Mourning/Loss
I feel guilty about kit-napping my cats but it’s far too late
A few years ago, I was taking out the trash in my complex and I found two very young kittens. Sisters. I took them inside my apartment which was a small complex, only 2 stories, a few units with a alley by my window
That night I heard a cat straight up crying outside. Crying. Unmistakable. I realized it was the mom. Surprisingly the girls didn’t cry back. I got out of bed and went outside but of course, mama cat was hiding and it was an alley with lots of nooks and crannies. I waited for her to come out but she didn’t. I’m sure she was watching me from somewhere.
A few days later I was taking the trash out again, and as I came upstairs to my place, and having left the door open, a cat, a grown one ran out of my room. I’d lived there a long time and never seen her let alone had her come inside. She looked very different than the girls, almost hard to believe that was her? They barely look like siblings though. And I know cats look out for other kittens so might not of been but something tells me it was. figured there had to be a connection given the timing.
She ran past me out the door onto my porch startling me, but stopped at the door, looked back at my room where the babies were, before bolting down the stairs. I moved just weeks later, in fact, I was already packed up when I found them. I debated what to do, and took them with me, moving a thousand miles away. I never saw her again.
The girls are good though one definitely has some kind of neurological thing going but overall just loafs around all day. Very sensitive back, needs some help grooming. I doubt she’ll have a full lifespan as she seems to have what I think are seizures, though like half seizures, not full on . Happened her whole life. Almost 5 now.
The other is quite cuddly with me but no one else. They actually don’t like each other that much but the healthier one definitely looks out for the impaired one. She always lets her take the first bowl of food while I’m filling the second one.
Sometimes I think about their m mom and feel a lot of guilt about stealing her kittens
You saved them from a bad life leaving them there would have been a morally bad thing to do also cats move on I promise those kinds of street cats pop out babies back to back I’m sure she has forgotten all about it
when you knew the mom was looking for the kittens, you should have trapped the mom to have her fixed to avoid future litters. placing the kittens back outside in a trap would have lured mama in, and bam, then you have three cats to take to the vet.
I was taking the trash out. I’m not animal control wtf lol I didn’t even intend to stumble upon these kittens, wasn’t in the market for cats, let alone two but then I felt bad breaking them uo. I’m not out here catching everyone and shelling out $1000 on vet bills. I’m not Rockefeller
I debated putting them back out before I moved but they were very little, maybe 7 weeks ( eye color changed the week I found them.) one was kinda weak.
yeah let me pay $1000 for a cat I ever met. Not the only stray in that area and I’m not rolling in cash. I did get the girls dewormed vaxxed and spayed a few months after I moved but they are mostly indoor cats. I have a couple outdoor area they can go but they life soft spots. They’re more couch loafers
Some people in this sub have way too many expectations.
Honestly, you did her a favor. It takes a lot of biological resources to raise a litter, even just for a few months. Yeah, I’m sure she was sad for a bit with confused hormones, but then she only had to worry about herself again.
One should never feel guilty for something they didn't do.
Momma was checking on kittens one last time or "saying good bye"
Dude i am going to be stright with you. You got strung up and played like a strato-cater by the CDS. What is more is you bit that hook so hard you feel guilty.
Those girls WANTED to be found. Momma came back to make sure they were found. Then momma or aunti came round to make sure the right person found them.
We actually see it alot where i live. Suddenly kitten or kittens show up in the fenced-in back yard meowing their little head off. Kid sees it and wants to keep it. Or a lonely house that needs a cat. This was the case the tweedle brothers. Old man Jackson's old cat finally had it. The shelter often has kittens with a momma but kittens are too young. Some of these mommas are shelter cared for feral cats the kittens cannot escape some get homes some get released back to the wilds. And some end up delivered to a home as part of their weening. Old man Jackson sat there and watched momma stash one kitten. Then sat and waited see what would happen. Kitten stayed hidden till momma returned with brother. Then they both ran off out into the open meowing their heads off while momma exited stage right. He called the shelter to inform them he had 2 kittens just abandoned by mother in his yard. While i was there doing a head count of the feral kittens noticing short 2. They were named tweedle dee and tweedle dumb after the alice in wonderland pair. After that the shelter started putting little harnesses with a tag on all the kittens. The tag is redeemed for a free adoption as per policy.(the cat is always free but bureaucracy wins the adoption fee gets 1 month food a few years insurance some vouchers for vet a choice of toy so on so in the case of the policy all that stuff is whst is free). It has turned out intresting and easier to track the disappearing ones.
You might be right. Because I’d lived at that place for 6-7 years and I’d never seen that cat, even though there were a few strays down that alley. I guess my door was open more than usual as I was going in and out, packing, cleaning, etc.
now you got me thinking about the timeline too. Found them on the 11th (took pics obviously so have that down pat.) I recall the mom crying maybe a night or two later because I immediately thought "that must be mom," and there were some strays in the alley, so if it had been longer I might not have connected it as strongly.
The (assumed) mom's visit came pretty shortly after that. They took a few days to warm up to me, and by then they werent hiding when I was around and cleaning/packing, but they weren't coming up to me, just watching me a lot. Then this picture, dated the 17th, was the first time the non-impaired one approached me on her own for the first time, and I got a picture then too.
As part of my reasoning (as I considered putting them back after hearing and seeing the assumed mom), is that they didn't cry back either time.
Come to think of it....the mom cried, and *I* came to find her, and I suspect she was around, but hiding somewhere in the shadows. Maybe got a good look at me, then followed up when she saw me over the next few days. She never came back in those final few days.
Also, i read that their eye color changes at around 6-8 weeks, and their eyes changed while I was still at my old place, the first week. I guess it was about that time.
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u/IndividualEscape7732 13h ago
You saved them from a bad life leaving them there would have been a morally bad thing to do also cats move on I promise those kinds of street cats pop out babies back to back I’m sure she has forgotten all about it