We have several feral cats around our house. Several months ago, I found that one of what I thought was a young kitten had babies. She looked much too young to have kittens of her own, but there she was, a momma. By the time I found her litter, one was already dead while the other two were having a difficult time surviving. They were much too young to fend for themselves. Unfortunately, the mother was also very young and not a very good mother. She was such a poor example of what a momma cat should be that she kept her babies in the dirt. I brought them inside and fed them sweet milk. They started to get stronger than before, but I knew they needed their mother so I put them in a small clean box with a clean piece of fabric and set them out of the dirt. Within in a couple of hours, I heard them crying and went to investigate. That is when I found the momma cat had removed them from the box and placed them back in the dirt. We went through this several times. The heat of the summer was heavy and seemed to weigh on those two little ones so I brought them back inside and helped them get strong again. By the third time of placing them back in the care of their mother, she had not only removed them from yet another fresh and clean box, but also allowed the smaller of the two to wander a great distance from her and the older one. On Father’s Day, I had gone out to check on them again and could only find one of the babies. It was not until a bit later that I found I had stepped on the smaller one. Being no bigger than a young toddler’s foot and a mottled orange, the smaller of the two blended into his surroundings to the point it was the death of him. I can’t tell you how awful I felt and I will not get into describing the scene more than I already have than to say, it was not pleasant. The mother seemed to care for one that remained, but as soon as anyone came around, she would run off, leaving her baby defenseless against whatever. We continued our little dance of bringing the baby in, gave it a bath, picking the countless fleas from its little body, feeding it getting it stronger, and returning it to her. Their constant crying for one another is what prompted me to leave it with her, until one morning it seemed she had disappeared. It was several days before we discovered her lifeless body at the far end of the property. The once sweet kitten turned more vicious with each stint in the care of its mother. Its ravenous appetite concerned me because I have seen many an animal attack its caretaker over food. I do not know if it is because it was so poorly cared for by its mother that it has a continence problem, but for the life of me, I cannot get it litter box trained. The pooping and peeing all over the house was getting to me before, but now it is completely out of hand. I cannot stand that sort of behavior, mess, or smell. With that and the aggressiveness over food and inability to touch it without being bitten or clawed I know what needs to be done, but can find no one to do it. I do not have the nerve enough to end its life on my own and cannot see giving it a new home because it is so far gone. To throw it outside would only exacerbate our growing feral population.
What would you do if it were you?
Tags: Bad behaviors, Cats, death, Feral, kittens, Question?, Smells, turmoil
Dandelions at my Feet 
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