Don't know what to do

[catmommy12]

My cat had kittens and my best friend agreed to rehome one, all the others were rehomed but she needed me to wait until after her holiday for her to collect it. It got to the point where I couldn't cope with the kitten anymore because my adult cats were attacking it and using its litter tray, so the kitten was weeing everywhere (because its tray smelled like adult cat)

I asked our mutual friend Anne to foster it and she happily agreed. Her friend Jane had rehomed one of the other kittens.

I then get a message to say that the kitten has flea dirt but no live fleas and so does Jane's kitten. I apologise profusely, Jane says even the vet missed it. I checked with the other kittens owners and they don't have flea dirt.

Fast forward 2 weeks and Anne tells me the kittens both have live fleas, worms, underweight and ear mites.

My adult cats are indoor and do not have fleas or worms or ear mites so I'm naturally confused.

Best friend has now collected the cat and is panicking at the cost of vet treatment.

I am extremely poor and have £2 until payday at the end of the month. I have offered to pay £100 towards vet costs when I get paid (I don't think she'll accept this as she owes me a lot of money but I feel guilty)

I haven't heard from best friend for a week. Not unusual as she sometimes goes quiet.

But now I'm worried she is going to fall out with me over this.

I've checked and checked my cats and they don't have fleas. But they must have come from my house because Anne doesn't have any pets. Mine also don't have worms or ear mites.

So basically 2 of 4 kittens have fleas (the ones who went to Anne and her friend) and worms and underweight. But the other 2 are perfectly fine.

Am I a bad person? I genuinely didn't know they had anything wrong with them as they seem healthy. The vet checked over Jane's kitten and didn't spot fleas or worms! I had no reason to suspect they had fleas or were underweight - the others are fine - they all looked fine and acted fine and were 8 weeks when rehomed.

Anne is being totally fine about it, I have completely apologised as profusely as I can. But my best friend is a major animal lover and I'm worried she'll think I'm neglectful and she'll not speak to me again.

I do have anxiety so it could also be that...

Is this something that would cause you to lose a friend?

“I have offered to pay £100 towards vet costs when I get paid (I don't think she'll accept this as she owes me a lot of money”

tell her to take the 100 off her bill of what she owes and then use that 100 to spay your bloody cat. If your cat is actually indoor how the hell did she end up with a litter?

The cat is booked to be spayed after payday. She got pregnant because my neighbours cat decided to break (yes break) through my locked cat flap to get at her. I've only lived in my house for a couple of weeks, previous owner had a cat flap. Couldn't afford to have it removed so I locked it. Now it's broken and I've ended up having to nail a piece of wood to the door.

My cats are all indoor females hence why she wasn't spayed immediately.

Could this cat not have brought in the fleas/ear mites? Or could they have survived in the house from previous cat? Also how long is a cat pregnant for if you have only been there a couple of weeks? Surely can’t be that fast?
I don’t see why your friend should fall out with you it’s not like you purposefully gave her a kitten with issues. The kitten could have picked these up at the foster home? But please don’t give her money when she already owes u a lot of money!!

I am so sorry to hear of this situation. My first thought is that, if you have only just moved into the house, and the previous owner had a cat (hence the cat flap), the fleas may be in the house.

I support what other posters are saying. Do not give money to people who already owe money to you. Focus on getting your cats spayed and get advice on getting rid of the fleas in the house. Spaying through some animal organisations can be done at a vastly reduced price. It might be worth contacting the Cats Protection for information about this.

Also congratulations on finding homes for the kittens

Sorry meant to say "i had" only been there a couple of weeks when it happened. It's possible they came from that cat, but I have 2 other cats and none of them have shown any signs of fleas at all.

Did Anne take the foster kitten to see Jane's kitten, and / or did either of them let them go outside or have other pets that go outdoors?

I cannot see how 2 kittens have got fleas mites and worms when they and the parents have never been outside!

No the 2 kittens never came into contact after they left my house. Jane has another cat, but Anne doesn't have any pets. So Jane's cat couldn't have passed them to Anne's kitten basically.

Jane is now saying her kitten has severe worms, is severely underweight with ear mites and fleas. all of which the vet seemed to have missed