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!

Didn't someone recently smuggle a cat back from Cuba? I'm a cat lover (even of old twatty cats) but I'm also scared of authority and big, fuck off fines.

Could you put a sign up in the hotel and kind of pass the kitten on? Like when you have to go home but there's still life in your inflatables?

The reason we’re rabies free in this country because doing stupid shit like illegally smuggling feral cats in is frowned upon.

take it to the vet and ask for it to be put down. Or find a rescue that will keep it for you until it’s old enough to travel legally.

Why is it?

This reminds me of going to France and wanting to bring back the baby orphan Guinea pigs that needed caring for to survive, only ferry smuggling is a lot easier than on a plane!!

Hope you find somewhere x

Ooh what about FB expat pages ?

I bet if there’s a British expat FB page in the area and you post someone might come get it?

The fact that you even have to ask why.

I know someone who did smuggle in a cat, got caught and the cat went into the quarantine cattery for months and came out absolutely traumatised and bonkers. That was an older kitten as well (a dependent kitten will just be put down). I know you are not really going to do it, OP, but it is difficult.

I would leave it alone I think if you have asked the hotel/everyone you can, I know it's awful but there are huge numbers of street cats and it's not practical to save them all (I mean yourself). Donate to a street cat or dog sanctuary.

You’re really going to risk a fine and going over by Border Force for a mangy kitten? One of thousands of feral cats all over the Med?

And the risk of it bringing some horrible disease into the U.K.

Honestly OP, put it back where you found it. You don't know what you might catch from it, and you can't possibly keep it in your pocket all the way back home.

Hope you can find somewhere op 🤞🏼

Really hope you manage to find some help. I’d be exactly the same. Bless you.

Leave it where you found it. The mum will look for it

Do you think stray cats in turkey have a nice comfy life?

A quick google tells me that there are between 100,000 and a million stray cats in Istanbul alone.

Even in the UK there are approx 250,000 urban cats with no owner (out of 100 million).

It's something happening all the time.

I feel sorry for the kitten but I would put it back where it was found to allow the mum to come back, if she can, as the OP can't offer a long term solution.

Sorry to hear you in this situation unfortunately there are probably hundreds of thousands of feral cats in Turkey and only a very small amount of rescues. Not like here where I think the chances of finding someone to look after an abandoned kitten would be excellent

puts me off going to Turkey.

Hope you find someone to take care of him in some way. I don’t think his future looks bright currently though sadly

Ahh that's a hard situation to be in, I think if you have tried all other options with no luck you could ask around see if there are any other potential cat lovers staying at the same place that may take over from you when you leave.

That should say 11 million cats in the UK. I am surprised how many unowned cats there are, apparently worse after the pandemic, and the Cost of Living crisis as well I suspect.

Dp you have any idea how strict they are about importing animals? OP could end up paying for 4 months of quarantine amd.that might be the least of her worries.

Also kittens under 12 weeks are not allowed to entter the UK anyway

The UK does not want rabies and the OP might find herself exceptionally unpopular of she inadvertently introduced it.l

Also suppose it escaped in the plane or got found by sniffer dogs at airport it would be terrified

beautiful kitten though OP give it a cuddle for me. I hope you can find it somewhere safe.

We helped a cat from Cyprus, we managed to find paid vet accommodation, waited for passport, vaccines etc to be completed and had him flown to us in the UK. Is that an option for you?
Have you tried TAG? They can be found on Facebook, if they can’t help, they may be able to find other rescues to help.

That’s very harsh! Do you not feel even a slight bit of compassion?

Poor little baby! I really hope you sort something out

The fact that you even have to ask why.

Because it's a cat. It's not a baby, it's a cat. And one that would likely have died anyway had the OP not found it.

Oh my, obviously you can't bring it home but hopefully you can sort something for the poor little thing.

In many cases they do.

Many Turkish people view street animals as communally-owned pets, rather than feral, and the country has a blanket no-kill, no capture policy. A lot of Turkish people will go out of their way to feed and look out for the dogs and cats in their area.

Do you not have a holiday rep who could handle this. When I was in Turkey last summer, our Hotel had a 'cat house' in the gardens for any.strays.