What should I do?

[alikatt]

My brother's girlfriend works at Petco. Around Monday some lady brought in a kitten that was MAYBE a week old. He/she has just barley opened it's eyes. This has got to be the most gorgeous little baby. He/she is all black except it has 4 silver/dark gray paws. Very unique.

My problem comes in here. My brother's girlfriend brought the baby home and her new roommate has taken it. When I found out about the baby yesterday I rushed over there. After very careful observations, I don't believe that the baby is getting the care he/she needs, and I asked her as politely as I could if she would surrender the baby to me. I told her the baby needs to be fed every 2-3 hours, and needs a special diet right now. She told me she fed him/her bologna! You don't feed a week old baby bologna! She refuses to give me the baby. I'm in such turmoil. I have the means to take this little one to the vet right now, and in my opinion he/she should have already seen a vet. She said she is taking very good care of him/her and wants to keep him. I told her everything I could to help her since I went through this when Layla was a baby, but she wouldn't listen. I even offered her money! I honestly feel that this girl is doing this just to spite me. She works all the time and simply doesn't have the time to give this little darling adequate care.

Can anyone offer any suggestions what I should do? I have half a mind to sneak into my brother's house to take the baby tomorrow when the roommate goes to work, but I don't want to cause any problems in the house. I cried all the way last night leaving without the baby

 

[lucyloo]

Oh you poorthing!!
Be rational, call the nearest spca and report her, tell them that she is not caring for the baby properly and is out all the time and let them take it away and get the care it needs. THen you can go and visit the little one and adopt it yourself.

 

[silvermoonmyst]

Huggs, honestly i would have taken the kitten myself, without being nice about it.

 

[jlutgendorf]

I think you have a couple of options.

Call your local spca, humane society, animal control, like Lucyloo suggested. Check on their policy for animal confiscations first though. Because this little one will need so much care, they may just euthanize right away if they don't have the resources.

You can keep trying to talk to her. I'm guessing if she really can't care for it properly, it will go downhill fast. If you can talk to her just as this happens, she may be concerned enough that she wil surrender it to you.

Finally, you mentioned you offered to pay for a vet visit. I would just purchase her a can of powedered KMR, some bottles, get her a box and blankets to keep it in, make her some rice socks and print off every page from kitten-rescue.com and take everything over to her. Then she has no excuse for feeding the baby the wrong food, not keeping it warm, etc. If she already has this stuff, then good, maybe she will be capable of taking care of it.

And just wanted to say hi to another Georgian! I hope you're able to educate her enough for this little one's sake!

~Julia

 

[missymotus]

Originally Posted by alikatt

Can anyone offer any suggestions what I should do? I have half a mind to sneak into my brother's house to take the baby tomorrow when the roommate goes to work, but I don't want to cause any problems in the house. I cried all the way last night leaving without the baby

Honestly that is what I would do, I'd be more worried about the kitty than any problems taking her might cause.

 

[stormy]

Originally Posted by lucyloo

Oh you poorthing!!
Be rational, call the nearest spca and report her, tell them that she is not caring for the baby properly and is out all the time and let them take it away and get the care it needs. THen you can go and visit the little one and adopt it yourself.

That's my thought as well.

The poor baby really needs to be taken from her if it's not too late already.

 

[jen]

I agree too, buy everything the kitty needs and take it to her. Then show up every day to check on the kitten. Don't necessarily TELL her you are checking up on how good a job she is doing caring for the kitten...I worry too that if she decides she can't do it and the kitten isn't going to make it, she might not come to you first. Be there right when (hopefully) she decides she can't do it. Could you at LEAST offer to take care of the baby while she is away at work and then be at her house when she gets home to give it back? Then you wil have it most of the day...

What about your brother? Could you talk to him?

 

[alikatt]

I've tried everything. I offered what I could, and she said she can handle it, so I backed off. She told me she would think about it and let me know, but I just don't see this happening. The baby was a little dehydrated, and not as heavy as he/she should have been. My brother doesn't want to get involved because they kinda need her as a roommate right now. I offered to let me take care of him/her for a few weeks till they got bigger and healthier and slightly more able not to have 24/7 care, but she said no. When it came down to the very end, she said no. I've even offered $50 to adopt this little one from her, but I don't know the outcome of that. My sister has gone over to try and convince her to give me the baby, or at least let me foster it till it's older. I will keep you guy's posted. Hopefully I'll end up posting pictures of him/her (I think it's a girl) in my arms!

PS: I offered to buy food, tips, anything, everything. She turned her nose up at me, and said she's done this before and thinks she is perfectly capable of handling this cat. *thinks to herself* then you should know not to feed her table scraps, and feed her more than 2-3 times a day. My brother's g/f is hoping that once the kitten milk she does has run's out, she won't be able to afford anymore, which is possible. When that happens, and the girlfriend knows she isn't feeding her, she's taking the kitten and giving it me. It may sound mean, but it might be our only opinion right now. Other than of course stealing. I don't want to call the SPCA. I'm afraid of the outcome. Either I will help her help the baby, or I'll have a new kitty by the end of this, mark my words.

Thank you everyone! Keep her, I don't care about me, but keep her in your thoughts.

 

[momof3rugratz]

Please rescue that poor baby.

 

[maverick_kitten]

could you take the kitten to the vets for a proper assessment whilst she's out, get the vet to write down his or her thoughts on it, and bring it back by the time she gets home from work and show her what the vet says?

 

[amyscrazy]

If this girl has half a brain, she will see the kitten going down hill and panic. I will pray that she responds quickly. It sounds like she is getting defensive and that usually makes people shut down. Just let her know that you are there for her and let your brother give you updates. If all else fails and the kitten is critical...get your tail over there and take that kitten

 

[charmed654321]

Please, kittens, especially dehydrated ones, can worsen and die in a matter of hours.

PLEASE call aspca and/or your local animal control and report this as abuse, because that is exactly what it is.

Not only doi they have the legal right to remove the kitten, they will have it checked by a vet, and if a lactating female is available, they will most likely give it to her to nurse, which makes for a much healthier and well-adjusted kitten down the road.

Please call them. It is anonymous and nobody has to know it was you.

Your brother's girlfriend will get over it. The kitten has a good chance of dying.

 

[prncss89]

I was just wondering how everything turned out?

 

[yorkiegal]

I can't believe she's being so selfish.

I'd go take the kitty and leave her a teddybear as she's obviously just wanting a new toy to play with.

 

[alikatt]

All my attempts have been unsuccessful. However, the only good news I have is I am going over there everyday while she is at work, and helping her b/f to take care of the little one. She's doing very well, and I've shown him how to feed her, bought more food, and gave him information I printed off the kitten rescue site. I bought rice to make sock heaters, and I'm doing what I can from a distance. His girlfriend thinks I am a cold nasty

for trying to take "her baby" away from her, and it turned out to be a royal mess, so I am doing everything while she is at work. Her boyfriend is an awesome guy and he's allowing me to help her, and actually listening to me. He's trying to talk to her very slowly and delicately to see if we can make any progress, but I am doing what I wanted to and giving her a fighting chance. So good news, she's doing well!

I'm pretty sure she's a little girl at this point, but it's still really hard to tell, lol. Not that I care, she's a doll. I'll get pictures the moment I can. Thank you you everyone for you concerns and advice. As long as I am around, she will be taken care of to the best of my ability.