Sorry for the bummer, but I am angry. 1. If you can't afford to spay/neuter your cat, you can't afford to have one. 2. Your female cat does not "need" to have kittens. 3. Neither do your kids. 4. If you are idiot enough to let your cat get pregnant, you have an obligation to find good homes for all the kittens. 5. Only a total f-ing monster takes unwanted kittens out to a rural area and dumps them. Even the SPCA is a better option than dumping them. 6. If you are going to be a monster and dump them, at least dump them together in a box so they have some shelter and can huddle together. These tiny kittens were dumped one-by-one at random places around the community. Some of them spent several nights outdoors before being discovered. We tried to save one last night, but he didn't go into the trap. He might have been too young to recognize solid food/bait as food. He died this morning of dehydration / starvation / hypothermia. Overnight temperatures were below freezing the last few nights. We don't know how many were dumped, but only one was successfully rescued that we know of. @#$% monsters!
Well, it turns out there were two more: a mother and another kitten. The one that I thought was "successfully rescued" must be from a different dumping event. What we think now is that, early in the fall, a young pregnant female was dumped in the neighbourhood. She found shelter under a shed and had her litter. Being a young, inexperienced house cat, she wasn't a good provider. Maybe she couldn't make enough milk. At any rate, there were only two kittens left by this week. She may have thrown the little black kitty out because she couldn't feed him, or his sibling, being larger, may have done it. Anyway, he was trying to fend for himself when he was discovered on Sunday. Anyway, he didn't make it. My wife went on a cat rescue mission. She got the mother used to her coming and going and using the trap as a feeding station. She successfully trapped her yesterday, and moved her to the studio of another neighbour. Today, she borrowed a squirrel trap, of a suitable size for a kitten. She successfully caught the kitten. So mother and kitten are warm and well in the studio. Next week, we'll take them to a cat rescue society. The neighbour whose studio they are staying in named the kitten after my wife.
I have a soft spot for furry friends in need. It's been decades since I had a doggie, it seems I always get distracted by a kitty in distress. Every pet we've had was a rescue. Our first was a tiny calico who had been abused by a co-worker. I offered to take her in after hearing he hated cats. That 'lil calico lived under the sofa for six months before she felt safe enough to come out. She was with us for 16 years. Currently we have a big tabby (15lbs!) who follows me around like a dog. I can't go across the room without him following me. Got him from a friend who found him abandoned in an empty 3 decker he had rented out. He was about a year old and scrawny when we got him. He wasn't quite feral but he was wary of us. It took a month to get him to trust me and eat out of my hand. Had him chipped and given the once over by the vet. He's a house cat now. I don't let him out we've got coyotes and fischer cats here so we keep him safe.
I love all pussy cats, from a tiny kitten small enough to sit in my hand to large pussy cats (Tiger cub) tall enough for me (aged 4) to ride.
We have four cats, two indoors and two outdoors. One of the indoor kitties is a tiny 17 year old tabby girl, who was rescued from a feral colony under a community hall. She has PTSD and treats everyone as unsafe except my wife. The other indoor cat is a big orange boy, about 7 years old. He sleeps on my pillow and puts his big polydactyl paws on my face. We got him from the SPCA, who found him starving on the city streets. Our two outdoor boys, both black and white, were rescued from a feral colony. They are habituated to humans, but are still quite feral. They have their own cat house, and are free to come and go as they please, except they get locked in at night.
If these scumbags are ever found and caught, they should be neutered without anaesthetic using a rusty, blunt knife !!!
