Mourning the kittens. (Not for the faint of heart.)

[Pab Sungenis]

We have a tribe of feral cats on our property; they basically started out in the woods behind our house, and made their way towards the porch over the years.

One of them, the matriarch of the tribe and oldest female, had a two-kit litter under our porch a few weeks ago, and had brought them up onto the porch to show them to us. The two of them, whom we named "Napoleon" and "Josephine" were real lover, and very tame for being part of a feral tribe. (We've managed to catch some of the tamer ones and get them fixed, but have never gotten the matriarch.) My boyfriend and I fell in love very fast.

This week, we found the mother furiously washing Josephine, who was crying very plaintively. When she saw us, the mother ran up to us and cried, apparently looking for us to help. Josie was covered in a very thick, almost varnish-like liquid, and flies were swarming around her. We took her in, tried to wash her off, but it was no use. She died in our arms.

A vet tech friend of ours looked at her, and said that what must have happened is that the mother had left some of the afterbirth on the kitten after it was born and didn't clean it as well as she should have. That attracted flies (who are out there in record numbers this summer) who proceeded to lay eggs on, and under the skin of, the kitten. She was literally eaten from the inside out.

We immediately made an appointment to get her brother looked at by the vet, but the next morning (before we could get there) we heard him crying outside as well. We went out onto the porch and saw him in the same exact state, crying loudly. The mother picked him up, and carried him away. That was the last we saw of him. The mother came back this morning, alone.

Bryan is a wreck over all this. I'm kinda there, too. So, all you DU cat lovers, send some good thoughts our way. Thanks.

[Midlodemocrat]

1. Oh, I am so, so sorry.

You are in my thoughts and prayers.

:hug:

[Pab Sungenis]

2. Thank you.

Even though they aren't really ours, this tribe has become like a family to us.

We kept the appointment this morning, and took one of the other tamer ones in for her shots and tests, in anticipation of fixing her.

[Midlodemocrat]

3. But caring for little creatures and seeing them suffer

even if they weren't 'yours' must have been so hard. I really feel for you and I am glad there are people like you and your SO to take in the animals that others discard.

[FloridaPat]

4. That's such a shame. Poor mother cat. Unreal that could happen.

[Pab Sungenis]

5. Lesson to be learned:

If a pregnant cat has adopted your property, try to accomodate her inside if you can. Insects are every bit predators as possums and raccoons.