dh has found a kitten and says it is up to me whether to keep it

[lummox]

We went for a walk today and a kitten felt out of a hedge in front of us. We were in a really deserted place with no houses anywhere near.

The cat was almost emaciated and followed us three miles home (with a bit of encouragement from dh)

It is currently asleep in our kitchen and dh wants to keep it. We have a six month old ds and it was very gentle with him - even when he was grabbing it and trying to eat it.

DH says it is up to me whether to keep it.

Has anyone ever kept a stray? Did it work out?

Awwww I love these kind of stories especially as one of our cats went missing when very young and I always hoped some nice person had taken her in and looked after her

I would have called yours smokey but thats coz I am a sad individual who has no imagination

oh do please keep it! I found a stray last winter in an abandoned house (God, I was so scared to go in but I could hear the kittten crying!) & carried her home. Dh said "no more cats" but i still regret giving her up. We gave her to a family of 4 girls who love her v. much, so I hear, so all's well...

oh, they called the kitten Beauty, btw. What a dumb name.

hmm. not such good news.

kitten is a bit listless and has rather laboured breathing. also doesn't want to play with bits of string.

we've got an appointment with a vet for Friday but now I'm a bit worried that the kitten might have something that could hurt ds.

am also worried for the kitten which is really lovely.

we've called him Maigret because he is grey.

and french.

Cats don't carry much that can be passed on to humans, if that's any consolation. I hope you get him sorted out. As he's struggling with his breathing, is there any chance that you can get the vets to move the appointment forward? It sounds as if he could do with being seen sooner rather than later.

Cats don't normally carry illnesses that are transmittable to humans except through scratches or bites.

Please have him checked out! Poor wee soul.

Maybe it is worn out from following you three mils home yesterday? Also, didn't you say you found him in the middle of nowhere? Couldn't he just be exhausted? Kittens need lots of sleep just like babies.

Also, I wouldn't worry about him passing anything on to your ds. I don't think there is much that can be passed between cats and humans, especially not the respiratory type of illness.

Thanks for that - reassuring to hear.

It could just be exhaustion, Lonelymum - that's what we're hoping. It must have been quite an ordeal for him and he is very thin still.

Am slightly heartened as he has just jumped up into a kitchen cupboard which seems more normal kitteny behaviour to me.

Will still ring the vet in the morning to try to move the appointment forward, though.

Good to hear the little one is a bit brighter, but still keep him/her nice & warm (hot water bottle under a towel?), and definitely get to the vet sooner if you can - resp. problems mean it can go downhill pretty quickly if it's young, but should be something the vet can help with. Also the sooner you get rid of fleas & worms the better Good luck!

Does he have a nice, quiet place to sleep it off? That may help him sleep it off. Kittens are very resiliant.

Maigret! How cute!

dh has sacrificed one of his jumpers, and we've put it on a chair next the the Aga [slightly embarrassed about having an Aga emoticon].

the kitten has been asleep there most of the day - doing that really cute, snoopy style sleep with his head hanging over the side of the chair.

funny - I didn't even know whether to keep him yesterday and now i'm really, really hoping that he'll be OK.

aaah. Are you in France, what would be the deal these days with moving kitten back and forth?

How's he doing today, lummox?

How's Maigret today, lummox?

Things seem to be looking up. We were a bit worried about what we might find when we came down this morning, but he was a bit perkier. Couldn't get an appointment with the vet any earlier than tomorrow, so should know more then. We've put a load of "found a cat" (chat trouve in fact) posters around in case he does belong to someone.

Will now be really sad if someone does claim him. Can't see how he could have got so thin if anyone had been looking after him, though, and haven't seen any missing cat posters around.

He still won't play with a piece of string (unlike ds who is mesmorised!) but is following us into different rooms and eating well, so am hopeful that he will be OK.

Not letting myself get too attached until we know whether anyone is going to want him back.

GhostofNatt - I think taking him to and from the UK would be too much hassle, but we've got some lovely neighbours, two of whom have already volunteered to look after him when we are in England for a week in December.

Thanks to all for taking an interest.

Oh, last thing - dh is now suggesting the name Tresco instead of Maigret. Not sure I like it.

It has got to be Maigret,

I woke up this morning and wondered how Maigret was, now that you can see as the opening line to a book.

I woke up this morning and wondered how Tresco was and if they had any mince pies left , now that you can not see as the opening line to a book.

Tell your DH, Maigret stays or he will have the court of MN to deal with.

Oh, definitely Maigret. Hope he gets on OK at the vets tomorrow.

LSLGJ!

Hope Maigret gets on ok today at the vets

tresco sounds just like Tesco. with an R in it. Hope vet goes well today.

Good News! I got into the vets first and registered the kitten as Maigret.

Even better the vet thinks that he is OK - just exhausted and getting over being without food for so long.

And he's really starting to take more of an interest (the cat, not the vet). It is lovely to see.

Now - how do you teach a six month old not to grab at a cat?

and no-one has yet rung to claim him. i think if we make it to monday we can probably keep him.

Awwww sounds like a happy ending

As for the 6 month old grabbing. Not really much you can do, try to be there the whole time just to keep watch but as long as the kitten is back to good health he will get used to baby pulling although of course baby may get a few nicks from a paw

Quick! Grab all those "Chat trouve" notices and burn them!

Glad to hear Maigret is dong well.