Well, I've done it again

[Flame]

Sorry she didn't make it, Mike, but kudos to you for trying. RIP little kitty.

[IassaFTots]

Mike, I am sorry the kitty didn't make it, but please don't feel bad about anything you did.  What you did was a very noble thing, and should be commended.  Taking care of a little one like that is no easy task, and you stepped up without hesitation.  Hold your head up high, ok?

[Eupher]

Mike, I am sorry the kitty didn't make it, but please don't feel bad about anything you did.  What you did was a very noble thing, and should be commended.  Taking care of a little one like that is no easy task, and you stepped up without hesitation.  Hold your head up high, ok?

Ditto. It's very easy to second-guess ourselves when there is much we don't understand about the kitten, in this case. You did your best, Mike. That's far beyond what many people would do.

[Wineslob]

You get a Hi5 for trying.   It's hard to lose the little ones.   

[true_blood]

Not your fault Mike. You did what you could.

[Godot showed up]

16 years ago, I had a roommate. He didn't like cats one bit, but he was often gone for days at a time. I started taking care of a neighborhood stray cat who was pregnant. She was a dedicated street cat; she didn't want to be owned by anyone, but she did want help during her pregnancy. It was the dead of winter and I let her in a lot when my roommate wasn't home.

One bitterly cold January night I just got extremely paranoid for some reason and didn't let her in. She was near her time, I knew, but there'd have been bad craziness if my roommate came home and she was inside. Still, I had gotten away with it so much...but I didn't let her in.

Well, when I woke in the morning I heard tapping at the window to my room (she came in through there often), and there was a kitten in her mouth. I let her in; of course the poor little kitten was dead. She tried to find a hidden dark place, as cats will, and was still trying to take care of the kitten. I managed to get the poor thing away from her, and set her up with a large box with some blankets in it. She had two more kittens.

When I left for work that morning (I called to say I'd be late), I found four more dead ones lying at the top of the brick stoop. I buried them all before leaving.

When I came home that night, she'd had two more. The part here that has always left me feeling guilty? My roomie didn't come home for 3 more days. It didn't have to be that way.

It even gets worse. I went out with my girlfriend of the time one night, and when I came back...she (the mama cat) had accidentally crushed the more active of the two newborns. Should she have had a bigger box?

So just one survived. He stayed with mama for the requisite 8 weeks--my girlfriend took them--and then as usual, mama cat drove the kitten away near the end of the 8. My girlfriend had named the kitten CiCi--we thought it was a girl-cat, but it became clear it was a male cat--so we renamed him Cecil. He became my cat, then, because for other reasons my girlfriend and I broke up. Mama cat I released back in her original neighborhood.

So Mike, brother, I know the feeling, and it hurts. I'm sorry.

[Mike220]

Thanks for all the wishes, everyone. It's only been a few days, but it's almost like losing a family member. The swings between "at least I did something" and "did I do enough?" are really hard.

[IassaFTots]

Thanks for all the wishes, everyone. It's only been a few days, but it's almost like losing a family member. The swings between "at least I did something" and "did I do enough?" are really hard.

And if they weren't, you wouldn't be the stand-up guy that we know.  The only thing that will help is time.  Don't "what-if" yourself to death, it won't get you anywhere. 

[Evil_Conservative]

I am so sorry, Mike!! 

You did the right thing though.  You tried.  You did all you could for her. 

[mamacags]

man the ad at the top of the screen is in really poor taste considering the nature of this thread.

[IassaFTots]

man the ad at the top of the screen is in really poor taste considering the nature of this thread.

All I ever have is an ad for Bill White, dem candidate for TX Governor.  It follows me to every board.

[Chris_]

I don't see any ads.

[mamacags]

It said "curiosity killed the cat".  I think it was for some weird litter box thing.

[IassaFTots]

It said "curiosity killed the cat".  I think it was for some weird litter box thing.

Oh well hell. 

[vesta111]

man the ad at the top of the screen is in really poor taste considering the nature of this thread.

Holy Crap I clicked onto the ad and that is one heck of an invention.

The thing is for those who have money up the ying-yang.  ouch!.

I have one of those cheap-O electric cat boxes for my Maine Coons that drop crap the size of a ping pong ball 3 times a day each and the machine lasts about 2 1/2 to 3 years.

I do have to buy collection boxes and tops every 2 months or so but they are cheap and work very well.

Once a week we open the lid place the top on the box and dump the whole thing in the trash.   Add about 2 cups of litter and the thing is set to go.

Cats GO more then dogs and I would have a hard time keeping up with their box with 2 of them if it were not for the electric litter box. And the fact that disease from a normal tray of litter that is hand scooped can be a problem for woman that are pregnant this is a great way to go.

I had a friend that bought a device that sat on top of the toilet in her second bathroom that was suppose to train a cat to use a human toilet.

I laughed my butt off watching her cat learn how to use it, problems arose as the poor cat was hard wired to cover up the results and would have all kinds of accidents falling into the toilet and became a bit mentally unstable.    Sort of like never potty training your child and they wear diapers for 10 years----not good.

[debk]

And if they weren't, you wouldn't be the stand-up guy that we know.  The only thing that will help is time.  Don't "what-if" yourself to death, it won't get you anywhere. 

 

man the ad at the top of the screen is in really poor taste considering the nature of this thread.

I have puffy looking - multi- colored, cookie things stuffed with frosting.  Some foods should never be colored blue...

[njpines]

Awww -- so sorry to hear this, Mike, poor little kitty . . .

I remember rescuing a baby squirrel one August back in the early 70s -- he was orphaned after a hurricane came through -- and took care of him for close to 2 months until we thought he'd be OK on his own.  Unfortunately, the other squirrels decided he was too "humanized" or something and killed him . . I was 10 and extremely sad.  He lived in a bird cage we had, we fed him with an eyedropper at first, and after a couple of weeks, he'd eat nuts. He would also, if let out of the birdcage, climb up my arm and sit on my shoulder.

I guess all we can do is give them a chance . . .

[ConservativeMobster]

I get the kitty ad also, poor taste indeed.

Ditto what Iassa and the others have said mike.  You are some kind of wonderful to have tried what you did.

I can relate the same kind of story only my critters were bunnies.  Four of them were in a ground nest when we were plowing and mama was...well...the babies were orphaned.  We took them in, fed them with eye droppers, made little nests for them.  The whole deal.  Unfortunately we lost one everyday for 3 days and the 4th one survived for over a week.  It was incredibly painful for my daughter who did most of the tending and was about 12 years old at the time.  I learned soon after, from a vet, that babies that young rarely survive no matter the care we can give them and that nature will follow its own course.  Please don't fret, time really does heal.