Lost kitten, was I wrong.

[timeforacoffeebreak]

I found a kitten on Friday afternoon whilst picking my child up from school. It was in the playground, and as I was about to leave I saw a group of older children picking up and dropping this kitten, then chasing it around the playground.
I ended up picking her up and taking her home. She's no more than 12 weeks old.
I've posted it online on all of the lost cat groups I can, and the local ones I can find. Loads of shares, but nothing.
I've taken her to the vets, they said perfectly healthy little thing, but no chip.
I've put up posters near where I found her and a little around where we live.
She was grubby, and her claws are incredibly worn, and almost black at the tips, but she is very friendly.
My family thinking I was being unreasonable to take her home (we are only a few mins walk away from where I found her) and that essentially I have just stolen somebody else's cat.
But in my opinion, I've saved her from a bad situation, and I'm trying to find her owner. I couldn't have left her there, terrified. And the school is near a very busy main road.
Kittens that young that aren't chipped OR spayed should NOT be out like that!?
We have 2 cats already, so we are able to provide for her for the time being, and if nobody comes forward, we will keep her.
Was I being wrong here? What would you do?

Thank you for doing the right thing x

You did the right thing OP. You've kept her safe, you're clearly experienced. I'd also take the posters down soon and keep her as you've tried to trace the owners. From what you said, maybe she was abandoned

You've done everything right (except that I'd be inclined to report the children to the school, particularly if you can identify one of the fuckers).

Haha fair enough! My last kitten was semi-feral and absolutely tiny at 12 weeks so my memory is probably a bit skewed

She’s so cute! Her little sooty paws are adorable 🐾 😻

That is such a sweet story! It seems that's how a lot of people gain their cats... or gain another cat 😆
I forgot to mention she was covered in fleas, so she's already received flea treatment and a bath here since being with us !

You did the right thing.

Lucky kitten.

There is nothing wrong with an outdoor cat, I’m not a big fan of cats being kept inside all the time myself. BUT a cat this small should not be out and about and you absolutely did the right thing. You’ve not stolen it and you’re trying to return it, or at least find out where it’s come from. I would have done the same thing.

Whoever let her out at that age isn't being a good kitten parent.

Keep her, keep her safe.

The previous owner wasn't doing so.

You did absolutely the right thing, OP. A kitten that age should not have been outside and certainly not exposed to the ‘mercies’ of a pack of children treating her as a toy.

I could not have left her behind either.

You’ve alerted local vets and lost cat groups and I have no doubt you will keep an eye out for missing cat posters for her. An owner who cared could find you.

But being grubby and with incredibly worn claws doesn’t make it sound as though she slipped out of a loving home for an adventure and got lost. I think she’s your cat now.

I’d take down the posters you put up. Don’t run the risk of some random claiming her to hurt her.

She’s a dear little thing. I’m so glad she had you to rescue her.

Possibly a kitten from a litter that couldn’t sell what with her being just black and white yet friendly. So many rescues over run with black, black and white kittens as they are less desirable.

She does look a lot bigger than my new 11 weeks old kitten though.

Cross-posted.

And riddled with fleas, you say - definitely not a lost, loved pet.

I hope the children tormenting her got a few fleas too.

Sounds like she is from a feral litter. You did the right thing.

Feral kittens usually aren’t friendly and you’d expect to see more as they stick together. I agree with pp that she was dumped by a BYB.

You've done the right thing, give her lots of cuddles and keep her safe.
Leave the posters up for a couple of weeks, then take them down.
If she belonged to someone local, they'd have seen them by then - I do find it distressing when posters like that stay up for months.

you savdd her shes lovely absolutly the rigt tthing and if someone turns up make sure she atually is theres

I would stop looking for her owner. They will probably only breed from her. They clearly don’t care.
Here is my kitten found afew weeks ago aged about seven weeks. I made no effort to find her owner. She was with her sister and I don’t think would’ve survived much longer outside. She now stops around my flat like lady muck and her sister lives on a ginormous house with human siblings. I have no regrets.

Of course you did the right thing. I hope the posters don't include a photo of her or you could get anyone saying she's theirs. No photo means anyone claiming her has to describe her to you.

But honestly, I would take posters down and keep her. She's come from rubbish circumstances and deserves a home with you. Well done!

Such a pretty kitty

You absolutely did the right thing and she is gorgeous 😻 so is your tortie @EachandEveryone and sounds like she has loads of tortietude.

Here's to the happy and safe kittens everywhere ❤️

You've made a lot of effort to find the owners and no one has come forward so I imagine the cat was deliberately dumped in an area where children would see it and parents would do as you did and take it home.

Get her spayed asap. Then anyone wanting to claim her for breeding won’t be interested.

Oh my gosh, you've done the right thing OP, no way should a kitten that young be out on its own. If she had an owner they obviously didn't care about her. I've got a young girl from Cats Protection who was turned over to the shelter at the age of 8 months or so, with her own kitten (that she played with like a toy, because she was a kitten herself), because...the owners didn't want a cat anymore. That's it. They had a ton of animals and periodically lost interest in them. Some people treat pets as easy-come, easy-go commodities.

Any one looking for their cat would ask the local vet and look on Facebook.

Id take the posters down after a couple of days to be honest. You don’t want her taken by anyone that might wish her harm.

You did the right thing, the children were mistreating her at the time and your judgement was that she was too little to be out safely. Different if you just took a fancy to a big healthy adult and started claiming it looked lost. If anyone recognises her, they'll see the posters and be so happy she's been looked after. She might be feral or a farm cat, most pets are chipped these days.

I would report the children to the school. Even if you don't know names, a general assembly on kindness to animals wouldn't go amiss.