Found an abondoned kitten, but it died...

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TheGringo - 25 Mar 2005 12:52 GMT

Man, I feel sick...
5 days ago I found a kitten yelling, it was not a new born though and
it could walk.
I had no idea a kitten like that could be that delicate and it did not
come into my mind to go see a vet for advice.
Every time I was leaving the cat, it started to yell but when it was in
my hands, it was silent for hours. So I thought it did not like feeling
lonely, that's all. And since it was eating what I was giving to her
(milk and some other cat stuff I bought, it said it was ok for
kittens), I did not worry about the food.
I had to leave the cat alone because I had to go to work and I knew
nobody else who could take care of it.
This morning, I found the kitten motioneless and it did not touch the
food. It was still alive and I had no idea what to do. Today was the
weekend so everything was closed here, which means no vet. I put it in
a towel and I checked the internet for similar cases but just found out
I may have done the opposite of what should have been done to save it
and also that is not a simple work to take care of a kitten.

I feel really bad about it...

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Karen - 25 Mar 2005 15:38 GMT

I'm sorry to hear that. As a "just in case" measure, you might get Cornell's
book of cats. I would, however, *always* take a found cat or kitten (or any
animal for that matter) immediately to a vet. I know some people don't think
of that, and you have had a hard lesson in why it is a good idea.

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Mary - 25 Mar 2005 19:10 GMT

> Man, I feel sick...
> 5 days ago I found a kitten yelling, it was not a new born though and
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>
> I feel really bad about it...

Well, I would too.

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-L. - 25 Mar 2005 22:59 GMT

> Man, I feel sick...

Don't know how old it was from your description, but non-weaned kittens
need a constant heat source (like a heating pad set on low, covered
with towels) and to be fed about every 2-3 hours, with a commercial
kitten milk replacer such as KMR. If this happens again, please seek
the advice of a vet. Usually someone at the vet's office will nurse
the kitten for you until it is healthy enough to be rehomed.

-L.

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Joe - 27 Mar 2005 14:33 GMT

As others said you did your best. I'm in a rescue group and we handle lots
of kittens like this. We have found kittens dead at 9 pm that seemed
perfectly healthy and playful at 3 pm. There was no vomit, blood, or
excreatment that would indicate a problem. The vets say it is probably a
heart problem or stroke or the equivilent of human infant SIDS. That is the
sad side of rescue work. Nothing we could have done would have prevented it.
You gave the kitten a chance, it would have surely died if left outside.
Joe
www.rescuinganimalsinneed.org

>> Man, I feel sick...
>
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>
> -L.

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Mel - 26 Mar 2005 00:39 GMT

You did the best you knew to do at the time, and thats all you could do.

It is too bad the little one died . . . if she was eating already, I wonder
how old she was. I had a difficult experience with feeding babies that were
about 1 week old........only 1 out of 3 survived.

I did call my vet, though, but they were a long way from where I was at the
time. They gave me advice to the best of their ability.

Unfortunately, a veterinarian's advice is always the best thing to head for
first in a case like this.

We can only do what we know at the time. It is impossible to do more. You
tried, and that is what is important.

Melody

> Man, I feel sick...
> 5 days ago I found a kitten yelling, it was not a new born though and
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>
> I feel really bad about it...

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