WIBU to keep the kitten...

[harriethoyle]

Found a kitten on the way home from work. Very teeny, no mum around, no neighbours to the finding place who had lost a kitten. Took her to the vets and she's 8-10 weeks old, not chipped and really poorly - riddled with fleas, has anaemia, full of worms, very thin. Utterly neglected. Vet isn't hopeful she will make it but have admitted her in for treatment to see if we can save her. I said she could come home with me if she makes it.

Have now found out from more door knocking that she is the feral kitten of an un-neutered mum who has multiple litters a year, owner doesn't feed them and doesn't even live in the house that she was found near M-F - he lives 100s of miles away during the week.

WIBU to keep the kitten if she survives rather than try and track the owner down and return her?

Kitten survived the night and has responded well to flea treatment. Still very anaemic so off to the vet hospital this weekend for more fluids, treatment and bloods - if she survives today the vet thinks she's out of the woods...

Fingers crossed!

Always keep the kitten! Sounds like she's doing well, fingers crossed.

Please keep her. She is lucky to have crossed paths with you. It’s meant to be!🙂👍🏻🐈

🐈

Aaaahhhh.... well done OP on rescuing the kitten.
Definitely keep her.
Fingers crossed she makes it to the weekend.
I hope the poor mum cat can be caught and helped as well.

Aw, lovely update. Fingers crossed. Fight, little kitty! You have a lovely new owner waiting to love you.

If the flea issue is resolved, the anaemia also will be. A major infestation can kill a baby animal. Are you having to pay bills, OP?

I would defo get a trap from Cats protection League for mum, take her to the PDSA and ask them to neuter. Have you had a look for the rest of the kittens?

Hope little kitten rallies and gets better with the fantastic work vets do and if you are able to, give her a lovely forever home, I have spent my whole life rescuing strays both here and abroad, even bought home seagulls and ducks before, and now have five dogs! My DP is of the opinion I hoard or collect animals and now my grown up kids bring home various animals that are lost or injured all the time.

Adding to the chorus of keep her. She has only made it this far because of your intervention. Horrible experience tells me that twats who don’t neuter their cats often dump the kittens. If the “owner” wants to challenge you they will be admitting to severe neglect.
One of my happier finds was a dumped kitten who is now the most loving cat I’ve ever known - they know when they get lucky, you will have a cat who adores you.
I hope the little one makes it through.

Keep the cat if you wanted one anyway, otherwise rescue centre - and yes definitely report the neglect of the others!

Keep keep keep! Lots of vibes sea makes it. I also vote report her mothers arsehole owner and see if her mum can be rescued

I'd keep her...but a feral kitten can be a lot of work.
We had a stray cat which had kittens. A neighbour adopted the only surviving kitten and even with a lot of love the kitten is still pretty wild.
She eats until she's sick (vet says because she was born feral and not knowing when next meal will come) and she is very much an outdoor cat, hates been cooped inside, etc.

But she is lovely....keep her an give her a good home.

Hope she pulls through and continues to thrive. If she does and you can manage it, can I suggest that you consider adopting a second kitten of a similar age, so that she has company and someone to play with, because this is really beneficial to their development.

If you contact local rescues and explain the situation, one of them might have a suitable candidate for you to adopt.

Oh, and my little cat had been horribly injured so my first port of call was the vet. She (gently) told me that the expense of treating his injury would be too much for a cat shelter to take on. They have so many healthy kittens they often have to refuse the poorly ones and focus on the ones they can afford to rehome. So the kindest thing would have been to put him down. The local Cat’s Protection were delighted I took him on, lent me a dog crate to nurse him in, and funded his neutering. The rescues are likely to be very glad to hear you’ll give her a home, and will offer help and advice to you.
More good vibes for her recovery coming from me!

Hi @harriethoyle any update on the kitten? Hope she's OK.