conditioned to think that way.

Nobody's advocating just leaving it to die - they're saying to leave it where it is so mum can find it. That doesn't mean you can't also ring round rescues or vets for help, but taking a newborn animal away from mum is very rarely the right course of action.

I think we’ll have to agree to disagree, your post is based on merely what you think is best but that doesn’t make it right.
Helping something is better than doing nothing at all. We could all choose to turn the other way but there are a lot of people that don’t and have probably saved the life of many living beings as a result.
The kittens mother wasn’t around at the time so OP did what she thought was the right thing to do and I agree she did the right thing.

The kitten was not human. You are projecting. You cannot transfer human emotions to animals.

It’s good that your dad and his vet are sensible. I know the wife of a vet who has told me many times about her husband despairing of owners who will seek treatment for their pets against all advice to have them PTS. It’s all too common.

In the OP’s case not only is there nothing to suppose there was any comfort for the kitten - you assume it, but you have no idea what if anything the kitten experienced: it may have suffered for longer than necessary - but the mother may have been deprived of her child, the hotel staff were no doubt pissed off and, most of all, the OP exposed herself and those around her to the risk of rabies.

This is not a story of thoughtful actions. It’s a story of foolish, if benevolently motivated, impulse.

Could you be more dramatic, the kitten would have been seeking warmth and food, it was given both.

I have taken care of day old kittens, they will seek warmth and food, being warm and satiated would have gone a long way towards making it content.

Compare that to being cold/over heated and dehydrated.

I think we’ll have to agree to disagree, your post is based on merely what you think is best but that doesn’t make it right.

Eh? Of course the right thing to do is what's best for the animal

It may make humans feel good and fuzzy to look after cute baby animals but that doesn't mean it's right.

You keep saying that the kitten needed to be with mum and if not it needed round the clock care from specialists (which I completely agree with) like the OP instantly scooped it up the second she saw it and declared that she was its mother now and she would look after it.

She says in her first post that she left it there for ‘ages’ and she was trying to get it specialist help from experts, that’s why she was in contact with vets and a rescue.

If the mother had abandoned it (or potentially been hit by a car) then it would have died anyway, and it would have been an unpleasant death out in the sun. I would have taken the poor thing to be PTS before I left if I couldn’t find anyone to take it, rather than put it back outside alone, but I do think in this instance it was better to try.

What’s “dramatic” about being concerned at the health risks of handling feral animals abroad? FFS.

As to the rest, I’m always impressed by some people’s certainty of their own saintliness.

She says in her first post that she left it there for ‘ages’ and she was trying to get it specialist help from experts, that’s why she was in contact with vets and a rescue

I know, but she'd also handled the poor thing and tried to pass it round to several other nursing mother cats - just the act of doing that could have easily caused the real mum to abandon it. She was probably watching somewhere and didn't want to go anywhere near all these people.

There are so many articles online about the dangers of removing and handling newborn kittens - unfortunately they often fail to thrive even with experienced round-the-clock care.

Unfortunately on this thread the actual facts seem to be being ignored over people's desire to do what makes them feel all good and fuzzy inside.

I'm not referring to OP here as it's very different when you're actually in the situation and faced with a tiny abandoned animal, but more to all the posters saying it's "always best to help if you can", even when all the advice says otherwise.

You seem to want a constant drawn-out discussion, hence why I said we’ll have to agree to disagree, when clearly we’re both different people. I don’t have to agree with you and you don’t have to agree with me but you keep going back to the same statement you keep spouting like you know it as fact, it’s also strange how you think it’s better for an animal to die alone, than at least give comfort, I’m sure if you was in this situation, you’d prefer the latter.

You’ll likely find thousands, if not millions of people have had contact with stray animals abroad and no one has caught rabies.

And I’m surprised by some peoples ignorance on this thread.
I read a post once that said some users use MN to project their negativity, I can see it now and it certainly applies to this thread.

it’s also strange how you think it’s better for an animal to die alone, than at least give comfort

But it wasn't given comfort. That's a human perspective.

From the kittens view, it was taken away from mum and where mum left it, passed around a random bunch of feral cats who all rejected it, taken by a stranger into a hotel room, given inappropriate food and shelter, then passed on to another stranger where it then died anyway (I suspect probably killed but I suspect I'll be shot down in flames for that).

There's heaps of evidence about how removing newborn kittens from mum is grossly inappropriate unless you know what you're doing and can provide instant, constant care for them.

But don't let facts get in the way of a nice feel good story

then passed on to another stranger where it then died anyway (I suspect probably killed

Killed or simply left somewhere, sensibly enough. I expect all the ‘caring’ posters will condemn locals for doing this, even though they live and work there, see these animals every day and have to put up with the actions of well-meaning but misguided tourists.

"I think we’ll have to agree to disagree, your post is based on merely what you think is best but that doesn’t make it right."

Oh the irony. @RoyalGala your posts are based merely on what you think is best too and as for @cinnamonfrenchtoast wanting a long drawn out argument. Fuck me, you're writing consecutive posts without even waiting for replies!

The cats mother was probably nearby and hiding, not wanting to approach until all the people had gone. Any rescues are full to bursting, and the security guards took it and dumped it somewhere well away from the OPs room.

I think if we’ve learnt anything, we know who the compassionate humans are on here and who are not.
I guess if any of you are hit by a car, passer-bys should just leave you to die, you’re going to die without help, death is part of nature after-all.
If you get cancer, without help, you’ll eventually die, death is part of nature after-all.
Clue - Helping can mean a difference of life and death.
It’s amazing when the same logic is applied to humans.

So the cat we found on holiday, it would have died without our help but with our help it survived, he’s now 3 and is a very healthy and happy cat. Are you saying we were mis-guided and shouldn’t have helped it?

I think if we've learned anything it's that some people have actually gone crazy and think you can apply the same "logic" to humans dying of cancer vs removing a newborn kitten with the cord still attached from the place it's mother left it with no long term plan.