Hi all,
So i have this feral kitten that was born in April. I have seen her behavior and she seems to be very shy and not very playful, but for some reason she has been more social than all the other kittens and is the only one that lets me pet and hold her. She’s one of the smallest ones but eats a lot
Recently a tropical depression has hit and there has been a lot of rain for the past 3 days, and usually all my cats and kittens know how to avoid the rain but this one seems to have gotten the most wet. Ive dried her up and i started realizing she wasn’t feeling good. I believe she ate a little. But her ears felt cold and she seems a little lethargic, and meows when she’s looking for me or for something. She still purrs whenever i pet her nicely,, though. But it’s weird because she was born 5 months ago but looks so small and fragile. Her brother is bigger and looks more fully developed. She gets a big round stomach when she eats but i can still feel her fragile bones at times. She looks underdeveloped
In the past I've had a kitten that was like this; smaller and more sociable than the rest of the litter and eating more than them. She was also sick and passed away.
I wish I could take them to the vet but my parents have always told me to not get attached to these cats as they're not my pets but I always treat them like they are. This is where I struggle because sometimes I feel like I get too attached to these cats, I currently have around 17 outdoor/feral cats and I have been feeding them everyday since 2017.
If this kitten passes away, I would feel terrible b/c I feel like they're my responsibility and i would have failed her. It wouldn't be the first time I lost a cat due to my self-perceived "negligence". I have gotten terrible anxiety attacks and sadness because I've experienced my cats disappear, slowly die away, in pain after being ran over, and even not seeing one of my cats for one day. At times I feel that I care way more about these cats than myself, my family and humans in general, I just don't know if what I'm doing is healthy or not. I didn't choose this lifestyle, and I never thought I would be this attached to cats. Everyone my age is out enjoying their lives and going on vacation, and I have gotten so reluctant to go out for fear that something will happen to one of the cats and it'll be my fault for not looking after them. I feel terrible about all of this. I apologize for being all over the place in this thread but in short I would really truly appreciate the feedback for my questions:
-what can I do to help her besides taking her to the vet?
-What can I do to not feel this way about these cats?
To the people in this website, Thank you very much for helping me out. God bless
So i have this feral kitten that was born in April. I have seen her behavior and she seems to be very shy and not very playful, but for some reason she has been more social than all the other kittens and is the only one that lets me pet and hold her. She’s one of the smallest ones but eats a lot
Recently a tropical depression has hit and there has been a lot of rain for the past 3 days, and usually all my cats and kittens know how to avoid the rain but this one seems to have gotten the most wet. Ive dried her up and i started realizing she wasn’t feeling good. I believe she ate a little. But her ears felt cold and she seems a little lethargic, and meows when she’s looking for me or for something. She still purrs whenever i pet her nicely,, though. But it’s weird because she was born 5 months ago but looks so small and fragile. Her brother is bigger and looks more fully developed. She gets a big round stomach when she eats but i can still feel her fragile bones at times. She looks underdeveloped
In the past I've had a kitten that was like this; smaller and more sociable than the rest of the litter and eating more than them. She was also sick and passed away.
I wish I could take them to the vet but my parents have always told me to not get attached to these cats as they're not my pets but I always treat them like they are. This is where I struggle because sometimes I feel like I get too attached to these cats, I currently have around 17 outdoor/feral cats and I have been feeding them everyday since 2017.
If this kitten passes away, I would feel terrible b/c I feel like they're my responsibility and i would have failed her. It wouldn't be the first time I lost a cat due to my self-perceived "negligence". I have gotten terrible anxiety attacks and sadness because I've experienced my cats disappear, slowly die away, in pain after being ran over, and even not seeing one of my cats for one day. At times I feel that I care way more about these cats than myself, my family and humans in general, I just don't know if what I'm doing is healthy or not. I didn't choose this lifestyle, and I never thought I would be this attached to cats. Everyone my age is out enjoying their lives and going on vacation, and I have gotten so reluctant to go out for fear that something will happen to one of the cats and it'll be my fault for not looking after them. I feel terrible about all of this. I apologize for being all over the place in this thread but in short I would really truly appreciate the feedback for my questions:
-what can I do to help her besides taking her to the vet?
-What can I do to not feel this way about these cats?
To the people in this website, Thank you very much for helping me out. God bless